less important things

I've been harvesting yarn like crazy this weekend. Really feeling quite lazy of late. I have 100% cashmere, a blend of 85 silk/15 cashmere and 3 different blends of lambswool/angora rabbit hanging in the downstairs bathroom drying. lovely fibers reclaimed from thrift store sweaters :-)

So last night DD and I started the felted wool wreaths. I found the link here and decided to try ones that were all green. I'll decorate them with red felt flowers and a red ribbon. But that step has yet to come (stole the green idea from my cousin... thanks sarah!) I needed more green because I didn't care for the army green mixed in with the regular green, so we dyed some more sweaters today with food coloring.

All of the sweaters were purchased at thrift stores mostly on half price color days. I didn't get the steal on the rings from Joann's like Sarah did, but really, I can't complain about the cost of these gifts. DH says the jury's still out for him on whether or not he likes it. What do you think?


Just a word of caution. You need to be careful with those rotary cutters. I think this is the 3rd time I've rolled my finger as well. I also really can't be trusted with scissors of late. My poor fingers.





I leave you with the stack. That gives me another idea for a different twist with this idea! Hopefully we'll have enough for a smaller one yet. They are so fun and easy to make. Try it with your kids!

exercise

you right to vote!

The single most important right as an American citizen is the right to make your voice be heard. Speak out and vote this Tuesday, November 4. Polls are open from 7 AM until 8 PM. If you are in line when the polls close, don't leave. You are still allowed to cast your ballot. You cannot be denied this right as a registered voter even if you have unpaid bills, overdue taxes or a foreclosed home.




Please bring with you some sort if ID. This can be:

• a photo ID
  
  • student ID
    
  • Driver's license
    
  • employee ID
    
  • US passport
  
  
  
• non-photo ID
  
  • your paycheck
    
  • utility bill
    
  • bank statement that shows the address where you are registered
  
  
  
• your voter registration card

I wish I knew how to embed a video from youtube into this page, but click this five friends link to see a great non-partisan video with a good messsage.

Oh, a just to help your vote count the way you intend it:
Click here: snopes.com: Voting a Straight Ticket


"Straight Party Voting" Trap. Here are the details and what to do about it:

THE PROBLEM: "Straight party voting" on voting machines is revealing
a bad pattern of miscounting and omitting your vote, especially if you are a Democrat. Most recently (Oct. 2008), a firm called Automated Election Services was found to have miscoded the system in heavily Democratic Santa Fe County, New Mexico such that straight party voters would not have their presidential votes counted.

STRAIGHT PARTY VOTING is allowed in 15 states. Basically, it means that you can take a shortcut to actually looking at who you are voting for and instead just select a party preference. Then the voting machine makes your candidate choices, supposedly for the party you requested.

HOW TO PROTECT THE COUNT against the Straight Party Vote trap:

NEVER CHOOSE THE STRAIGHT PARTY VOTE OPTION, because it alerts the computer as to your party preference and allows software code to trigger whatever function the programmer has designed.

SEND THIS INFORMATION OUT TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN, blog it, root n' toot it out there to get the word out.

ESPECIALLY GET THE WORD OUT TO PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING STATES, which have straight party voting options:

Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin


DEMAND COMPLETE AND CAREFUL TESTING OF THE STRAIGHT PARTY OPTION
IN LOGIC & ACCURACY TESTS

LOOK FOR UNDERVOTES (high profile races with lower-than-average number of votes cast) and flag them, post them, bring them to the attention of others for additional scrutiny.

Voting machine miscounts of straight party votes were proven by California researcher Judy Alter in the 2004 New Mexico presidential election; in Alabama Democrat straight party votes were caught going to a Republican, and Wisconsin a whole slew of straight party votes disappeared altogether. Both DRE and optical scan machines are vulnerable. Private contractors are involved; private firms like LHS Associates, Automated Election Services, Harp Enterprises, Casto & Harris and others will program almost all systems in the USA this November. ES&S scanners were involved in examples cited, but Diebold has also issued a cryptic Product Advisory Notice in 2006 about unexpected results from certain Straight Party option programming practices.


Where do I vote? Google has a US map to help you find out. You enter the address where you are registered and it gives the address of your polling place as well as a map of how to get there.


REGARDLESS WHO YOU ARE SUPPORTING, GET OUT AND VOTE on NOVEMBER 4, 2008

finally

after much consideration and processing of opinions, the verdict was don't be a schmuck, do the embroidery. So I did and it's done! YAY!!!!!! I'm as happy about that as the Phillies winning the world series. I figure that could be once in a lifetime event for me and perhaps this blanket will be as well. Unless my neice has a baby and wants a blankie like this.

So of course, this post will be loaded with shots of the blanket. What would you expect? I feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted off my shoulders and Baby Laura can have her blanket for her trick or treat. Nice Halloween gift, no?


Less that a week after she was born, I gave her 3 pair of the booties I had made during the olympics, included in which was my favorite pair the felted old world booties. Hope that she could wear them. I'd be really happy with this blanket were it for me... hope the baby likes it. Yes those are her initials and birthdate embroidered in the back of the blanket. The thing I really love about this is that it's not 'baby' looking and you could have it as a lap blanket if you wanted. Love the colors and it's a nice weight.

No tmrw night maybe after the brownie party, I'll wind the skeins of yarn so I can start DHs Christmas vest.

shiver me timbers!

DH got ready for his women's chorus rehearsal tonight and their annual Halloween dress-up. I have a matching wench costume for Halloween... not that we're going anywhere, but you never know!

I've decided to do the knots and the running stitches... hope it's done by Friday.
I have a lot of school work to do tonight, so I think I'll be up for a long time tonight... well the computer has most of the work to do, so I can work on the embroidery then.

I'm still thinking about the horror movies for 10 on Tuesday... I may add that to the post later.

on the fence

about whether or not to add the embroider touches to this blanket. You can see the original pattern here And this is my version, maybe, so far:

Wild Stripes by Kristin Goedert
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish DK (superwash merino)
Colors: asparagus, beach glass, cornflower, dusk, frost, grain heather, jade, maple leaf, moss, skyborne, storm, terra cotta
Needle: US5
Fabric Backing: I'll have to look it up
Piping: Wrights Maxi Piping
Recipient: Baby Laura

So what's your take should I add the french knots and running stitches or leave it be?
Here's the backside of the blanket to help you decide.

I started cutting up some squares tonight for those felted wreaths. I dyed a white thrift store sweater green last Sunday ibefore felting it in preparation for this. Friday night I used my 50% off coupon at Joann's to buy a self healing cutting mat to use for the project. I have a rotary cutter from mom's stuff (thanks mom) that and electric scissors should be helpful in all the projects in line for Christmas.

I was at the thrift sotre this weekend with the boys. I gave them the job of scoping out for the yellow tags (color of the day for 50% off) They were really helpful and so proud when they found a sweater I'd buy. They've learned that mommy doesn't want polyester or acrylic and right now I'm not looking for cotton. I found for myself a brand new with tags Eddie Bauer cardigan in a camel kind of tweed that is a lambswool/nylon/cashmere blend for a whopping $5. It's a tad tight to button, but I'm not planning on wearing it that way. It's also got this cool very open cable thing going on. I love it! And a 1000% lambswool flannel grey color mock turtle from United Colors of Benetton for $3. I'm sure I'll get lots of use from that. The aran cable hand knit Irish sweater I bought last week for $3 has served me well already. I love it. It's so cozy and warm I wear it ALL the time. Someone felted it so it's virtually windproof.

I really need to finish the soup and go to bed. I'm feeling tired and would like to be asleep before DS2 wakes me up in the middle of the night. I should be grading papers, but eh! At lesat the plans are done!

I realized I never posted pictures of last weekends pumpking picking. We took two children of friends along with us. Actually the siblings of the recipient of Wild Stripes. She's still a bit young to be picking pumpkins. All the kids had a blast. Now to carve a couple. I want to try the technique in which you don't pierce the whole pumpkin, just shave off outside layers so it's translucent. I should have some time to do all that if I don't sleep at all this week!

I'll try to post on Friday... but in case I miss, happy halloween!

still alive

I've been busy finishing Wild Stripes. The knitting is done. I've wrestled with the backing for a couple of days now.. I think it's high time I follow the pattern instructions. Step one is to block the correct size. I'm really sick of this blanket and can't wait to get it out of the house!

I've also been harvesting yarn from thrift store finds like crazy. I think I've finished 5 sweaters. So there's plenty of yarn to knit from.

The last thing I've been doing is contemplating Christmas gifts. I want to devote most of my knitting time to DH's vest knit with my handspun. So I have some other ideas for gifts up my sleeve that I hope will be well received. I know I'd love it if someone gave this gift to me. Then after the holiday I'll finish the BSJ that's been hanging around and see if there's enough wool for the poncho (I can't believe I may have messed up my calculations on that one) And of course there are socks to be knit!

On Saturday we took all 3 kids plus 2 more to the pumpkin patch. We have more pumpkins that I care to think about. But I did get one gourd that was already dried (from last season I guess) that I want to knit a beaded cover for to make it an axatse. I figure, it's a relatively cheap way to get a cool instrument and the kids at school will be so itrigued if I take it there to do the work.

I have no pictures to put in because those from the weekend aren't uploaded yet.

I'm really tired these days. Tired and weary and just plum empty. Hope I get some kind of mojo rejuvenation soon!

small pleasures

First g-girl gave me this award a bit ago and I haven't posted it or paid it forward so it's high time that happened.

The rules are:
1- Post the award on your blog.

2- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.

3- Nominate at least 4 other bloggers and add their links:


I'm nominating:
Cathy, knittin fun, miss liz, jennifer, and fleegle


My cousins daughter came to visit today with her daughter and we went thrift shopping for wool sweaters. We hit the Salvation Army and American Family Services. I came away with a pile to felt and a pile to frog.



All but one of this pile to frog has cashmere (one 100% and the others a blend with wool and some nylon or else blended with silk) and the other is extra fine merino. So I'm hitting with some fine fiber. Just need some time now to frog and knit!

I also got a 100% white cotton bedsheet and a 100% white cotton tablecloth to turn into curtains for my room in the new building. I'll tie dye them once the curtains are sewn. Last time I found that they wanted $24 for a set of sheets. These were $6 for everything (just one sheet though, not a set).

I was thrifting last weekend and scored some cashmere as well. That and some merino. I should be set for quite some time now.

And we had 28 guests on Saturday for DS2s party. It was a full house. Since the weather was beautiful (75° F) we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. I made potato salad, carrot raisin salad, 4 bean salad and spinach with strawberry salad as well as deviled eggs. It felt like summer. I hope everyone had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't make the cake, but it tastes great and looked phenomenal. And my son was in awe!

Yes he's still a Thomas fan. And I'm happy for that.


OK.. off to finish some work and maybe, just maybe the knitting on the wild stripes blanket (finally... I'm really tired of knitting it!)

happy birthday baby boy

I can't believe you're 4 years old today. Where did the time go? I'd put a picture on here of him as a baby, but they're on the other computer... I really need to spend the time to organize them all.


Here's his cake for the day


His family party will be next weekend. my baby boy is growing up!

opening day

I waited and waited for today so that I could open my package from my exchange partner Sue. Here's what she sent!

TWO dishcloths (candy corn illusion and a jack-o-lantern), black and orange stitch markers (yay!) and candy corn. Thank you so much Sue. I hope you enjoyed your package

This is what I sent:


The cloth alone:

Pattern: Skully by BlackRayne
Yarn: Peaches and Cream
Color: Beige(?)
Needle: US6

I took another picture of the front porch spider but this time from the underside. It looks just like the spider hanging outside the boys room from underneath. I'll probably never see the top side of the upper room spider.

The carpet came for my room in the new school. The librarian took it before I got there. The secretary fixed it all up though :-) Gotta love that girl. So tmrw I should have a nice carpet for my kiddos to sit on. YAY!

ten on tuesday

10 things that scare/freak you out:

• the state of the US economy
  
• the fact that some of my students could well be my caregiver when I'm old and in some home
  
• what little sense many people use
  
• that some people may actually vote for the McCain/Palin ticket
  
• that Congress defeated the bill for the bail out
  
• that the money I've invested for my children's education and our retirement is worth less now that when I invested it (i should have put it under the mattress)
  
• what will be left of the earth for my grandchildren to enjoy
  
• horror flicks with religious undertones (or overtones)
  
• my weight
  
• this list
  

i should also add

• something bad happening to my kids or DH
  
• heights... well actually falling from said height
  
• losing a loved one without being able to say goodbye
  
• not living up to what I was put on earth to do
  
• missing seeing my kids grow up
  

OK that was 15 for the week.... guess I'm just a scaredey cat

arachnids

Halloween is around the corner so I thought I'd share our resident spiders found outside the house and I hate to disturb nature, but thought someone might be able to ID them
Found on the front porch with prey spun up:



Found hanging out at the boys window (It looks like an orb weaver, but doesn't eat its web):


with flash for details:

I'm thinking that this is an Araneus diadematus more commonly known as one of the orb weaver spiders or European Garden spider (even though we're not in Europe)

now this I like!

I'm a Mercedes SLK!

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Yesterday I stopped at 2 thrift stores looking for 100% cotton sheets to tie dye and make curtains for my room in the new school so I wouldn't have to look into the messy storage area the custodians have... no luck. Only found cotton/poly blends which don't dye so well. I'll keep my eyes open. But I did find a men's L American Eagle Outfitter sweater in a dark terra cotta tweed that was cable knit. It was marked 4.99 but the tag was the color of the day so it was 50% off. I frogged it and got 1365 yards of sportweight yarn that is 80% lambswool and 20% nylon for $2.50! I think it will make great felted pumpkins and may mix it with a bit of orange (I'll ply them together) from my stash. The color kinds of reminds me a lot of Peace Fleece's Sheplova Mushroom

I'm 2/3 of the way through wild stripes. If I had knitted instead of harvesting yesterday I may have been finished. Just needed a break from all that stockinette.

It's pouring rain today. I was going to work in the garden. Should have done that yesterday I guess. Oh well

at least

I'm as smart as an 8th grade science student

Created by OnePlusYou Free Dating Sites

Still working on wild stripes. My job is wearing me out. I can't stay awake at night to knit. Therefore, I have, unfortunately, nothing to show :-( Those little kids really wear me out!

wierdness

so the pitch pipe pouch I made Mom for her birthday was absconded by the director of here woman's singing group. The director sent (through mom) a thank you note for it. Mom, why don't you just tell her that it was YOUR birthday gift. well anyway, I guess I'll be making another.

we got to see the niece and her DH (and their friends) today. Haven't seen them since before they moved to England. The SIL was there too... all those crazy Americans living far far away!

And yesterday we finally met Mabel. DS1 was enthralled with her. It was really fun to watch him interact with a baby. SO different that we're used to.

I'm pooped... no pictures even though DH and I took a beginning DSLR class for Olympia on Saturday. It was very well presented but I didnt' learn what I wanted to learn. Guess I have to go to the intermediate class for that... all the technical stuff about F stop and aperture, etc. and how it affects your pictures (or I could just play with the camera and figure it out myself)

ANd the week begins again. Sunday evenings depress me!

quickie

post that is....

Today was another hellish day, well at least it started that way. I forgot the keys to the Elementary Center, not the end of the world, but a bit of an inconvenience. I spilled coffee down the front of my white sweater and then while making a U turn, I ran into the curb a tiny bit but blew out the tire.... then DS2 decided (while I was still in the hallway at school) to go into my office. His morning routine is to draw on the chalkboard... which is fine, but not with the black marker that he chose this morning. Fortunately, I got it all off while it was still wet. Then we had Officer Phil come in. So I missed 2 classes... why am I complaining, you might ask? Cuz I much rather be teaching than sitting in an assembly (not once, but twice) Oh well. Lily, tomorrow will be better (thank you Kevin Henkes and Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse)

I forgot stuff at the older school and had to walk back over during my only free 20 minutes to get it.

On to better stuff. This is the yarn I won at Kathleen Taylors site. Purty isn't it? I'm thinking a BSJ jacket or perhaps mixing it with Lambs Pride Cotton Fleece for a stripey blanket.


Recently finished (and already gifted) were these booties:

Pattern: Grandmas' Favorite Booties from the 2007 Pattern a Day Calendar (May 26/27) by Doreen L Marquat
Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend (75% recycled cotton)
Color: Almond
Needle: US6
Recipient: Grandbaby Smale

There should be an additional Purl row (row 20) before the instep shaping is begun. I noticed this the first time I made these booties (and didn't add it) so I made sure to put it in this time.

The package all together looks pretty good if I have to say so myself. The baby will be delivered via c-section Monday morning, so I gave the gift to grammy yesterday at school.

Still working on the wild stripes and that baby was delivered today..oops. For some reason, I have been sleeping like crazy (read going to bed before 10) That has to stop now.

I got Warm Fuzzies in the mail today. Can't wait to make something from it from those many sweaters I have in the basement that won't be frogged!


Brownies (and their siblings) went apple picking this evening at Strawberry Acres. Everyone had so much fun. They had a little lesson before hand, then rode the open bus to the fields. We saw a deer on the way back. Then pet the animals (bunnies, goats and llamas) and then played on the turbo tube. Of course, I forgot the camera. I hope Heather mails me some photos!

What a girl. She was reading my mind and sent a ton! Thank you. But this by far is the funniest of many of the moms

Can you guess which animal I chose to put my face on?

gotta go play mom

Top 100 Songs Meme
Being a musician I felt the urge to do this meme! rhoda had this up on her blog and I thought why not?

The rules:
A.) Go to music outfitters

B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year

C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate

Top 100 Hits of 1977/Top 100 Songs of 1977


1. Tonight's The Night, Rod Stewart
2. I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Andy Gibb
3. Best Of My Love, Emotions
4. Love Theme From "A Star Is Born", Barbra Streisand
5. Angel In Your Arms, Hot
6. I Like Dreamin', Kenny Nolan
7. Don't Leave Me This Way, Thelma Houston
8. (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher, Rita Coolidge
9. Undercover Angel, Alan O'Day
10. Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary MacGregor
11. I'm Your Boogie Man, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
12. Dancing Queen, Abba
13. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Leo Sayer
14. Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet
15. Telephone Line, Electric Light Orchestra
16. Whatcha Gonna Do?, Pablo Cruise
17. Do You Wanna Make Love, Peter McCann
18. Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder
19. Hotel California, Eagles
20. Got To Give It Up, Pt. 1, Marvin Gaye
21. Theme From "Rocky" (Gonna Fly Now), Bill Conti
22. Southern Nights,, Glen Campbell
23. Rich Girl, Daryl Hall and John Oates
24. When I Need You, Leo Sayer
25. Hot Line, Sylvers
26. Car Wash, Rose Royce
27. You Don't Have To Be A Star, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
28. Fly Like An Eagle, Steve Miller Band
29. Don't Give Up On Us, David Soul
30. On And On, Stephen Bishop - I would double bold this.. .I LOVED this song
31. Feels Like The First Time, Foreigner
32. Couldn't Get It Right, Climax Blues Band
33. Easy, Commodores
34. Right Time Of The Night, Jennifer Warnes
35. I've Got Love On My Mind, Natalie Cole
36. Blinded By The Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band
37. Looks Like We Made It, Barry Manilow
38. So In To You, Atlanta Rhythm Section
39. Dreams, Fleetwood Mac
40. Enjoy Yourself, Jacksons
41. Dazz, Brick
42. I'm In You, Peter Frampton
43. Lucille, Kenny Rogers
44. The Things We Do For Love, 10cc
45. Da Doo Ron Ron, Shaun Cassidy
46. Handy Man, James Taylor
47. Just A Song Before I Go, Crosby, Stills and Nash
48. You And Me, Alice Cooper
49. Slow Dancin', Johnny Rivers
50. Lonely Boy, Andrew Gold
51. I Wish, Stevie Wonder
52. Don't Stop, Fleetwood Mac
53. Barracuda, Heart
54. Strawberry Letter 23, Brothers Johnson
55. Night Moves, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
56. You're My World, Helen Reddy
57. Heard It In A Love Song, Marshall Tucker Band
58. Carry On Wayward Son, Kansas
59. New Kid In Town, Eagles
60. My Heart Belongs To Me, Barbra Streisand
61. After The Lovin', Engelbert Humperdinck
62. Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band
63. Stand Tall, Burton Cummings
64. Way Down, Elvis Presley
65. Weekend In New England, Barry Manilow
66. It Was Almost Like A Song, Ronnie Milsap
67. Smoke From A Distant Fire, Sanford Townsend Band
68. Cold As Ice, Foreigner
69. Ariel, Dean Friedman
70. Lost Without Your Love, Bread
71. Star Wars Theme-Cantina Band, Meco
72. Float On, Floaters
73. Jeans On, David Dundas
74. Lido Shuffle, Boz Scaggs
75. Keep It Comin' Love, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
76. You Made Me Believe In Magic, Bay City Rollers
77. Livin' Thing, Electric Light Orchestra
78. Give A Little Bit, Supertramp
79. That's Rock 'N' Roll, Shaun Cassidy
80. Love So Right, Bee Gees
81. The Rubberband Man, Spinners
82. I Never Cry, Alice Cooper
83. Nobody Does It Better, Carly Simon
84. High School Dance, Sylvers
85. Love's Grown Deep, Kenny Nolan
86. Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman), Joe Tex
87. I Wanna Get Next To You, Rose Royce
88. Somebody To Love, Queen
89. Muskrat Love, Captain and Tennille
90. Walk This Way, Aerosmith
91. Whispering-Cherchez La Femme-C'est Si Bon, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
92. Year Of The Cat, Al Stewart
93. Boogie Nights, Heatwave
94. Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac
95. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Elton John
96. Don't Worry Baby, B.J. Thomas
97. Knowing Me, Knowing You, Abba
98. How Much Love, Leo Sayer
99. Star Wars (Main Title), London Symphony Orchestra
100. Devil's Gun, C.J. and Co.


I have to admit, there are some on here I don't even remember! I think I often listened to music that was NOT popular during that time.

10 on tuesday

10 simple things that make you happy:

• my morning coffee
  
• kisses from my kids
  
• chores completed by surprise by someone else
  
• yarn
  
• simple knitting notions
  
• comments left on my blog
  
• compliments
  
• finding a great bargain
  
• simple surprises
  
• being reminded that i'm loved
  

eating my words

so I know I just won that gorgeous necklace and lo and behold, Kathleen Taylor leaves a comment on my post to tell me that I won 2 skeins of Knitpicks main line yarn from her blog! I can't stand the excitement (OK I really can, I am getting the winning bug) I am dumbstruck, at a loss for words (and for me that's saying quite a lot!)

Kathleen blogs about her passions: knitting (including many free patterns on freebie fridays), music, books and paper dolls. She's the author of Knit One, Felt Two and I Heart Felt and Yarns to Dye For and her prayer shawl pattern is on the cover of the Prayer Shawl book (soon to be released) Go visit and say hi!

Today was a LOONG day... first the coffee grinder stopped working... before the coffee was made. That had the makings of a bad start to the week. I spent 30 minutes trying to get it going, but alas I believe the motor is burned out. This is our 2nd sunbeam doffee grinder in 2 years. DH asked if I had time to stop at the local kisok for a mug but no I had spent too much time trying to fix the grinder. Then the car I usually take on Mondays was out of gas, (no I didn't leave it that way) so I did what any wife would do and took the other car! Fortunately I didn't have to sub for the fifth grade teacher again this afternoon (that was Friday...took any and all free time I had) there was someone there for the whole day.

I made mom a pouch for her pitch pipe... forgot to take a picture of it though... maybe I can get a picture next weekend. And I hope the pitchpipe fits in it. From sock yarn that I made my Charade socks in.

Hopefully, with any luck and some staying awake tonight, I'll finish the pair of baby booties to go along with the sweater and hat.

Wild stripes is coming along about 1/3 of the knitting. The baby will be born on Thursday. Thankfully, it's too warm to need this blankie, so I'll just tell its mom and dad that the gift is still gestating!

Maybe pictures in my next post??

Oh and I got my package from my love2knit dishcloths exchange partner today. Question is can I wait until Oct 1st to open it???

I also bought some Spunky Eclectic sock yarn off a ravelry member. It's in her harvest colorway and I have the perfect pair of socks to knit for it. I found the pattern after I had one monkey sock finished. A pattern that I was looking for but didn't have of leaves because I thought that colorway would make great fall leaf socks. Well I wasn't going to rip out a whole sock, not during the olympics, so when I saw this yarn I knew I had to buy it. It's a beautiful varigation of greens, golds, browns and oranges, perfect for fall leaves. Now to dig out the pattern (even though I should be knitting Christmas gifts right now!)

I'm almost finished sewing the patches on DD's new brownie sash. I think I'll save the numbers for tmrw night. No sense in getting them done too early before the next meeting (LOL)

My colleague captaincosmic and I were choosing music for our joint spring concert which will be on Earth Day and hopefully in the town park. natch the theme for the concert is Earth Day related. I used to have this Sesame Street Tape called We are all Earthlings, but alas about 7 years ago it broke. I was looking for the tape to buy online and the only place I could find it was amazon for almost $50.00 yup you read that right fifty for a cassette that is 15 years old. Needless to say, I wasn't about to spend that on it. Fortunately some thrifty friends on ravelry pointed me to youTube and there I found video clips of the songs we were interested in using. Here's on of my absolute faves:
Love the Ocean
(if anyone can tell me how to drop the video in, I'd appreciate it!)

some fo's and a prize

first my prize!

remember back here I talked about how I won a prize on the net and I never win anything? Well here's a picture of said prize:

gorgeous isn't it? It's my birthstone in the center.

The giveaway's current prize is a Custom Postman Display Cabinet from Black Mountain Furniture You've got to check it out!

now for the knitting stuff. I left the wild stripes blanket at school by mistake on Friday. So I opted for knitting for a different baby!

Pattern: Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend
Color: Linen Marl
Needle: US6
Modifications: seamed so that the reverse stockinette is the right side!

and


Pattern: Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch
Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend
Color: Almond
Needle: US6
recipient: grandbaby Smale

I have baby booties on the needles right now to go along with all this. Mom is being induced Sept 22. Of course, the wild stripes baby is being induced Sept 19.. guess the needles better start flying!

Monday night I fell asleep with the kids, Tuesday night as well after a late meet the teacher night. Tonight I think I'll stay awake... lots to knit and grades to do!

thrift hit

I hit American Family Services at their Easton store today while in the area doing some errands and came home with 4 sweaters :-)


Christopher Hayes XL men's 100% wool sweater made in Ireland. I love the colors of this sweater although this picture doesn't do them justice. This one cost $1.91!







A brand new men's XL Gap 100% wool in red 4x2 ribbing. It was only $4.94. I offered it to DH but he doesn't do sweaters. So to the frog pond it goes!









Another new sweater, this one is an Eddie Bauer Men's XXL 55 lambswool/45 acrylic. I had to give $2.92 for this one. I'll probably overdye it, although I'm not too sure.










A Woolrich mens XL 100% wool pullover. I'm wondering if this could make great hunting socks. This was the best bargain as I only paid $1.91 for it.





I also got DD a potholder loom kit for less than $4. She's busy making one right now!


Last weekend I stopped at Good will and picked up a couple gems as well. This is a Simpson & Reed men's M 100% virgin wool. It really feels silky. I had to pay $2.92 for this one.









This one is 100% silk and is a men's M manufactured by Tullo. It has a mock turtleneck. I'll need to be very careful frogging this one. It was a bit expensive at $4.99. If it's too thin I may use it to ply with something else.









I also bought this Alfani XXL men's extra fine merino placket sweater. This was expensive at $3.99


I was making real headway on Wild Stripes until I left it at school on Friday.. argh I hate stupid moves like that. So this weekend I'm working on a baby kimono for someone elses baby. Will make a hat and booties to go along with that.

well off to put my baby to bed. He's feeling a bit under the weather and needs some extra loving.

happy wednesday

I missed ten on tuesday by an hour or so.. oh well.

I took another picture of my bottle socks but both filled with their respective bottles. I have to say, I used one today at work and it was fantastic. I set my ice cold drink down on the piano sans worries of leaving water marks AND it kept my drink cold all afternoon (and we don't have AC at school)

One week in, 35 to go.... I have to admit, I'm envious of my friends that are retiring this year. Although I get much more accomplished when I'm working. It forces me to stick to a schedule and I'm much more productive. I picked the winter repertoire tonight for the chorus concert. The theme is snow. I'm going to try to make snowflakes to hang from the gym ceiling. And I'll make a power point of all snow slides... guess it doesn't hurt to start collecting now. Why wait until the last minute?


DD took a piano lesson today. She had a 2 year hiatus, in which time her original teacher moved. She's really showing an interest now though and I don't feel as if we're pushing her but that she wants to do it. She'll be a busy girl this year, which I think will be great for her. Piano, brownies and gymnastics. Maybe it's what we all need in order to keep some sanity in this house.

I CO for a baby kimono tonight in recycled cotton yarn. Then I realized I didn't get enough. I'll have to stop at ACMoore tmrw on the way home to pick up one more skein. What a shame! Guess I should go print out a coupon now!

I finished washing up Shasta tonight and took a small hunk and flicked it. My what a lovely fleece. I wish I had more time to spin and knit, but that's life.

I'm busy picking out my next sock pattern as well. I'm leaning toward Pomatomus, another Cookie A sock. Although I just bought the book 2 at a time socks with a 40% off coupon at Michael's so maybe I'll choose one from the book and try my hand at knitting 2 at a time. (I wish my knitpicks order would get here already!)

I have some sock yarn coming from ebay as well as some purewool (both worsted and sock weight) - remember sockyarn stash doesn't count - so I'm thinking it's gonna be a sock Christmas (mom, don't tell anyone!) Especially if I get this 2 at the same time thing going! I'm also thinking I should be spinning sockweight. This romney cross would probably wear really well!

off work on labor day

is that a oxymoron?

DH and DD went to the first annual Labor Day parade in town. He said it was kind of pathetic and extremely short. DD was happy cuz they threw candy to the kids.

This afternoon we all went to the pool for the last time of the season. About a month ago I 'misplaced' DS2 and my membership cards, so DH was taking the kids usually 2 at a time without me. Today while going through his fanny pack, looking for change for DD for the snack bar, I found our cards. He had insisted that they weren't there, but I could have sworn I had put them there. I had looked all over the house and couldn't find them so I chalked it up to 'the borrowers' Go figure... oh well at least I know I'm not nuts!

After dinner DH and DD went to the grocery store and I set about to do some more chores, like cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry etc. Earlier in the day I was straightening up a corner in the basement so tonight I decided to wash up some fleece. This is a Romney/BFL/BL cross I bought last fall and had only washed about half of it. The total fleece weight is 7 lbs raw. I got it from a semi-local farm where the shepherdess shears the sheep with hand scissors... not hand shears, scissors like we're talking little Fiskars that are the size of embroidery scissors. I MUST go see this sometime. She harness trains them. Anyway, there are NO second cuts and the fleece is really quite clean. Two washes and a rinse and it came out looking like this. I am really happy. Can't wait to spin Shasta! The locks are long and lovely. Reminds me a bit of Fuzzy (my first fleece) but only softer.

I finished the cloth for my exchange partner. I'll pack up the goodies and mail it to her this week! It was a fun knit. I'll post pics in a month on Opening Day.

Back to work tmrw. At least it's a short week!

hmmmm... will this really work?

water bottle sock by ME!
yarn: some cheap yarn (100% wool and very scratchy) bought from ebay
colors: apple green and turquoise
needles: US10 dpns (set of 5)


I've had a few requests for the pattern so here you go! I wanted to post a .pdf file, but don't know how to do that on blogger. Any body give me some advice?

Be prepared to do some math.

Use your yarn scraps to knit up a nice sleeve for your bottle to protect your furniture and keep a firm grip with hands dry

My bottle measures 9.25” in circumference
The height from the bottom to where I wanted the cozy to end is 3.5”
The radius of the base is 1.5 inches

Use a needle 2 to 3 sizes larger than one that you would usually use for your desired yarn weight. This gives the knitted fabric room to shrink.


• Knit a swatch. I CO 30 stitches on US10 needles and knit until my swatch was 4”
tall, which was 18 rows
• Felt said swatch
(mine could have been felted more, which means I need to felt my cozy more as
well I think)
•Measure the swatch to get your felted gauge.
In my case the swatch after felting measured 7” wide by 3” high

Now it’s math time. Proportions to be precise


CIRCUMFERENCE
7/30 = 9.25/x Here x = 39 with a remainder
width of felted swatch/# of stitches CO = circum./# of stitches needed
I rounded up to 40 stitches for CO to make the decreases in the bottom more even.


HEIGHT
3/18 = 3.5/x here x =21
height of felted swatch/# of rows = height desired /# of rows needed
I rounded up to 22 to make a Fibonacci series possible


BASE
3/18 = 1.5/x x = 9
This is for the amount of rows needed to decrease to produce bottom.
The larger your bottles radius the more rows you may need



Tools needed:
•DPNs or circular needle(s) in the size you have determined to suit your yarn for felting
•100% wool yarn (or something that will full when washed)
I used 2 colors, you may choose to use more than that or a single color.
•Darning needle for weaving in ends




So for me,

Circumference at sides (like the leg of a sock)
•CO 40 in CC on a US10 needle
•Join in the round, (You can place a marker here if you wish, I just leave the tail and use that as a marker, use whatever method suits you, dpns, magic loop, 2 circs, because the circumference will most likely be small that you’re knitting) and knit 2 rounds
•Change to MC (I carried the CC up the side rather than break it and need to weave in ends) and K 1 round
•Change to CC and knit 2 rounds
•Change to MC, knit 3 rounds
•Change to CC, knit 5 rounds (you can break CC off at end of 5th round and weave in as you knit the next row)
•Change to MC knit 8 rounds

Preparing for Base this helps it stand evenly
•Purl 1 round

Decreases in Base
•[K6, K2together] five times
•K one round
•[K5, K2together] five times
•K one round
•[K4, K2together] five times
•[K3, K2together] five times
•[K2, K2together] five times
•[K1, K2together] five times
•[K2together] five times
•bring yarn end through all five stitches draw tight.
•Weave in ends




Place in zippered pillowcase and fill washer to low setting with HOT water, add small amt of detergent, and place a pair of jeans in washer for agitation. Wash on most vigorous setting. Rinse with COLD water.

I always spin mine out before checking (I know, bad idea, bad habit) This particular yarn took 2 and will need a third wash for my desired amount of felting to occur. Paton’s or Cascade will felt much more readily, so be careful.

To dry, I placed my water bottle in the cozy so that it would conform to the desired shape.

Drink up!

© Carole Burkhardt
All rights reserved.
Please do not post this pattern on any website or sell this pattern without the owners consent. You may link back to this page for pattern distribution
Products made from this pattern may be sold as long as credit is given.

our family

found this little fun toy. You should go check out all they have that you can play with

more booties????

Pattern: Bernat Cot'n Corn Booties
Yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky
Color: Blue
Needle: US7
Recipient: Ulysses
These will be sent to Spain with the tri-jester hat and some family hand knits for DH's cousins baby. Hopefully she'll appreciate all the love in the package that we're sending. Some things were made for our boys and a few were also made for our daughter. Plus these new items. Gotta keep that little fella warm! They were talking about going back to Argentina, but now that's up in the air.

Also worked on these cozies this weekend for my 2 water bottles. They still have some felting to finish. One water bottle is for the 'new' school. Because I'll bring water from home in its frozen state. That bottle has apple green trim. The other bottle is in the 'old' (read preferred) school where there is a Deer Park cooler. That bottle has turquoise trim. I think they'll be perfect. I actually wrote the pattern, so if anyone is interested I can post it!

I started the wild stripes blanket, but have to wait for the colors I didn't have to be delivered. When I first had the idea I got other colors to substitute, but now I see colors on Knitpicks that are closer to the ones in the blanket on Knitty and I like better, so I ordered them. They were sent out on Friday. Hope they get here soon.

I signed up for a dishcloth exchange of the Love2KnitDishcloths yahoo group. I wasn't going to do it, then regretted not doing it, then saw a post that they needed someone to be a partner for a member, so I thought why not? I'm psyched. Picked out my pattern, have the yarn and already bought the goodies to be sent in the package. Of course I can't reveal until opening day (Oct 1) which will kill me... but oh well.

OK... gonna to see if the felting is done. Happy crafting

tomatoes from heaven

this year, I unfortunately planted nothing in my garden, save a few herb plants. Low and behold though, several cherry tomato plants popped up; volunteers, as my friend Gene would call them. I *love* tomatoes, in any form, but fresh picked are my favorite and ones that I can pop into my mouth whole are the best! This was today's harvest. Doesn't your mouth water just looking at them??

On my way out of school this afternoon, I heard rain. No, not from outside, from one of the empty classrooms. Apparently the guys fixing the air conditioning aren't doing such a great job. The ceiling was open and the water was pouring out of it onto the carpeted floor. Apparently this isn't the first time this has happened of late because there was a dehumidifier in the room and the carpeting has huge stains on it. I called up to the office to alert them. The custodial staff scurried down to the room along with our building principal. That poor man has enough to worry about between the 2 buildings. So when you think your day is bad, it could be worse. Be happy for the little things like tomatoes from heaven!

10 on tuesday

list the 10 things you didn't like about school

1. waking up early (still don't)
2. catty girls (still don't)
3. dressing the part (still don't)
4. assignments I wasn't interested in
5. the bathrooms (that smelled of cigarette smoke)
6. the popularity contests (still don't play them)
7. my frosh roommate
8. the morning after the frat parties
9. physics 101 (it was at 8 AM after all)
10. teachers who made you feel inferior (and I pray I'm not one of those)

day 2

of school. Yesterday went without a hitch. I was at the new building all day. I think I may have a permanent home there (well for the time that I spend there, that is) When I left on Friday afternoon, I had no idea where I'd be teaching Monday morning. But there is a lovely room with little chairs and desks that would occasionally come in handy and an empty space large enough to do lots of moving around with those little 5 and 6 year old cherubs. To say I was tired at the end of 8 classes and morning and afternoon bus duty, would have been an understatement. I really wanted to come home and sleep, but that wasn't in the cards. DS2 decided that he was a big boy and big boys didn't go to bed at reasonable times. He talked himself awake until 11 PM (yes, there was a nap for him at daycare) so I got to do my schoolwork until 1:30AM...that made 6AM come really fast.

Today, I was in my freshly painted room in the old building. It's really a joy to be there. My students love the new look. I taught 5 classes there, grades 2 through 6, ate lunch and then went back to teach 1st and Kindergarten. This afternoon was a walk through fire drill. Just one problem, the PA system doesn't work in my room so I never got the call to do the drill. So the joke was that the KDG kids and the music teacher were charred. Personally, I was just as happy not to have my lesson interrupted and their teacher can walk them through tmrw at the real drill!


I came home and in my e-mail in box was notification that I won the 34th Mommy Giveaway for the Circle of Love Necklace from Heart on Your Wrist! from "The Giveaway" (the link to this cool giveaway site is also in my sidebar.... go check it out!) What a great surprise! I've never won anything on the net before, so this is really exciting for me. DD was almost as happy as me.

Now that the ravelympics are over, I have some projects to do. Small ones include a cozy for my stainless water bottles (one at each school) and some dishcloths for the sinks in the room (to wash my lunch dishes of course), some baby bibs for those September babes and wild stripes. All of which, of course, I have the yarn for. The last one I have some alternate colors for because when I ordered the yarn from Knitpicks long ago they didn't have the same colors (I ordered it in swish DK instead of the merino style because it's superwash.) Tonight I revisited and found some of the colors and other better substitutes so I had to remedy the situation and got myself some circs in both harmony and metal so I can do toe up socks on 2 circs. (a technique I just learned doing one of the baby booty patterns for the ravelympics.

OK... I MUST put these kids to bed and do some school work.
happy crafting