1-1-11

Happy New Year.

WE spent the start with my best cousins. I love them so much and we all get along so well. I am such a lucky girl. The kids all play great together and we all just enjoy each others company like crazy! How fun!

I started a beanie for DS1 this afternoon... then we went to the movies. DD and I opted for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader we were NOT disappointed... I loved the movie. The boys went to see TRON. The young boys loved it... the older one, not as much. Of course he took a nap during the movie, so he really has no right judging it!

Anyway, much to my surprise, I finished the beanie this evening. It was 2 color work and looks like this:

Pattern: the skull beanie
Yarn: 100purewool single ply
still working on knitting down the stash
Colors: negro, crudo
Needle: US9
Recipient: DS1

Hope he likes it. He's sleeping now and I just finished it about 20 minutes ago.

now back to the regularly scheduled socks for DH with the Noro sock yarn (which I don't like at all) on my lantern moon ebony sox stix (which I love so much)

Have a healthy new year! I'm hoping my broken toe mends really fast. I can't believe how much the darn thing still bothers me.

yesterday

The living advent sponsored by Wildflower Cafe, specializing in vegetarian cuisine.... sounds like my kind of restaurant!


I served candles at Moravian College Vespers last night. It was a first time for me. His women's chorus did an outstanding job. So proud of him!

My chorus had their dress rehearsal in the HS auditorium yesterday. I don't know about them, but it makes me a little nervous.. They have some work to do before the performance on Thursday.

how we spent memorial day

Guess what we did as a family? Or better yet what IS this picture?

Give up?? Here's the rest of the animal.

We had a great day. I knit a little. Especially while waiting to go up on the zoo balloon. Yes, we've been members for years and it is never working when we go. So today, it was. We stood in line for 40 minutes... only to have them tell us when we were once ride away, they were closing the ride because of the wind. ARGH! Oh well... maybe next time.

Here are some more pictures from the zoo that I uploaded to facebook.

It was a great weekend. The end of school is near and my grades are done! 5 student days 2 of which are half days (not that it matters, I teach 4 classes instead of 5 on those days) but I am SO looking forward to summer. Have heard nothing regarding the plan for the music dept. not that it surprises me.

The clematis in the back yard (actually it's the neighbors but grew through the fence) It's spent now as are the orchids but the roses are out. We planted some flowers, herbs and veggies this weekend.

I was spinning this weekend too... and my two forefingers are killing me... i wonder if it's related. I mean doing simple things like opening my wallet hurts so much.... I'll spin with my middle fingers from now on.

a knitting christmas

So my family secret pal gave me Barbara Walker's 2nd treasury of knitting book, a gift certificate to a LYS in her haunts and a beautiful hand quilted table runner. My santa at home gave me 3 troll beads for my bracelet a shee tape measure and sheep scissor guard, needle sizers (that's what I asked for), a beautiful wood shawl pin and cat bordhi alphabet stitch markers... :-D

We had a lovely visit with the fam yesterday, beautiful church service... home by 3 AM in bed by 4:30 AM kids had us up at 7 AM.

Today friends and their kids came for dinner... they brought lots to eat and we shared great company, food and drink for many hours... always such a pleasure... oh what fun! really I love it!

lucky lucky girl I am..

the most priceless part of the day was DS1 telling me that he was so happy and it was the best Christmas ever. *that* makes it all worthwhile!

ho ho ho

Tonight I made this:


It's from 3 different recycled sweaters. I used the middle and a bit of the bottom of one sweater (the top and toe and heel) and a sleeve from a green sweater and the front of a red sweater. I got the idea from Betz White's book warm fuzzies. I adore that book. As well as her blog. I mean it... I want to be one of these folks who thinks this stuff up!

Anyway it's for the daughter of a woman who subs at my school. BF gives me wool sweaters to frog or felt and keeps my spirit in it's free zone.

I changed the pattern a bit by opting to line the stocking. You can see the Christmas calico in this picture. Then I blanket stitched the calico and top of the stocking together since I didn't attach the cuff the way Betz suggests in the book. I think for next Christmas everyone in our family will have a new stocking. So simple to make and I love how it turned out... and so does DH..... I won't pressure myself to have them finished by this year.

Violet's kimono sweater was finished about 20 minutes before we saw her. I was knitting on the way to church and on the way to their house.. .then seamed it up while we were on the turnpike... sewed on the buttons and wrapped it up. And so the picture I have is a lousy phone picture because I forgot to take the camera along.... (this is the 2nd week in a row... i have to attach that thing to my body or something!) The visit with the cousins was amazing though... the kids all got along great and I love seeing my family... wish they lived closer.

comtemplating NaBloPoMo for this month... how crazy is that????

ho ho ho

Merry Christmas!
Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
Fröhliche Weinachten!

You Can Say "Merry Christmas" in 12 Languages

You can say "Merry Christmas" in: English Spanish Japanese French German Swedish Portuguese Greek Gaelic Hawaiian Korean Latin

How Many Languages Can You Say "Merry Christmas" In?

You get the idea..... Hope your day is merry and bright. I'll post again tomorrow with details of our holiday fun. But now I need to sleep since Santa just left our house. The kids will be up very soon I think!


Enjoy!

helping the economy

this week.

At ACMoore I bought lavender in organza bags for 1.75 each. I bought a bunch! I think 16 bags. For now, they're in the dressers and bags of wool. There's enough of that around my house.

Yesterday, DS2 went with me Joann's (he had no choice) I got polar fleece remnants were 1/2 price for 50% off that price. I have big plans for it! I also got clear glass ornaments to make gifts for next year over vacation with the kids. I may have to go back for more.... they were 50% off... hoping for a deeper mark-down yet.

Old Navy had some great sales.... their polar blankets for $3 each. Crazy I tell you. DH is getting a pair of sweat pants too... Black.. he'll like them I hope.


Today was opening day for my Love2Knit dishcloth exchange (I think it was today... I opened mine this morning) Thank you Amanda so much. I love my goodies. I'll post a picture tomorrow with my other gift (and my school goodies.. well what I haven't eaten of them!)

This is what I sent my partner:

There are 2 tea towels: one plain red and one white with a peppermint candy applique and red and white trim. Her kitchen is red and white.
I also made a candy cane illusion cloth, I included a medium wreath that I made from felted green sweaters, some pig stickers and two magnets I made from little wooden decorations: a starfish and a frog and a skein of green and white kitchen cotton. I hope you enjoy it Connie!

The annual sing went pretty well yesterday. Of course it was the only holiday concert in the district that the new superintendent didn't make. I specifically invited her so I'm a bit plussed. I made one major boo boo though.... forgot to upload the flutophone accompaniment on my iPod, so I played for them which was not as nearly as cool as the whole funk stuff. We sang for an hour... with a powerpoint presentation of 95 slides. Chorus did four of their songs from the winter concert that will now be in January (the day after my birthday) and were great. I really love those kids.

Started mom's knitted gift while wrapping the rest of the family's gifts. I'll post the pictures of theirs after they are gifted.

Have a blessed evening and merry Christmas until tmrw.

what did you do on the 4th?

what a day.....we had plans to go to our friends' house for a picnic and then fireworks. The rain and our schedule of events cancelled out the fireworks.


We're driving along and all of a sudden the battery light goes on..... (mind you the check engine light has been on for about 5 1/2 weeks and nothing has been done about it) a few miles later the ABS light comes on and then the engine starts to rev. I suggested that we pull over... and turn off the car. So DH kindly followed my instructions. Then tried to start the car and it gave that rr, rr, rr sound of a dead battery. So call AAA (thankfully we have AAA+ which tows for 100 miles for free) and I start thinking who can pick the 7 of us up? My brother won my vote and as serendipity would have it (in a bad situation) his van was finished getting fixed, so he just had to pick it up and my nephew followed in his car. They let us have to van to use until ours gets fixed. Mind you, my brother lives 50 miles from me (albeit in the direction we were traveling) but still, he's an Eagle Scout through and through.
We unloaded the car with stuff that we'd need and all the people and parked in someone's front yard along the side of the country highway (a state route... that is fairly busy) and waited for the tow truck, which came pretty quickly once we figured out where we were. Oddly enough after the tow truck took away the car, the people in the house came out and looked a bit puzzled but were very kind in offering their facilities should we need them. My brother and nephew came and rescued us with their van and rabbit (be a better story if they rode in on a mustang, no?) and we continued on our merry way.
I'm curious to know what the problem is and if it's related to the check engine light.

Two of the caterpillars have pupated and one is in the J. The fourth looks about ready. I'd take pictures but the batteries in my camera died and my kids used the rest of the AA batteries in the house, so I'll have to go get more tmrw.

I started this cloth on the way down, finished it at our friend's house and left it for her. I found the idea on ravelry and think it's a brilliant way to use up those scraps of kitchen cotton.

Pattern: Lizard Ridge Dishcloth by Laura Aylor
Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'n Cream
Colors: Delft Blue, Red and White
Needle: US6
Made for: Gaby

There's one goof in it, but I left it go. All in all it's a great patriotic cloth and another wonderful use of the Lizard Ridge pattern. Thanks Laura! :-)

I still haven't finished sock #2. There is about 3 inches left to knit. I should get cracking. Tomorrow, OK technically today, starts the Tour de France and with it the Tour de Fleece... I'll spin up what I have in rolags and hope to card more as well.

And last but not least, some pictures from the Philly zoo yesterday. We bought the family deluxe membership so the kids got to go on all the stuff that was available and we'll have to go back again in the next year (I personally could go there every day!) We arrived around 11:30 and stayed until closing. Suffice it to say that there were 7 very tired people when we got home!










The tree house. This is a very cool large room where everything is oversized even for adults. You can climb up inside the tree and look out at the room. There are giant frogs kids can climb inside. A HUMUNGOUS beehive, gargantuan monarch caterpillars and butterflys, Some dinosaur replicas, a flower seat and more. The kids had a blast here.

There will be more pictures after I steal them from my FIL's camera ;-)