o n e s c r a p p y g i r l

S o T h i s I s L o v e

2011-08-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Last night we celebrated Tim's grandparents 60th anniversary. It was a lovely evening. There were many photos of course.

Grandma and Grandpa with their children

With their grandchildren, minus one grandson. We missed you Jon.

With their great grandchildern, minus Jon's daughter.

Just our little fifth of the family... we are the largest fifth. That's grandma and grandpa, their second son and his wife (my wonderful in-laws), their four children with spouses and seven grand children plus another on the way.

I snapped this one of T & Me with my phone. Love this man. December marks 15 years of wedded bliss... looking forward to what the next 45+ will bring.

The Cat's Away... AKA Home Refurb

2011-07-26T23:58:00.000-05:00

The Hub's on another business trip. Actually, it's been like a year since he has gone anywhere so I can't complain. My original plan was to clean the crap out of the house while he was gone. Less than two hours after we dropped him off at the airport I had purchased the steam cleaner of my dreams and made up a plan of attack to complete a room a day. Yesterday was the kitchen so no need for the new carpet steamer. All was going well until I moved the kitchen chairs into the living room so I could mop. Before moving them back some sandpaper found it's way into my hand and before I knew it I had sanded a whole chair (what, before I knew it??? It took me more than 3 hours). I woke up sore this morning but committed. I have to finish these chairs before he gets home. I even remembered to take a before photo...

(do I really have that much crap on my fridge?)

I have to finish them before he gets home because when I've mentioned the desire to paint them in the past he has looked at me like I'm crazy. Maybe it's my lack of finishing projects or maybe it's that he doesn't think there is anything wrong with them. Who knows. Here's my half of the argument:

I've abused this one by using it as a step stool too often.

His half of the argument... well maybe this quarter finished chair... or this half finished chair... or the lack of curtains in our kitchen... the ones I started in the spring but still have yet to finish. He complains about not being able to walk in the kitchen in his underwear and it is an issue since we share a back yard with another family.

He'll be home in 3 days.. fingers crossed!

So proud...

2011-07-24T10:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Patrick's baseball team had their end of the season celebration at on of the area's local water park. Trophies were presented. When Patrick received his trophy coach also gave him the game ball from his very first hit. I'm still a little choked up about it. It's been 3 long seasons. That hit meant more to us than words can describe. So proud of you P. I hope someday you realize how amazing you are.

If It Makes Me Happy!

2011-07-17T23:42:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the cheesy blog title.. ok, all my blog titles are cheesy. T and I went to see Kid Rock with Sheryl Crow last night with a few friends. We had a great time which has brought me to a few conclusions:

We should go see Kid Rock next time he is in concert again.
We should go to more concerts. Live music is the best.
We need to hang out with the couple we went with more often. Last night was our second official "date" with them.

A few of the things that are making me happy lately are:

Almond Butter with apples. I tried not to focus in too much on the almond butter because it's appearance is questionable, but trust me, it's some yummy stuff.

Quilting and sewing. Really though, it's all about the quilting right now. It is actually really surprising to me because as much as I enjoy quilts I've had no desire to make one because of the handquilting. Then I discovered that you could actually machine quilt them and the heavens parted and birds were singing. Ok, not really. I love that I can make something beautiful and functional for our home.

And lastly:

Knitting this sock. I've sorta lost my knitting mojo lately but the Trekking/Jaywalker-yarn/pattern combo has pulled me out of my funk. My only real issue with it is that it is 92 stitches. Yikes. I cast on 80, knit 2x2 ribbing and then increased up to 92 (*knit 6, inc, knit 7, inc, knit 7 inc* repeat) I also had to cast it on 4 times before I finally got the fit right. Watching the colors change is quite addictive.

A Lesson in Zippers Part 1

2011-07-14T23:49:00.002-05:00

I've decided to improve my zipper installing skills... they really are quite poor. I also am in some desperate need of new throw pillows for our living room. Having a zipper closure on a pillow really is a good idea. My last couple efforts ended a pillow that would not stay in it's case. I'm sure it is not the pillows fault, rather the maker of the pillow's cover fault.

I purchased the full collection of Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley fat quarters a while ago, with the intent of making pillows but then was afraid to cut them up. 2 nights ago I got over my fears and dug out the yard of linen in my stash to make a 18" quilt top. (I love the Hope Valley, I see me purchasing some more very soon, I want to make a million things out of it now.) As for the zipper, I decided to use a 22" because I thought it might give me a little more wiggle room

I'm not going to attempt to explain how to install a zipper. Their are many tutorials out there that are very well written. For my pillow I used the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew by Creative Little Daisy. It worked like a charm. Well, mostly. The issues I had with it were of my own doing and I know how to avoid them next time. I've already started a second pillow with the Hope Valley scraps. The only thing that I would do differently is change the order I sewed a few things. The tutorial has you sew the flap side first and then the other side to the zipper. I found this a bit awkward, especially since I chose to make a gathered flap. It was also a lot to manipulate while sewing. (I also think I need to double check my machine's manual to make sure I'm using the zipper foot correctly???)

Topstitching the second half of the backing piece. See how the flap is just in the way. I find sewing straight with zipper foot difficult too. There are no lines really to use as guides so I just say a prayer and hope for the best.

Here is the finished pillow. I am very happy with how it turned it. Surprisingly, it does not look horrible with my super-ugly couch which I hope to replace with something more attractive and comfy soon.

And the back... love that orange floral print and the ruffle. Couldn't help girl-ing it up a bit.

Goodbye old friend

2011-07-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

Hanging out at Grandma's pool is one of our favorite summertime activites. We get to see grandma and grandpa, cool off a bit, have some good family quality time and often get a free meal too. Those days are over though. During our swim yesterday afternoon this happened...

Yes, we were actually in the pool when it happened. First, the top railing made a popping sound. The side had started to fall and water was gushing out. As it gushed it it tore the already weakened side of the pool and within 3 minutes all that was left in the pool was about 4 inches of water.

There's the sad boys standing next to the dreaded gash...

Patrick enjoying the last few inches of water

Quinn doing the same

There is some serious pouting going on here. Quinn was actually stomping around and Patrick was holding back the tears. It did not help that Grandma was bawling her eyes out (Grandpa was celebrating, he's tired of maintaining it). They have said the past few years that when something major goes wrong that it would be gone. This is pretty major.

The pool is about 16 years old. I remember when Tim and I were dating, just a few months before we were engaged, helping out getting it up and going. We've had so many good times and wonderful memories in that pool. It has hosted sixteen 4th of July parties. Both my boys, my 4 nieces and 1 nephew all learned to swim in that pool. I can't even count how many impromptu family get togethers have resulted because of the pool. If it is hot, Tim's brother's and sister and their families would all just show up. So many wonderful memories.

It's hot out too. Makes me want to buy that disgusting house down the street that has been on the market for at least 6 months. It has an in-ground pool.

On a side note, check out what I did today... no it's not crafty.

I was in the garage reaching for the orbital sander and there was a vase in the way. Instead of moving the vase, I tried to reach around it and knocked it over. It bounce off of my shin before it hit the ground and broke. I called the Dr's office asking how should I know if I need stitches... yes I'm that stupid. I guess if you can look into your wound then you need stitches. The glass did not break when it hit my leg, it was just the weight of the vase itself that made the gashes. The vase did have some sculpted edges so maybe that is why the cuts are so deep.

My doctor steri-stripped the gash up. He did give me the choice between that or stitches. I told him whatever he though would heal better. I wasn't so concerned about having a scar as having a permanent dent in my leg. He thought this would be better, I just have to try to keep them on for 7-10 days which means trying not to get them wet. He also mentioned something about having to possibly trim the skin around it if he did stitches because it had curled under into the gash. Sorry if that is grossing anyone out. That did not sound like fun to me. I'm really glad I did it during his office hours so I did not have to go to the emergency room.

Pincushion Caddy pattern reveiw

2011-07-07T21:30:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY finished the pincushion caddy I started last week. The pattern can be found in Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing by Anna Marie Horner. I have the book out on loan from the library and it has a lot of great projects in it so buy it or go check it out.

Back to the review: I started the pattern last week. I cut out the 8 wedge pieces and sewed them together and then was at a standstill because I did not have any double sided heavy fusible interfacing and didn't get around to picking some up till Tuesday this week. I used Peltex 2 which is super heavy, like posterboard. They also make it as a single sided fusible, which is called Peltex 1. So now that I had the Peltex 2, I assembled my inner tube and then proceeded to attach it to the outside ball. It did not fit (outside ball was too large). The pattern said to sew all of your seams for the 8 outside pieces at 3/8" (which was a challenge for me since I do not have a 3/8" marking on my machine). It suggested increasing the depth of your seams if it did not fit, so I guess they anticipated this happening. I resewed all of the seams at 1/2". And it still did not fit, but was much closer this time around. I then resewed every other seam at 5/8" and left the others at 1/2" and it finally fit. It's worth mentioning that the wedge pattern is not symmetrical (one end tapers more than another) but I ignored this fact so it could also contribute to the fitting. I would pay more attention to this next time and try to keep like ends of the 8 wedges together. I sewed the tube to the outer ball together with little trouble, but not without a few puckers. I would probably handsew this seam if I ever make it again.

Next is to sew the inside base of the tube to the bottom of the tube. I guess because of the fiddling I did with the outer ball seams it was a smidge too small (or maybe the non-symmetry??). I had sewed most of it before I realized though (by hand) so just made it work. When I say a smidge, I really mean a smidge. It just sorta curves up in the center so really a non-issue. You then baste (by hand) the outer ball to the edge of the bottom of the tube and then can start stuffing the ball. Mine is overstuffed, but I don't really care at this point. That could explain why it took me nearly 3 hours to stuff the darn thing. I used a large knitting needle to get the stuffing around to the side opposite the opening. I think if I ever make it again, I may leave two wedges partially open to help in the stuffing.

Lastly, you handsew a larger circle to the base of the cushion. Instead of using the method suggested in the book to form the bottom circle, (which involved aluminum foil and cardboard) I just used more of the Peltex 2. This worked well because I was able to fuse the raw edges to the wrong side of the circle. I used a piece of parchment paper to make sure the Peltex 2 did not stick to my iron or board.

I'm pretty sure I will make this again someday. My mom was oohing and aahing over it so I think she needs one too. And I'll know what to do differently next time. However, it is HUGE... that is really not a problem, I just was not prepared for how large it was going to be.

Here it is after it "swallowed" the husband's iPhone...

And the underside... I love the that print on the circle.. yes it is almost as tall as a 16 oz water bottle.

I really do love the finished pincushion. I used the Denyse Schmidt fabrics I've been hording for it. It is not a quick project. I think from start to finish, minus the week long rest period, it probably took me close to 8 hours. If you do not like handsewing, then look for another project. You handsew 4 seams in this project. I have the claw to prove it.

Oh, and I rewarded myself with some stash-enhancements today. One of the local quilt shops was having a ridiculous sale on fat quarters. Also hit Joann's for a few items, including some sharps needles, which are longer than the quilting needle I used for all the handsewing. I will certainly need them if I do any more handsewing to avoid the dreaded claw... my hand is still tingly.

Missing you...

2011-07-04T01:50:00.000-05:00

It's been 10 years since we lost you. I still miss you everyday.

I wish you could see the amazing young man that Patrick is growing into.

And that you could know Quinn. You would have gotten such a kick out of each other.

I'd give anything to have 5 more minutes with you. I miss you Big Dad.

Walking with a new foot

2011-07-02T00:43:00.000-05:00

I don't remember if I mentioned it in my last post, but I broke down and purchased the walking foot for my machine. It was near impossible to machine quilt (among other things) on my machine without it. I don't know why I waited so long. Oh yeah, maybe because when I started looking into it a year ago it was going to cost $75 and I could not justify buying a $75 part for a $150 machine. I ended up snagging it off Amazon for $33, and I'm so glad I did.

Using blue painter's tape as a straight line stitching guide, like how it is being done here. Sorry I did not include the link to the actual post where she talks about it, but I'm lazy and didn't feel like looking for it.

Back of quilted piece, look at all those purdy lines!

Not the greatest photo, but check it out, not a pucker in sight!

The finished result, a new cover for my ironing board. I was in desperate need of a new one. I loosely used the tutorial on Moda Bake Shop. I like it, but do not love it. I did not have any ribbon, at least not enough to go around so used elastic, I think I need a wider elastic??? (I used 1/4") and it definitely needs at least another layer of batting, I can feel the ironing board surface through the cover. I'm wondering if a piece of canvas would help? Guess the icky, flimsy piece of foam on the old cover served more of a purpose than just grossing me out (and shifting around aimlessly).

And for reference, here's how bad the old cover was... yuck! The tear got caught on something everytime I used the ironing board.

Mama needs a new sewing machine...

2011-06-28T01:19:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some quilting lately, which makes me really happy... just piecing actually because of the two machines I have, neither can manage to machine quilt. One machine is actually from my high school's sewing program. When they discontinued the program they sold all of the machines, I think they were $10 (sergers were $25). It sat and sat in my craft room for years then last spring when I decided to start sewing I dug it out and used it till decided not to work. That really only lasted about 4 months. I was lucky enough that my mom had fairly new, yet inexpesive, Brother machine that she no longer wanted because she just bought herself a fancy-schmancy machine that does it all. It sews just fine but when I try to quilt with it, the top layer of fabric bunches up or drags along or whatever it is that it does. Anyways, I get annoying little "pleats" that really should not be there. Thus the desire for a new machine. But until I can rationalize the $10k price tag on the Bernina of my dreams, I purchased a walking foot for my machine from Amazon.

So here are a few of the things I have been working on. First is the red white and blue wonky star wall hanging. I intended on alternating blue and red on every point but sewed the last block in the wrong order. I'm happy enough with it not to tear it out. Obviously, it will be my 4th of July quilt, but what I really want is a Captain America shield to decorate for the 4th with. Maybe I'll make a wall hanging inspired by the shield.

This is my Halloween quilt. I've jacked up the pattern so had to improvise (see a recurring theme with my sewing skills???) It is loosely inspired by this quilt.

I think the tiny bit of sewing I've been doing was spurred on by the even tinier bit of organizing I've done. I started converting this:

to this:

I found this cube shelf thingy in the garage. It was originally in the boys room and never made it up there when we moved. I'm not sure if we even have the fabric cubes that go with it anymore. It's likely just temporary because my ultimate goal is to have fabric farther from the floor than this would allow or behind cabinet doors to avoid dog hair and dust. I am liking that each fabric is visible when stacked this way, rather than folded in tubs like I had before. The tubs make seeing what you have more difficult and you've seen the end result of that. Sadly, I don't think this cubical thing will hold all of my fabric.

I'm anxious to finish up both of these quilts so I can move on to a throw for the couch. Maybe the Japanese + and x quilt along??? The boys were fighting over the tiny little quilt I made in my learn to class today so that has encouraged me to make another 2 or 3, I think we all need a lap quilt, right? Anyway, the walking foot should arrive Wednesday... yay!

Disappointment

2011-04-18T23:58:00.001-05:00

I'm trying not to dwell on all the events of today, but it has really been complete crap. Most disappointing is that I'm gonna have to stop running for a while. The shin splints have gotten to be too much, I had little relief with the compression sleeve so it's on to ice and rest. I do love the compression sleeve though. The pressure feels almost like a little massage and seems to offer extra support. Race day is about 4 weeks away so hopefully it heels by then. Sadly though I probably will have to walk most of the race since the rest will set back my training. I'm still not the strongest runner.

I'm hoping if I try to list some of the positives I have going on right now then maybe I can pull this week out of the crapper.

I've lost a total of 25 lbs since I began my weight loss journey. 25 lbs may not seem like a lot for nearly a year and a half attempt, but it's still 25 lbs and I'm going to celebrate it. I'm beginning to see a physical transformation in myself as well. Moving out of the plus sized department, my face looks thiner and I feel thiner and my wedding ring fits again.

Only 31 more days left in this school year.

We are going to look at a house on Wednesday (fingers crossed that it all goes well).

I seem to be back on track with eating healthfully, it's been a struggle lately.

I found a LYS that carries reinforcing yarn so I can finally finish a few of the socks I've had laying around.

I bought a cute new dress for some of the events we have going on this spring which means I need to go shoe shopping.

That's helping already. Now I get to go to bed which makes me really happy.

Goodnight.

My faithful companion

2011-04-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Bought a used rocking chair at Goodwill yesterday for $15. In the process of sanding it so I can paint it. It will live on either the front or back porch. Haven't decided yet? Boomerang could not pass up the opportunity to lay outside next to me while I work. He's such a sweetie.

so busy....

2011-04-06T00:08:00.001-05:00

It's been a crazy week.. and it's only Tuesday. Ok it's 12:03 so it's really Wednesday. Today we had baseball practice, soccer practice and I had cub scout roundtable. No wonder I couldn't find the time to blog until now.

Been really busy sewing on Cub & Boy scout patches to shirts. There were 9 for my shirt, 6 for Patrick's and Quinn has 8 (I still have 2 more of Quinn's to sew on, until Saturday, then I have 3 more to sew on). I'm ashamed to admit it, but I broke down and started sewing them on my machine instead of by hand. I'll get some pics of the 3 of us in our shirts on Saturday. My boys are crossing over to Bears. Can't wait!

First Quilt Down...

2011-04-04T23:18:00.001-05:00

I finished it last night and immediately popped it in the washer to get the disappearing marker out and so it would do that crinkly thing quilts do that make them so darn cozy. I just love it. It's just under 40" though so barely qualifies as a lap quilt. Not so small that it kept me from cozying up with it a good portion of the day (which explains why it is extra crinkly at the bottom :).

So close

2011-04-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have approx. 25 inches left of the binding on my quilt to blind stitch. I can't wait to be done with it. My fingers are sooo sore. But mostly I want to finish it because I have a huge stack of fabric waiting to be made into fabulous things. I've been very good an not let myself start anything new, which really is a difficult thing for me. Should be finished before bed tonight. Yippee!

Ch-ch-ch-changes?

2011-04-02T17:12:00.001-05:00

Sometimes a door or two opens that you didn't even know where there. More information when there is something real to share.

Besties!

2011-04-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

They love each other. And oh how I love them. Yes, Booms is wearing Q's new TC baseball hat. We have a thing around here for the initials TC, not the Twins.

Harry Monsters... grrrr!

2011-03-31T17:32:00.000-05:00

The beginning of the month we made Harry Monsters at cub scouts. Growing up, this was always one of my favorite crafts my mom did with us. We actually did it at VBS and I looked forward to it each year. Having a mom who is the VBS craft coordinator rocks btw.

Harry Monsters all in a row

It was really fun to see all of the boys individual personalities come out in their monster's faces. We had several with Angry Bird mustaches and a few holding "Go Blues" signs. I'm still a little surprised how much fun the boys had.

To make a harry monster of your very own all you need are some small plastic cups. I always think of these as fruit salad or punch cups. I think they work best for a proportional face size. And I like that they are clear. Decorate to your hearts content with pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom pons... whatever. Add some potting soil, lots of grass seed, water regularly and watch it grow!

Quinn's cyclops (left) and my Angry Birds Pig inspired stached monster.

After a few weeks your moster will start to look like a punk rocker and will need a haircut.

I thought of putting a bow in my monster's hair, but it has a mustache and gender confusion is not exactly what I'm going for here.

Faux-hawks really are dumb. 2nd dumbest haircut ever.

Still punk rock, don't you think!

First Quilt

2011-03-30T14:42:00.001-05:00

Again, I've been neglecting you blog... so sorry.

I've taken some quilting classes in the past few weeks with Shilo. They were a lot of fun but it REALLY makes me wish I had a nicer machine to work with. I can say that the $1500 Babylock we used in class really was not much better than the $150 Brother hand-me-down machine from my mom. It did have a lot more bells and whistles, but sewing wish it was just meh and I'm not really looking for bells and whistles. I'm being steered more towards the direction of a Bernina now or maybe even a Janome.

So back to the classes. First was the hand quilting class. I am surprised by how much I enjoy hand quilting, it's slow but still very enjoyable. I can see from my speed though that I will want to become a better sewer (or maybe I need a new machine?) so that I can just machine quilt most of my quilts. Still, it's a good skill to have and I can see myself hand quilting pieces that are more decorative and then machine quilting the rest of a piece. I've already plans for my Christmas quilt to do both.

These photos are from the beginning quilting class. It was a two day class, 4 hours each on consecutive Sundays. I learned so much during both this and the hand quilting class. I also realized while shopping for my fabrics (I LOVE the fabrics I chose) for the beginning class that I do not like quilts styled like the one we did in class. This will probably be my one and only quilt I ever make with boring little blocks. I have a burning need for scrappiness... I never realized how deep it was until now. I'm anxious to get started on my next few projects and have fun. If I ever finish sewing on the binding for this first quilt.. it's been two days and I'm nearly half way done.

Patchwork

2010-08-31T13:53:00.001-05:00

Remember the me going on and on about my great aunt Nell and all her crafts? Well, mom was cleaning the attic and found my quilt that I called dibs on, as well as a few of the others. Mine is not a hexagon, but I still love it. I think it's fantastic in fact. Mom is going to help me get it layered and I'm going to hand quilt it. I've decided I'm going to back it with Kona cotton cause it is just so comfy. We use sheets a lot on our quilts, but from everything I've read and what mom has said they are harder to quilt with. I can't wait till I'm back from Mexico to get started.

Old Friends

2010-08-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

Someone jokingly said that this needed to be blogged, so I'm complying. It was really great to see so many of my old friends. Hope it's not another 10-15 years before it happens again.

Viva Tomatoes!

2010-08-17T14:10:00.003-05:00

Thar be tomatoes. Lots and lots of them. I picked a whole colander full today, in addition to the colander full I already had. I'm gonna have to break down and give some away I guess. I really do like to horde them though. Everything else in the garden though seems to be giving up. The cilantro and zuke died and the cuke is barely hanging on. No poblanos, a few new jalapeños and the basil is no longer growing a foot a week. Hopefully we'll get some green beans in soon.

Back to the tomatoes though. Today I made Cod with tomatoes and leeks from Everyday Food for my lunch. It was very good. I loved that the leeks were slightly caramelized. I may have used a bit too much lemon though. I even remembered to take a photo:

I know, washed out photo. I hate the camera on my iPhone but it's so convenient. I am getting an iPhone4 hopefully before the end of the month though. I should just stop being lazy and get out the Nikon. Tomorrow another Everday Food recipe, turkey burgers. Friday it's grilled tomato pasta, again from Everyday Food. Should help plow through some of those romas.

shrimp and curry, nom nom nom

2010-08-16T18:53:00.001-05:00

T had a dinner meeting tonight so I FINALLY made my very first recipe from the Everyday Food cookbook I bought ages ago. It was the pan-fried shrimp with green curry cashew sauce. Oh, was it yummy. I'm gonna have to remember to do stuff like this when he won't be home for dinner instead of eating mac and cheese and chicken nuggets like the boys. T hates shrimp and I love it but never get to have it. The curry sauce was even good on the boys leftover chicken nuggets (I had to taste test it, T would love this sauce too.) I also made the sesame carrot salad that was a on the same page as a serving suggestion. It was ok. I think my carrots were not sweet enough. It needed some sweetness to balance out the ginger and the acid. Otherwise, a very satisfying dinner. I wish I had a photo to include but all that is left is a ramekin w/ a bit of green sauce stuck to the bottom of it.

I'm having the cod w/ leeks and tomatoes recipe that is on the previous page for lunch tomorrow. Can't wait.

Stuck in a rut

2010-06-15T21:43:00.001-05:00

I've had this cookbook for over two years and the most I've done is
look through it a few dozen times. I'm completely uninspired by
everything I'm cooking right now. New plan: make something from this
book once a week. Hopefully it will add something new to our dull-drum
dinners.

Quilt Repair

2010-06-07T23:05:00.009-05:00

I've been sewing a lot lately, more than knitting or spinning. But mostly I've been trying to get the place ready for Q's b-day party at the end of the month. Progress is slow, but it's coming along. I decided I really should try to do a bit of decorating and make the place more "Us". But more of that later.

Back to the sewing. I've done quilt surgery twice in the last week. First was on Q's baby quilt. A seam for some of the piecing had come un-done. He was heartbroken. Clouds had a hole in him (that's what he calls his quilt, cause it has clouds on the back). He asked if I could sew it up and after examination I told him that Nana wouldhave to fix it. After he went to bed though I worked up the courage to do it myself. At worst, I figured I could just rip it out if it wasn't right. It wasn't perfect, but it was not horrible either. Which gave me the courage to attempt this.

I found the tutorial here. I love hexagon quilts and was originally a-scared of them because they had to be hand-sewn. It was actually quite easy and relaxing. They remind me of the quilts my great-grannies and great aunts used to make. In fact, after my great-aunt Nell passed away (who may be to blame for my crafting ADD- she did it all too) there were boxes and boxes of craft items to be gone through. Buried among the plastic canvas and acrylic afghans and ponchos were several quilt tops of which I believe most were hexagon quilts. The fabrics were odd as well as some of the color combos, they used what they had on hand back then. But that only added to their beauty.

Here's a photo of my patch w/ my phone and a quarter for scale.

And here's the before. The patch really is overkill, the hole is only about the size of a dime. Should have included that for comparison, ehh??

I'm guestimating that it took me about two and a half hours to piece all 7 hexs together, about 30-45 minutes to baste around the whole piece, an hour to hand-sew it to my store bought quilt and about 45 minutes to quilt around each hex. I see many more hexagons in my future, just not so tiny as these are. Each side is about 7/8 of an inch. Maybe something closer to an inch and a half to two inches. I'm sure it will be one of those slow pace, ongoing projects. I like those kinds.

When going through the camera for the hexy quilt patch pics I rediscovered the last day of school pics I took. I love how the giant boy looks completely embarrassed and the smaller boy looks extremely happy and proud.

Preview

2010-05-14T09:10:00.002-05:00

Some art I made for the bathroom. I really love it. I think it's both playful and calming at the same time. More pics to follow. I love doing home improvement projects when T is out of town. It helps the time go by faster and I just work well with deadlines. I also dragged the broken recliner out to the curb, so glad they took picked it up with our trash. Also cleared out a garbage bag of junk from both the boys room and the garage. Been a productive week for me.

Mom's Day, Mac n Cheese & a Manless week

2010-05-10T18:17:00.001-05:00

Had a pretty good Mother's Day, even though T is in France for the global IT conference. I miss him, so do the boys, but I'm strangely enjoying his absence. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have him home. I think it's cause I get to hog the bed for six days... lol. Though that hasn't happened yet. I had two bed hoggy boys to share my bed with last night but they've been warned that last night was the only night that would happen. I'm taking advantage of him not being here to paint the bathroom, I even bought new towels, the ones I've wanted since December. While he never minds the end result of my re-decorating he's always annoyed by the mess that occurs during the process. And this way he can't tell me no either.

We went to mom's yesterday. Dad fried fish he caught last week on his annual fishing trip. Yum, it's always so good. There were a ton of yummy sides too. I made probably the best baked mac n cheese I've ever made. I used this recipe, but tweaked to my own liking. I subbed out 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/8 tsp dry mustard for the nutmeg. I don't get nutmeg in savory dishes? And I used about 3 cups of sharp cheddar, 2 cups monterrey jack & 1/2 cup of parm/romano blend. There's tons left over so it inspired tonight's dinner: steak, asparagus, green salad w/ vinaigrette & leftover mac. It was so good. I'll have to make it again when T gets home. Oh, and I did up the steak a little different than normal. P suggested I marinate it in teriyaki. I also added a bit of brown sugar and a dry steak seasoning to the marinade. Was very good, definitely a repeat on that.

Goodwill treasures

2010-05-03T14:35:00.002-05:00

Picked up this awesome rocker today at Goodwill for $20. The cushions are not attached so will be supper easy to re-cover and they were pretty comfy and seemed to be in decent shape. The rocker itself felt sturdy too. Will be the perfect replacement for my knitting chair tha Boomerang stole. I also got 5 men's plaid shirts and I'm thinking mainly quilts for the boys beds.

with a block block here...

2010-04-28T00:39:00.001-05:00

Photo 1: twelve 9-patch blocks

Photo 2: and now there are 48 scrappy blocks.

Photos 3 & 4: 3 - 5 block strips

Lot's of sewing going on. I've managed to piece all the blocked strips together, re-cut them and I'm now in the process of sewing them into the strips that will actually form the quilt. Looks like it will definitely be a lap quilt, which is what I was aiming for, though for a brief while I thought it would be large enough for my queen sized bed thanks to a math error. (Stoopid maths!) I had twelve 9-patch blocks before the last round of cutting, all of which were cut in 4ths so now there are are 48 blocks. I'm sewing those into strips of 5 blocks and thinking I will do 7 rows of 5 with a thick border to finish it off, but torn if I should just go with a 6x8 format since there are certainly enough to do so. The 5 block strips are measuring around 33". If I go w/ the 5x7 format I can add a strip of blocks to embellish the back of the quilt and will still have leftovers to make a pillow or mini wall quilt or something.

I've also been throwing around the idea of making some new curtains for the kitchen for about a week or so. My original plan was just to buy some pretty fabric, seam it and hang it. Now I'm thinking something pieced though. I've been scouring the internet for inspiration and these are my favorites right now. I think I may go w/ the Make Life line since I bought a charm pack last week.

Project Improv Quilt- the back side of the quilt

Tranquil Baby but w/ vertical stripes and with flowers like this.

I'm also digging the idea of a solid strip like this but at the bottom or top instead and with some cut pom-pom trim.

Can you tell I just discovered Piece N Quilt today? I was invited to a baby shower today and happen to have a large remnant of girly flannel so plan to make a few receiving blankets.

A Quilting I Will Go

2010-04-25T20:44:00.006-05:00

Shortly before I got my new laptop(aka Doris) I started looking for a cute but functional bag for her. I quickly realized though that there are very few stylish bags for girls with a big booty (17" monitor). So I decided to make one myself. After many a trip to various fabric stores I still do not have a bag for Doris, nor have a I purchased fabric to make said bag. However, I have purchased fabric for and made 2 skirts as well as many a fat quarter. Fat quarters are deadly addictive, just as much so as scrapbook paper... actually worse than scrapbook paper. Somewhere in this mix I decided to make a quilt.

I'm blaming it on the fat quarters.

The paisley print was the jumping off point. I found 9 other prints to match, mostly, and started digging online for a pattern. I quickly fell in love with the disappearing 9 patch. I spent 2-3 hours Friday night cutting my fabric into 15x5 strips and about an hour Saturday matching them into groups of three, but so that no one print was paired up with another print more than once. Started sewing the strips together yesterday and finished it off today. So I've managed to finish the first phase this weekend, which is sewing each threesome of 15x5 strips together and cutting them into strips so it looks like I spent way more time piecing each individually. I'm anxious to start sewing those strips together for my 9-patches, and then more cutting fun can begin!

Oh, in my previous post I accidentally included 2 of the same photo, I will include the one I intended to attach. In case anyone is wondering, yes, all this spinning and sewing means I have not been knitting.

Almost like Christmas - High Fiber Style!

2010-04-25T13:38:00.001-05:00

I received TWO packages in the mail yesterday... both fibery related. First off was my 1st installment of the Spunky Eclectic fiber club... a gorgeous 4 oz of organic merino combed top. The label says it's 22 microns. The colorway is called Storms of Jupiter. I'm hoping for a 2 ply worsted with this but I'm spinning it up so thin I may need to go 3 ply or settle for something more dk-ish.

Secondly, and I was even more excited about this than the fiber, was my new Jenkins Turkish Delight spindle. It's so darn cute. I grabbed some Ashland Bay that I have stashed and started spinning it up as soon as I was able to tear the package open and assemble the spindle. I very soon decided I would rather be spinning up the club fiber though and switched over to that instead. The two of them kept me well distracted from my original plans for the day, which were to spend a lot of time with the sewing machine.

Borderline Obsessive???

2010-02-04T21:50:00.004-06:00

I organized my closet today in ROY G BIV order. It makes me really happy. It also has made me realize I own way too many blue and green shirts, that I need to buy more hangers and that maybe I should have used the time sorting more wisely and done the dishes instead. Also, why can't I ever find anything to wear? This is only my closet. You should see my dresser drawers.

Weight loss going not so good. Getting back on the workout wagon next week. I gained 2 lbs last week but hate to think of what it might have been if I had not been eating mostly right. I wanted to get back to the gym this week but worked the book fair at school which ended up sucking up a huge portion of each day. Should try to drag myself and T to the gym this weekend at least.

Bad week

2010-01-10T23:25:00.002-06:00

I really, REALLY slacked off last week, at least for the last half. Thursday the boys went to the movies with the children church group to see the Chipmunks. T took me out to dinner. I had a big fat juicy burger... was the best burger ever, prolly because it has been foreve since I've had red meat. Friday was another inclement weather day so the boys and I went shopping with my mom and dad at the Mills. We had a great time at Cabela's, had a little lunch, bought me a few things and bought the boys new coats. We got Vin Hoa for dinner and just was way too heavy and not enough veg. Sat was lunch with Shilo & Jackie and it included another burger, fries and finished it off with chocolate nachos. That evening we hung out at my sis' and had some bbq and again, very little veg. Woke up today with a serious food hangover from the damage done over the past 3 days. And to make things worse, I think I was dehydrated all 3 days and it really got the best off me. I noticed yesterday I was actually affecting my speach.

It was good to slow down today, suck down a bunch of h2o and OD on some veggies. Back on track tomorrow and back to the gym with myself. Really dreading the weigh-in tomorrow AM.

Day 30, and a little yarn

2010-01-06T00:32:00.001-06:00

So, my weight loss for the week is 4lbs. My total for the 30 days is
11.4. My current weight is xxx lbs. I slacked
off a lot. Well, more than I wish I had. I mean 4 lbs this week is
good but what if I had gone to the gym just once. Or if I hadn't
decided to eat a whole sleeve of thin mints, it did take me over a
week to eat them though, but still. If I had made the right choices
more consistantly, what could I have lost? So I'm happy with what
I've accomplished but striving to do better rather than beating myself
up.
I have realized I really need to work on eating breakfast at a more
rational hour, not say 10am like I'm used to. I also need to break the
evening snacking habit. I've said it at least once, but my favorite
time to eat is after dark. I could go all day without a bite, but then
be a pig after 6pm. It's gotten better. I'm making myself eat even if
I'm not hungry. And instead of the cookies or brownies I'll have a
small piece of dark chocolate and some fruit.
I haven't talked about yarn in a while. I made up these cute little
slipper socks. The striping on the heel was a fail, but they are still
pretty cute and warm and toasty. I think I need a handspun pair too.
They need some puff paint on the soles so I stop doing the splits when
I walk in to the kitchen. The little flecks are cause the purple yarn
was tweedy but I guess tweed doesn't felt well?? I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Day 23

2009-12-30T00:05:00.002-06:00

I'm feeling like a total slacker, I didn't post last weeks results and I'm behind on this weeks too. Last week's weigh-in, which was on Day 15 (Dec 21st) I lost 2.2 lbs, my current weight was xxx lbs.

I've struggled this past week. Just too much going on preparing for Christmas and with the boys (including T) being home all week, I didn't work out like I should. I did eat like I should most of the time. It was really hard at all the parties we went to though, which totaled 6. I also weighed in a day late, after I had already had breakfast, so these results may or may not be accurate. Anyway, my weight this morning was xxx lbs, for a gain of 1.6 lbs. I will admit that I am not thrilled with that, but I'm not disappointed either. It's actually better than I expected.

I have been eating much better though the past few days and here is what I've noticed. If you eat good, healthy food, you don't feel like crap. This really shouldn't be surprising, but slightly is, since it was only a laps of a few days. Christmas night I actually felt ill and I know it was because, even though I tried, I ate the wrong things. I never felt like I over ate though, which is always a problem I think around the holidays. Unfortunately the only way I could have avoided eating the wrong things would have been to bring my own food, and only eat that or just have stayed home and missed out on some well needed family time.

Hopefully tomorrow I will find the time to talk about some of the tools I have come up with to help me stay on track.

Day 8, week one over

2009-12-14T09:26:00.001-06:00

I'm very happy to report that my current weight is xxx lbs. I lost
6.6 lbs this week. I will admit I was hoping for a
higher number, but I'm still happy with what I did.
I am not getting my morning workout in since I am shopping with Chris
today. I might try out the BL Boot Camp dvd I've had for at least 9
months this afternoon.
My cough is getting worse so I need to call the dr today. It kept me
up most of the night, so I'm tired but not feeling as tired as I would
have pre-diet. I've really noticed a difference in my energy level
over the past few days and I'm sleeping better at night, when the
cough isn't keeping me up. And I'm not sure if it is possible, but I
feel a little slimmer already.

Day 7

2009-12-13T21:44:00.001-06:00

Almost weigh in time... I'm a little worried. Today was a rest day so I did not work out plus we had dinner at T's mom's and I tried to be good, but when I'm not the cook it's hard to control what is going in the food. I tried to compensate by having smaller, protein packed snacks.

My new favorite thing that I have found is the Stone Ridge tart frozen yogurt. It tastes more like yogurt than ice cream, which is a huge plus and has the live active cultures that are in yogurt. I bought the vanilla cause I can add whatever fruit I want to that easilest, but they also had peach, strawberry & pomegranate blueberry. I had a spoonful after returning from the grocery store tonight and it's really yummy. Can't wait till Thursday, which is the night frozen yogurt is allotted into my dinner. That's also fish taco night, I can't wait for fish tacos!!!

So, I said I was going to make up a list of reasons why I want to loose weight. It really seams like I dumb thing to explain, until you actually start to think about the why. Not everyone's why is the same either. There are some days my why will be different. So itt took me a little longer to come up with my list. All the reasons are important and meaningful to me. When I'm feeling discouraged or feel like giving up, having this list to reflect on will help keep me on track and remind me that all the hard work I'm doing is worth while. So here's my list:

I do not recognize myself anymore
So my wedding ring will fit again
To lower my breast cancer risk
To be more healthy, less prone to disease (hopefully, no more pneumonia)
To feel attractive again
So I can more actively help coach Q's soccer team
I want to run a 5k
So I can run, jump and chase after (and with) the boys (and the dogs)
Shopping in the plus size department just sucks

I'm starting to get the hang off the new way of eating. It's becoming less stressful and I'm starting to sub things out. I usually swap a whole meal idea out rather than one thing though. I wrote up my menu for the week so that should help keep me on track of the subs I'm making. I'm thinking I need to get a planner for when the 30-day jumpstart is over so I can continue to to write up menus for a whole week at a time. I might get a dry erase board too and write up what I'm going to eat before going to bed each night, so there will be no guessing or improvising. I will still use the composition book for my food journal, just to make myself accountable.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I have high hopes for the scale. I'm also get to hang out with Chris tomorrow, which it has just been too long since I've seen her so it will be nice. We already have lunch planned. We are going to Thai Kitchen and I am getting the Thai Kitchen salad, which is just about the yummiest thing ever.

I am off to bed now, but will return in the morning with my weekly weigh-in, percentages and if I don't forget the weekly photo.

Day 4 and a little knitting

2009-12-10T23:44:00.000-06:00

I was hoping I'd find time to blog daily about my weightloss journey,
guess it will be every few days.

The working out everyday is exhausting. My body is sore and tired. I
feel great after my workouts but am beat by bedtime. And waking up has
been a little harder too. And today I only had time for 1/2 an hour on
the treadmill and I was dissappointed that I didn't get my usual burn,
like I had been cheated out of it.

What to eat has been all consuming. If I'm not eating, which I am 5
times a day now, I'm planning, prepping, cooking or cleaning up after
a meal. Most things recommended in the plan though have been very good
and satisfying, so all the extra effort is worth it, esp. If I see the
results I'm hoping to have.

Today in the book it discussed writting down the reasons you are doing
this. I know it seems obvious, but it's just not always that black and
white. People don't get fat because they eat too much, it's usually a
symptom of a larger problem. So in the next day or so I will be
addressing the why. Hopefully this will help keep me on track when I'm
feeling less than motivated.

It's also important to set goals. My short term goal for myself right
now is to loose 15 lbs in these 30 days. I would als like to be able
to do 15 minutes on the eliptical without dying. Right now 5 minutes
kicks me in the butt... I actually feel like I am going to pass out if
I do more than that.

Oh, and about the knitting. It's super cold in STL right now. I bought
this Malabrigo chunky a few months ago with this hat in mind. The
single digit temps finally motivated me to cast on. Got it done in a
day, working whenever I could steal a few moments. I think it might be
the best hat I've ever made for myself. It covers my ears completely
and the chunky yarn us cute. Love the color too.

Day one done!

2009-12-07T22:34:00.001-06:00

Today went pretty well. I didn't feel like I had much free time to
myself though. After my workout I showered got dressed grabbed a snack
and went back to work for my lunch shift. Came home had lunch, made
the humus and peanutty dip recipes in the book sat and knitted for a
short while and then it was back to school to get the boys. Came home,
cleaned the kitchen and got ready for my work Christmas party.

So dinner was at the party. Fortunately it was at a local restaurant
and since everyone paid for their own meal, I was able to order
whatever I wanted. I got the salmon and subbed the potato for steamed
broccoli. I squeezed some lemon juice over the broc... Yum. It was
really good. The dinner also came with soup and a salad so I got the
tortollini soup which was the only brothy soup and on the salad I got
the house dressing, but used as little of it as possible so I still
got the flavor of it. It is my favorite dressing.

I was not allotted an evening snack in the plan but really wanted one
so I cut up an apple and had a TBSP of the peanutty dip. It was very
satisfying but I didn't feel like I blew my whole day on it. Not
having an evening snack is going to be the hardest thing for me. My
favorite time to eat is after 8pm.

Sent from my iPhone

Forgot a pic

2009-12-07T10:32:00.001-06:00

Was going to add this to my orig post. Looking extra gross cause this
is post workout.

Day 1

2009-12-07T10:17:00.001-06:00

I've had my bfast, went to the gym, did my mobility & strength
exercises, but before any of that, I weighed myself. And the number
is... xxx lbs. Not as high as I thought it would be but still not
good, right. I'm feeling really good though.
I did a little over 3 miles on the treadmill today, was on for an hour.
And the good news... Instead of feeling week cause I admitted I weigh
nearly xxx, I feel empowered. I'm hoping this will keep me
motivated and accountable to anyone who may read this.
Sent from my iPhone

Zero minus seven hours...

2009-12-06T23:46:00.001-06:00

Think I'm all set for my start date tomorrow. I decided to push it
back till Monday cause as I was reading the book it says you should
have a workout free day to rest and I decided I would rather rest on
Sundays and if I started on a Sunday that would have put the rest day
on a Saturday the way the plan is mapped out in the book.

So I purchased a new scale and told the boys they could not weigh
their toys and stuff so they don't run down the battery. And I ran to
the store and good the food items in the plan for the next few days. I
cleaned out the fridge and cut up veggies. I have a pot of chickpeas
soaking so I can cook them tomorrow and make hummus. I did not lay out
my workout clothes though, but T is off tomorrow so I can change after
my morning shift since he's gonna go to the gym with me. Gotta hit
the hay so I can try to get up early enough to have breakfast before I
go in for the morning shift.

I'm feeling really good about this. Looks like I might have a few
friends joining me on this journey too!

Am I crazy? I should do this.

2009-12-04T14:05:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting in front of the boys school, waiting to pick them up. I
ran to Kmart for some Christmas ornaments and too look for pj pants
and picked up The Biggest Looser 30-Day jumpstart. Sitting in the car
reading it. And I can't believe what just crossed my mind, what I'm
seriously considering.

I can't believe I may actually do this. Can I really do this? Am I
strong enough? I'm actually breaking down about to cry. WTF. Why is
this such a big deal. Why can't I do this. Can I really blog about my
weightloss? Can I put myself out there for anyone to see? It's no
secret that I'm fat. Why am I afraid to put that number out there.
That number that has climbed and climbed and is like a noose around my
neck, slowly choking the life out of me.

Sunday is the day. I should be over my sinus infection enough by then
to workout. Can I do it though? Can I come back here and post that
number. Post a photo. Put myself out there. I guess we'll have to wait
and see.

Snack Time!

2009-11-16T14:38:00.001-06:00

This has been my snack almost everyday since school has started. 4
triscuits- either rosemary and olive oil or the sun dried tomato, 4
slices of cheese & 8 thin slices os apple. YUM. It's so good. Then I
eat the rest of the apple when done. Sometimes the apples are fuji's,
sometimes granny smiths. Sometimes the cheese is cheddar or swiss.
Today it is a pesto gouda I picked up at Aldi's. Add in a glass of
water and I'm satisfied till dinner. I eat in in the car while waiting
for the boys to get out of school.

I know though, really bad photo. I've given up trying to get a good
photo on my iPhone. Unless the lighting is perfect, i get blown out,
under-saturated and grainy photos. Sometimes I can fix all that in
photoshop. Sometimes, like today, I try to get the most out of focus
image I can just for fun.

Out with the warm

2009-11-03T22:13:00.000-06:00

My bedroom looks like it has exploded lately... Sweaters, shorts, flip
flops, jeans... So I ran to the local mart and got a giant tub and
packed up all those quickly becoming out of season items and also a
few things that no longer fit, but I'm hoping when I get the tub back
out in the spring that some inches will have "thawed" off me. I
realize this is not really a big deal and is part of most normal
people's seasonal routines. It's not the norm for me though. In the
past I was a slob and just pushed everything to the corner of my room.
I've done a pretty good job of letting go of all those bad habits I
used to have and need to continue it.

All three items on top don't fit. The navy polo is from lands end and
I bought that when T and I were broke up, so around fall 1994. The
cream blouse I wore after I lost so much weight after I had P. It's
sheer and a bit more bohemian than I normally am, but I always felt
sexy in it. The berry sweater is something I have never worn but when
I purchased it I was hoping I would "shrink" into it.

Let's hope when spring comes they will make it back into my closet.

Plop-plop-fizz-fizz

2009-10-15T21:16:00.001-05:00

I'm rockin' a cold right now, either that or a sinus infection is
brewing. I really hope it's the former. Anyway, I thought I would take
a cue from my dad and go the alka-selzer cold treatment instead of a
pill or capsule. I've always avoided the stuff cause frankly fizzy
fake fruit flavored water is nasty. Slamming it down as quickly as
possible seems to help. I've also been taking Airborn which also a
fizzy water thing. At least I'm staying hydrated.

BTW... I just turned on a dvr'd show and there was a commercial or
something for Dr. Phil and he was talking about the oxycotyn express.
WTF... why would they make it sound like something Thomas the Train
might work on???

New sock drying rack

2009-10-14T23:52:00.001-05:00

I'm clearly not a daily blogger, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, check out my new sweet drying rack. I feel like such an old
lady. Not really, but until now I thought that only old ladies used
these things, mainly cause when I was young and worked at Kmart amd
Wmart only old ladies bought these things. I think it's genious though
and now will not have to employ multiple hangers for sock drying,
which are always inconvienently hung all over my bedroom when I washed
and dried socks. BTW, that is not every pair I own. I have a pair on
my feet and another pair clean that I can wear tomorrow. Sadly I have
one more pair that experienced an unfortunate felting incident.

Ignore me, I'm just babbling

2009-04-27T22:13:00.001-05:00

I'll admit... I got nothin'... at nothing that seems like a complete thought. But before this escapes my brain... I have to get this out.

Dear Dr. Phil,

Please stop making your studio audience clap at the end of the show for like 5 minutes... it's uncomfortably long for the viewer and obviously too long for the audience. You can actually see them mouthing things like "how much longer do we have to clap?" to each other. Not to mention the glazed over look in their eyes. Stop it now... it's embarrassing!

I'm planning a WWKIP day event w/ some of my friends for the STL area. I've created a blog for our event, so go check it out if you are into that knitting sorta thing.

This will be another busy week. Unless it rains tomorrow I will have to miss our performance for Church Women United. We have both baseball and t-ball practice tomorrow, knit night on Wednesday, Soccer practice and our dress rehearsal on Thursday, Friday appears to be open at the moment the concerts on both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

I also need to squeeze in painting our bedroom sometime this week. I really want to paint it a warm, pale yellow and use dark plum accents throughout the room, but realize that will be impossible to match. So I think I might go w/ green instead. I keep on seeing that comercial that's on right now (I think it's for Home Depot, maybe Lowe's) w/ the couple that purchase green paint and then go home and paint a room while their kids are running around like maniacs until they walk into the room and are instantly calm and reading War and Peace and Sense and Sensibility. As if that would really happen in my house!!! I really want to paint before the bedroom furniture gets here though, which I think will be next week, but I can't afford to buy new bedding because I need to save for a plane ticket :D So whatever I paint it, I will really need it to be more neutral so that it's not difficult to match once I can afford new bedding. Why is it so hard to decide what color though??? T won't help at all.

I'm out for the night... hopefully I will get a repeat done on the yellow lace ribbon scarf before bed.

Living for this weekend

2009-04-23T20:55:00.001-05:00

This has been a crazy busy week. T worked all weekend and has worked late nearly every night this week... we've had t-ball practice, baseball practice, knit night, and soccer practice... I missed choir practice this week. And we're all crabby. I also found out that the Galleria won't let us have the Knit In Public Day event there.... which is so lame and frustrating. Today was a good day though... had lunch w/ Jackie @ Pi and then we hung out at Knitty Couture where I picked up the Spring Interweave Knits and a skein of Dream In Color Smooshy... sock yarn makes me so happy.

Anyway, tomorrow we have absolutely nothing going on. Take that back... I'm going w/ P on his field trip to the Botanical Gardens... I can't wait to go though... as long as my group is well behaved, it should be a fun day.

Saturday we have a soccer game and then Jackie and I should be hanging out together... we're going to some sheep shearing thing in the CWE and there was talk of cupcakes :D

A Veggie Tale

2009-04-23T00:03:00.004-05:00

Last Friday I planted up a bunch of seeds, mostly vegetable and herbs, but also a few flowers. Sunday the arugula had sprouted. Here's a pic to prove it... ok, I guess it doesn't really prove it, you'll just have to trust me on this.

As of today, everything has sprouted except the parsley, the hollyhocks and maybe the cilantro... some things like the cucumbers, watermellon and eggplant just barely have sprouted, but I can tell something is going on and I poked around in the soil and can see roots. Look at all those cute baby plants... ignore my messy countertop. I've been filling the sink with hot water and setting the seed tray on top to keep them toasty warm.

I got a little carried away taking pics of the green beans, they just look so friggin' cool!

I also whipped up a little knitting mini project bag... it needs some tweaking... the next one will be perfect. I also have to admit that my sewing skills are, well, for a lack of a better way of saying it, piss-poor (guess I should thank my dad for that one... a favorite non-curse word of his that sounds like it should be.)

And blogger isn't letting me add any more photos for some dumb reason... so I guess that will have to wait till tomorrow

My happy thought for the day is my knitting group. I've meet some awesome women since I've started knitting and the gals I'm knitting with every week are so much fun. If you knit or crochet and have not heard about Ravelry then you really should go to www.ravelry.com right now and sign up... it's a little addictive, sorta like facebook but with yarn, but oh so worth it!!!

Top 5 on my DVR

2009-04-21T22:36:00.001-05:00

I am such a slacker... but I'm making myself blog tonight anyway. I had to run P to baseball practice at 5p and then have Q at t-ball practice at 530p. We didn't all get home till 8pm, not including T. He's been working like crazy lately trying to do the system upgrade at work. I think I've seen him for a total of 5 hours in the past 3 days... probably less. Anyway I have nothing for green living or being a looser today. Instead, for my happy thought of the day, here's a list of my top 5 favorite shows I DVR, in no particular order

1. The Young and the Restless

2. The Big Bang Therory and How I Met Your Mother (I'm lumping these together... and really, I only love HIMYM for NPH)

3. Avatar, The Last Airbender... I'm totally in love w/ this show, even if it is a cartoon

4. The Biggest Looser - Go Kristen, Go! She's my girl!!!

5. The Office - I record this on both Thursday nights for the new eps. and on TBS on Tuesday nights... I can watch the reruns over and over!

Getting warmer!!!

2009-04-20T23:07:00.001-05:00

Isn't my niece adorable!!! These are just a few of the photos I took of her and her mommy the day before Easter. I finally finished editing and sifting through them all... I took over 100 just of them. I also took some of the MIL & FIL and of the little BIL and his family that day too. Hopefully I'll finish editing those tomorrow and get a few of them posted soon too.

I have to brag about getting a free haircut today. My friend Kimberly needed a hair model... she was trying to get a job at the Custom Cuts in E-ville... Good news, she got the job and bonus, my hair looks great!

Living Greener and being a looser are combined today. Ever since we moved the boys have wanted to walk home from school so I walked to school when it was time to pick them up and we all walked home together. I don't think they will be asking to do it again anytime soon. They thought it was waaay too long a walk... even though it only took us 15-20 minutes (mostly because they were so pokey, ok their legs are shorter than mine are too).

I should also note that most of my seeds have germinated... including the hollyhocks which makes me so stinkin' excited!!! I'll have some pics of my little sprouts for tomorrow!

Long time no blog.....

2009-04-19T22:09:00.004-05:00

I know.. it's crazy how long it has been since I've been here. So much has taken place too. I'm setting a goal to try to blog daily from now on though... at least M-F and one mass post for Sat/Sun I think will do. I was going to just aim for once a week, but there are a few things I've been wanting to try to track daily and keeping a journal would be the best way to do it. I was going to just pick up a few notebooks, but then I remembered "hey, I have a blog!" and decided it just made more sense to do it here. So what I'm thinking of doing is establishing a few topics and addressing them daily, or at least semi-daily.

First off though... we have recently moved... it was sort of an downgrade/upgrade sort of thing. We made the difficult decision to move out of our house, which was very, very old and run down and moved into a duplex. While this sounds like a step back, it really was the best move for us right now. With the state of the economy, our credit and of the house it just made the most sense. The house was literally falling down around us and we could not keep up with the repairs. While we are back to renting, we are now living in a home that is only 30 years old instead of 100 and we have a maintenance man to do any repairs that are needed. We didn't loose any square footage, if anything the space is better laid out so it feels like we have more room. We also have a dishwasher, a huge yard for the boys to play in, an attached garage and the neighborhood is so much nicer... I feel safer and like I can worry less about the boys playing outside if I'm not out there too. And in a few years when the economy and our credit are on an upswing we can look for a new home to purchase... hopefully in the same neighborhood.

There's been a lot of spending that has gone along with the move too... everything from a new ironing board to a new tv to new bedroom furniture. We decided not to keep our home phone service when we moved and instead got iPhones, a decision I have not regretted for one second. I love my iPhone... I don't want to ever live without it. One of the things I love most about it are podcasts.... I really didn't care about them before, but now I don't want to go through a day without one. I'm currently trying to make my way through all the archived Stitch It!!'s . I take her with me everywhere... while I clean the bathroom, do yard work, grocery shop... chores are so much easier w/ a friend to listen too.

Back to the spending though. We bought bedroom furniture Friday. This will be the first time I have ever had matching furniture... I don't think it will be here for another 3 weeks though. But that gives me time to paint our bedroom before it gets here... so I'm sure I will be babbling about that for the next few days... have to pick out a color. I'm thinking either a pale, warm yellow or maybe a pale plum.

Living a little more green

This is gonna be one of my regular daily trackings.... I like it cause it encompasses a few different things, but they all relate so well with each other.

#1 is tt I planted a bunch of seeds on Friday to start my own vegetable garden. I have 2 different kinds of green beans, eggplant, zucchini, arugula, cucumbers, some herbs and I added in a few flowers to fill up my seed tray. I'm so excited though.. I planted them Friday and today, 2 days latter, I can see that they have started to germinate :D

#2 is trying to save money. Hopefully the veggie garden will help out a lot with this. I have several things I'm trying to save for. I might be going to France w/ T in June, then there's the family trip to FL in July. I also want a new laptop and we spent more on bedroom furniture than we planned so there's not much left for a laptop. And then longterm, for a down payment for new car and ultimately, for a new house.

#3 is just trying to be more green... again, the garden will help with this. I've also been playing with making my own household cleaners and I'm really liking them so far. T hates when I clean with vinegar though... he doesn't like the smell.

I'm a loser

At least I hope to be one. This is the other thing I want to track.... my never ending quest to lose weight. I'm trying to eat better, we just got a Wii Fit (which I love) and I'm trying to get my fat arse back to the gym. I hope to have more to say about this soon. Oh, I can say though, that according to the Wii Fit, my weight has dropped 15 lbs since October when last went to the OBGYN and they weighed me. Since they are not the same scale though, who knows for sure???

My Happy Thought

I have 3 happy thoughts for today... I thought I deserved them since I haven't posted in so long. First is just some fabrics I bought yesterday at HL to make up some knitting bags for myself and hopefully my friends.

Next, is my iPhone sock I knitted out of some leftover STR, colorway Hot Flash

Lastly, my new coffeemaker... 6 cup capacity (instead of the 12 like it's big sister) auto-timer so I can wake up to fresh, hot coffee already made for me and I can fill my mug with one hand. I've wanted to 12 cup model, but that's really just overkill... since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house. I found out Friday that they recently came out with the 6 cup model and I bought it on Saturday.

I'm gonna be switching to either Vox or WP sometime soon... I hate how blogger does not respect my paragraph spacing.

Final exam portfolio

2008-12-17T01:45:00.001-06:00

Tonight was my last night of class. Here's the photos I submitted for my portfolio. I think I bombed the written half of the final exam :(

This weeks assignment

2008-11-20T21:59:00.001-06:00

Another open assigment. I love the one with the out of focus yarn ball in the forground. My instructor could not decide if she liked it, but it thought it was pretty groovy. It was not exactly what I was going for, but I really love it. And pics from B&C's wedding.

Vegetables

2008-11-06T20:02:00.001-06:00

This week was vegetables. I really like the shots of the mushrooms.. I could have just turned in shots of mushrooms and been happy, but decided to add a little more variety w/ the tomatoes and onion. I like the onion quite a bit too. It also looked really cool in black and white.

Animals

2008-10-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Another delayed post... this is last weeks assignment. I was so uninspired for this one. Got my cute dog, my dad's dead deer that has hung on the wall since I was a yout! (intentional typo... see My Cousin Vinnie) And I made a huge stretch and used... hot dogs... hey, they sorta used to be an animal.

Open assignment

2008-10-28T19:54:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late posting this.. this assignment was from 2 weeks ago. My lovely friend Jackie went to the botanical garden w/ me and some of these photos are from there. I also took some photos of the GCFD for their fundraising calendar and used a few of those for my assignment too. And yes, that's my super cute kid #2 :)

Assignment 5, Motion

2008-10-09T19:30:00.001-05:00

This weeks assignment was to capture motion and to freeze motion. My photos are not the best, but the best I had to work with. I think this is mostly due to being a bored with given assignments and also lack of vision on my part.

Assignment 4, Depth of field

2008-10-02T19:50:00.001-05:00

This weeks assignment was a bit of a challenge for me, mostly because I have been sick and waited till the last minute to do it. 2 of the photos should have a short depth of field and 2 should have a longer depth of field... I think on a few of mine there is a fine line as to which way they go.

Assignment 3, Closer

2008-10-02T19:47:00.001-05:00

Last weeks assignment was to get in closer to your subject and get rid of the unnecessary clutter.

All of these were taken at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis.

Assignment 2 - Curves

2008-09-18T19:16:00.002-05:00

This week's assignment is curves. All of the photos except for P w/ his saxaphone are at the apple farm. I actually just took that one for fun... told him to give me a cheezy pose like he was playing and he pulled it off like a pro. They've all been slightly photoshopped. We only needed 4 photos but I couldn't choose between them all so I turned in all 5.

Assignment 1 - Lines

2008-09-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

Assignment #1 is lines. I have a bench, garter stitch section of my FLS sweater, power lines and a shutter. The 5th photo I did not turn in (we only needed 4) but I really like the image... it's of a wooden privacy fence.

last weeks assignment

2008-09-11T19:06:00.001-05:00

We were just supposed to bring in some photos so we could play w/ photoshop and get more familiar w/ it. These are the images after I photoshopped them.

Mind your own business

2008-09-07T01:35:00.001-05:00

To the Bitch at the Cardinals game tonight who decided to slap my 9 year old in the leg because he bumped the back of your chair and that physically picked up and moved my 5 year olds foot away from your chair before he had the chance to kick it (even though he was not sitting behind you) FUCK OFF! You better pray that your skanky ass never sees me again cause I will rip that ugly skunky hair right out of your trampy head.

A few things I've finished lately

2008-07-24T22:20:00.001-05:00

First is a cardigan for one of my favorite nieces. Second, is a holder for Q's Pokemon cards.

T is in NYC for project manager training. He comes home tomorrow. I can't wait. I'm really missing him, and so are the boys.

Move On, John McCain

2008-06-18T15:48:00.002-05:00

ENOUGH SAID!

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/alexad.html?rc=homepage

A little sock love

2008-04-29T23:09:00.002-05:00

Haven't really posted anything yummy in a while.

Sock on the left is the Pony Express Sock in DIC Smooshy Cool Fire. On the right is the Openwork Rib from Sensation Knitted Socks in some Tofutsies colorway I don't remember (lost the ball band).

Not much else going on here except for tomorrow being the day I register Q for kindergarten. Yikes, my baby can't be that big yet.

Just playin' around

2008-04-25T00:53:00.004-05:00

Fun house or museum?

2008-04-16T12:23:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago we went to the City Museum w/ P's scout troup. We mostly had a great time. It was SO crowded though and the boys just ran around, it was hard to keep up with them both. We did split up for a while me w/ one boy and T w/ the other and that did make things easier. There were also places that they could go, that we couldn't see them(tunnels, mazes in the wall... etc.) and that made both of us a nervous wreck. All in all it was a good time and is something we will be able to enjoy for years to come; we'll probably enjoy it more when the boys are older and a bit more independent. Q wants to have his birthday party there (sorry, that's not happening).

Here are a few of the pics from the day.

New haircut and cottony goodness

2008-03-20T16:31:00.011-05:00

I woke up yesterday morning and decided to get my hair whacked off. I'm happy w/ it and was ready for a change, although, from the comment from my stylist (do commoners such as myself have stylists?) it's pretty much the same cut I've always had. She said something like, oh, how it already is but shorter. I really have no clue when it comes to different haircuts. I know when something is cute and I that I like it, but have to idea how to discribe it. Here's the results: this is just after I got it cut after I got up this morning, just brushed and after I washed and styled it today _______________________________________________________ Knit night was again last night. Looks like it is going to be a regular thing. So far, the gals that are coming are great. I think we may be able to recruit an employee or even a customer at the Starbucks we are meeting at too. I ran by Michael's last night before our meeting and picked up this - The terracotta is for a vest for P (his choice) and the violety is for Rusted Root for me. I can't wait to cast on for the sweater for me! I'm currently working on a cabled vest for Q in cotton-ease also. It was going to be for Easter, but I have to many other things, knitty and non-knitty, distracting me. So it will be for fun and the experience of knitting it. Here's my progress so far. I'm posting all these photos w/ Flickr and I'm not sure if it's going to work or not, so I may have to get back in and fix everything. I'm hoping that's not the case. I tried to set it up the easy way via Flickr and it wasn't letting me set it up, so I copy and pasted the html code from flickr. fingers crossed! *edited* darn.. the photos were huge, but it worked... hopefully they are easeir to veiw now!

I'm so boring!

2008-02-28T10:28:00.000-06:00

I've known this for quite some time now though. It is in no way a profound, life-altering revelation. And there is so little I can do to change it really. That's just the way I am. Even this blog is boring.. and gosh darn it... that's ok too.

I was reminded of just how boring I am though last night when I met up in real live with a few gals I've been chatting with on Ravelry. There is nothing that will make me feel like more of a looser than when I hear about how much someone else has going on for them. What do I have? Well, what I have is pretty great actually. I'm the leader of this great and wonderful thing. I call it My Family.

I remember for a time during my youth trying to conform and fit in. I quickly realized that people who conformed and fit in where quite annoying and decided to just do my own thing. As boring as "just being me" is though, it works and I like it.

Enough w/ the melancholy though. T and I are off to the Love Shack in one day. Must pack and prepare food to take w/ us. A trip to the supermarket is also required. We're only going for one day, that's all that we could find available on short notice. It's a much needed getaway, as is some time away from the boys. I'm looking forward to the 4 hour round trip drive to get some knitting done as well as the hot tub once we arrive. (oh, why couldn't we have a little snow this weekend!) I'm thinking of downloading The Pogues for our listening pleasure during the drive...

Nostepinde

2007-12-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

I must be crazy... maybe it was the booze talking. I guess all that mattered though is that it worked.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T23:22:00.001-06:00

Sorry to say that this may be the closest I get to sending out a Christmas Card. I'm not having any luck w/ the digital files I wanted to use to make cards w/ this year.

A friend took these for us last Saturday while it was snowing. I literally finished Tim's hat in the car on the way to meet her. I'm pretty pleased w/ how they have turned out. Thanks for enduring the cold for us Corinna. I did not think it was possible to get a decent shot of all 4 of us, but you did it!

November pages

2007-12-03T14:21:00.001-06:00

Here's my pages for FKS for November. The card reader was on the fritz and I could not get dh to remember to look at it. All it need was to be unplugged and plugged back in. The snow page is Basic Grey and the Santa is Websters.

26 days till Christmas

2007-11-29T13:42:00.001-06:00

I still have most my shopping to do. It's really no different than any other year actually. Still don't know what to get the boys - but nearly everyone else is getting gift cards. (sorry if that ruins anyone's surprise)

I make a list every year, but really don't care if I get any of it at all. I feel this year should be no different than others -so here it goes!

not to be in the hospital
Namaste knitting handbag in brick, rust or raspberry
Sock Needle set
Shopping Bags
Amazon or Borders gift cards
Patons Classic Merino Wool in either blue, orange or taupe (6-8 skeins will usually make a sweater, but I'd be pleased w/ one skein)
this yarn in sprout
Socks that Rock Lightweight - anything from the Raven Clan
Black Chucks - wmns size 9

I know that's a lot of knitty stuff, but that's what's peaking my interest right now. Nothing is necassary though - I really just want a relaxing holiday season w/ everyone I love.

Pre holiday funk

2007-11-25T15:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I was going to post some recent pages I've made for FKS and some pics of the kids, but the card reader does not seem to want to work. I'd ask DH to look at it but that would involve speaking to him and I have no desire to do that. I started a new sweater last night in honor of my spite for him. It should be done by the end of the week, at least I hope. Maybe sooner if I'm still pissed at him for the next few days.

We were all in another car accident on Thanksgiving evening. It happened on our way to my mother's house and yet confirms my reasoning why we should not be party hopping on holidays. The driver of the vehicle that struck us was going about 40 and ran a stop sign. It was wet outside - all the more reason why she should have not been going 40 and why we need to stay home. The damage, while it is not as extensive, is in the exact same place it was when I wrecked his car last year. Hopefully, I'll have pics of that soon too.

We did start our Christmas shopping, although still have a lot to do. I'm standing behind my decision that I'm primarily purchasing gift cards for everyone. The boys and my mom are getting some knitting (mom's is a priority, the boys, not so much) and the boys will get toys. I might get our new niece some Pedi-Peds. The Shedir I've been working on for the past few months is going in the white elephant exchange at the in-laws since it is now the wrong color(hollyberry) to go w/ my new orange coat. I must get some chocolate yarn soon so I can do one up for meself!

And because every post should have some pics, here are some of us at the mayor's Halloween Party. Although, I'm sure they are probably at the top of the post instead of here where I would like them to be. I could go and edit my post, but then I would loose my paragraph spacing that I desire... blogger annoys me like that.

FO: Jaywalkers

2007-11-07T14:31:00.001-06:00

I finished them Saturday night and have worn them 3x's since (don't worry, they've been washed that many times too!) I love love love them! I'm dying to cast on for the next pair of socks, not sure what pattern I'll choose, but I have too many other things to work on right now.

A few things for the store

2007-11-07T10:42:00.000-06:00

Here's some pics of the sample I made for For Keeps Sake Holdiay Open
House this past Sunday. The tin is done up w/ reinkers and alcohol
(diy alcohol inks) and papers from Daisy D's.

Also included some pages I did for them for my October design team
submission. Campout is Heidi Grace and Christmas is Daisy D's. Sorry
about the crappy pics. I still had no scanner when i turned them in.
(I do know though! Thanks T!)

BTW... I'm in love.... w/ my new printer. It's fantabulous! It makes
the most gorgeous prints. I don't know if I'll be using anything else
to have photos printed ever again (esp. 8x10's). I haven't played w/
it to much yet, but love is definately in the air.

What is my world coming too?

2007-10-26T11:04:00.001-05:00

I'm being deprived again... this time the video card (I think) has crapped out. DH better get it fixed soon. He's sent me on a mission to get canned air sometime today.. like that will help. It's been acting up all summer. I guess if he's got to get in there to replace it though, he might as well blow it out.

I'm at the In-law's right now. I'm supposed to be doing my last homework assignment for my windows class that's due today (final exam is due by Monday) but instead I'm cruising the web for general knitting stuff.

On the knitting front, I've done my first magic loop project. I started the Fetching mits for my bro and didn't feel like digging out the dpns (they are a ghastly 7" long). I'm likin' it. Just ordered a few 32" sock size Harmony circs from Knitpicks. Can't wait to play w/ those! I'm hoping they make all the holiday knitting I have planned go a little quicker. Another bonus - no ladder to be seen on the mits! Hooray!

My mom, the hero

2007-10-25T13:46:00.000-05:00

I heard a commercial the other day that had a website for mom's looking for a job w/ a flexible schedule. So, I had to check it out - to my dissapointment, it was for a fast food chain. (I'm not going to give you the website cause I really don't think it's deserving of promoting, but see my title to this entry and I think you'll get the jest of it, just leave out the punctuation.) Not that there is anything wrong w/ working at a fast food chain, but unless I really want to be the size of a blimp one day, I think it's better that I stay away.

This mom really is a hero though. Why you ask? I tolk the boys camping w/out DH! I put up the tent in the dark (forgot to take pics to prove it was really up) and froze my toush off while sleeping (I still have the cold to prove it). It was for the Trails West Council Annual Family Campout at Highland Silver Lake.

We had a great time. We got there Friday night after dinner and was only there till 12n Saturday. Our pack camped together so we had our own little fire pit and the boys roasted hot dogs Friday evening. Then Sat. they had archery (Q got a bullseye - what luck!) and fishing (P caught a fish, all by himself) and a nature walk. It was a chili weekend but oh so much fun!

I must have had to much cold medicine....

2007-10-24T12:40:00.000-05:00

or something cause that last post was a total downer. What the hey was wrong w/ me? I'll try to keep this more on an upnote though.

I sent off my "Look Charlie Brown, It's a Weenie" secret pal swap yesterday, and a little something for the host of the swap. She had to drop out, so one of the girls in the swap decided to organize a special RAK for her - so nice!

Anyway, here's what I sent off - I hope it's enough.

1 skein Trekking XXL that I was saving for my Mad Color Weave Socks (do I see a trip to the yarn store in my future?)
IK Holiday Knits 2007
ME's Home Companion that I was finished w/ (Oct issue)
A few recipes
Lots of Candy, Including a cute little Pez skeleton head :)
Some glow sticks
Dark Chocolate
More Dark Chocolate
Assorted Teas and Cocoa's

Closeup of papercrafts that I made for her (journal w/ pens, card set w/ envies, darning needles in matchbook and a Halloween card for her)

The goodies I sent off to the host. I sent the same papercrafted items and some candy.

I can't wait to get my package from my SP. She's sent me a few messages, teasing and taunting me (hehe). Waiting is oh so hard.

I have an almost complete pair of Jaywalkers. I'm sooooo glad I'm almost done w/ them. I'm afraid I'm going to have to put them on the back burner though so I can make my bro's b-day gift. I need it done by Sunday and the crazy thing is I want to make one for him and his gf for HIS b-day. Dashing for him, Fetching for her. I made my Fetching in about 2 days, so I should be able to do this.

I'll probably be posting again today w/ pics from our campout and the punkin farm. Maybe tomorrow?

Being sick really sucks

2007-10-18T23:31:00.001-05:00

I started coming down w/ a cold sometime Tuesday evening. Actually, I was feeling a little froggy during choir practice on Monday night, but that's not all that unusual for me since I sing WAY too loud. Some of the songs for our Christmas Concert have some really high unison parts and some higher alto parts, so I think that puts a strain on my voice too. I should just take the unison parts easy and let the sopranos take their lead (the one's in our choir seem to like to do that), but I don't... I belt it out like there is no tomorrow, probably sounding like crap the whole time, but it's great fun anyway.

So Tuesday after we picked up P from school, we went to the park and played for about an hour. I started the Monkey socks (they are frogged already though :( while they played. It was such a pretty day out too. Not too windy, not too hot, not too cold and not rainy. We had homemade crunchy tacos for dinner. I took P to scouts. Somewhere in there, I started sniffling and sneezing my head off. I also had a test in CIS 164 that was due by 1159p. I fumbled my way through that. Once my cold hit, I quickly became exhausted.

Now I have homework due for my Windows class tomorrow, design team pages to finish and turn in to the store and my Charlie Brown SP package to get out. All I feel like doing is laying in bed. P doesn't have school tomorrow (P/T conferences) but Q does so I still have to get up, get myself and 2 boys dressed and get out of the house at the usual time. I just feel like sleeping and knitting, and watching Greys Anatomy of course.

I should be in bed... I want to be in bed. But I'm here, and I want to be here too. I'm finding myself in this weird limbo lately that I want to be known. I'm not even sure what I mean by that either. This might just be the cold medicine talking too.

When I started this blog it was just for me. I thought I'd post a few thoughts. It seemed like a good place to actually create my journaling for my scrapbook pages. I could write everything when it happened, and then when I was ready to create a page, all I had to do was print it all out. I find myself scrapping less and less all the time. And that makes me feel guilty. Do I just get rid of all the scrapbook stuff... do I hang on to it and try to be better about organizing so I'll want to crop more? Do I make a schedule, crop this day, knit this day?

And I find myself weirded out about this whole blog thing. Do I want others to read it, or do I want to keep it all for me. I don't mind sharing my address w/ strangers, but I haven't given it out to any of my family and most of my friends. What's holding me back. I don't get personal so what's to be afraid of. And why don't I get personal? What's the real harm. Am I afraid of being judged? Probably so. Why do I care what other people think of me? Why am I still this 3rd grader at a new school stuck in a 32 year old's body?

Info for RAK

2007-10-13T20:38:00.001-05:00

Anything merino (I love Malabrigo)
sock yarn, superwash is nice, but not necessary
anything handmade
16" circs, either Addi Turbo or Knitpicks Harmony (I have sizes #3, #7, #8 & #10.5)
pretty stitch markers - I have sock sized ones already, would really like some #8's
Coffee Pods - hazelnut is my fav!
Chocolate is always nice, the darker the better
any knitting pattern you are in love w/ - also, I would like to start collecting some of
super cool buttons - fancy, wood, vintage, handmade, toggle - anything goes!
I collect H's (as in the letter)
a Mini Kacha-Kacha row counter
Back issues of Interweave Knits, Knitscene or Rebecca in English

I'm on a burnt orange kick right now. Also love pink, green, blue... pretty much any color. Not a huge fan of purple, but don't mind dark plums so much.

fragrances - (i.e. candles, lotions) I like scents that are clean or fruity. Not crazy about floral or musky scents. Vanilla and dessert scents are always good too - although they can sometimes make me want dessert, and that is not a good thing.

Since my Weenie asked, the boys are going to be Darth Vader (little guy) and a Clone trooper (big guy) for Halloween this year. I'm super excited cause they have never co-ordinated their costumes b-4 and their choices somewhat reflect their personalities. LG is a bit of a bully and BG tends to take orders pretty well.

Too Many WIPs

2007-10-08T23:00:00.001-05:00

I finished my first Jaywalker sock Saturday night and cast on for the second Sunday. I'm about 2 inches into the pattern, and I'm just so bored w/ it right now. Considering that it was not really what I wanted to be working on, I've told myself it's ok to put it aside for now. So today, I cast on for Cookie A's BFF socks. I've been wanting to make these since March, so I thought I earned the right now. The pattern is no longer on the blog, but I've heard that it was moved to Ravelry - of which I am still waiting for my invitation to join. I seem to have either failed to print the last page or lost it, but that's ok, cause I'm doing it toe-up now. In order to keep me in check from now on, I've decided to make a list of the top 10 socks I would like to work on next. That is not to say, that I prolly WILL feel the need to expand this to the top 15 or 25 or 50 socks I want to work on, but let's start from here. They are, of course, in no particular order.

Zokni Socks - these are so pretty, I'm thinking KP Gloss
Cornucopia - I love the spiraling action. I might splurge and buy some of their yarn for this. I've been drooling over their website (ok, my keyboard) for at least a month now.
Fred & George - I would love to do this up for my bro and his gf. I think it would be so funny for it to look like that they have on each other's socks.. hehe!
Phineas - This and F&G are both Quietish patterns - she seems to love Harry Potter as much as I do and I love that. I might actually do these up in something more pricey than my normal KnitPicks favs, I love these so much. Not that there is anything wrong w/ KP though.
Monkey - I'm planning on doing these in some KP's yarn that I am going to dye myself. My order should get here tomorrow so let's see how long I can hold off b4 casting these on. This is another pattern that I've been wanting to make for a while now.
Mad Color Weave - I love these so much that I might have to get some bank-breaking Koigu to work these up in, or maybe Tofutsies?
Elfine's Socks - This might win out for the pattern of choice for my St. Pat's socks. I will prolly do my own hand-dying for these also.
Rhodie Gus Socks - I think I'll make em longer than the ones in the pic. I love the cable and lace combo - oh, and do I detect a bit of the Jaywalker pattern, just a hint maybe?
Hedgerow Socks - these are so pretty, maybe the 2nd runner up for the St. Pat's socks. If Elfine's is not able to fulfill it's term, then you are the one. Either way, you will be mine, oh yes, you will be mine!
Uzume - I love the airiness of the lace pattern on these. And look, they used KP's yarn, my fav! hehehe! and it's KP Gloss... same yarn I made Coupling in.... love it!

To add to my knitting woes (there's no crying in knitting though) Q is expecting a pair of sock and he wants them like yesterday which means I'll have to make P a pair too. I might cheat and do up one of the patterns I found on lion brands website w/ some wool-ease. They use #5 dpns so they should be pretty quick knits, I hope. Of course, they want them in like every color under the rainbow... these should be some pretty interesting socks! For now, Q is getting navy, red and grey stripes and P is getting grey, green and orange, I think. At least, that's what I want to make them. They are also asking for new hats...

a few FO's!

2007-10-05T23:44:00.001-05:00

This time tomorrow I will be an aunt... again! My SIL is being induced as we speak, her due date was Oct 1st, so she was more than ready and willing for some help from the Dr. I had told myself that I would not be knitting anything for this baby, but I had a long talk with myself and decided I was being unreasonable. I am so pleased w/ the outcome. I just kinda whipped the pattern up - just a simple 3x3 rib for 8 rows, one purl row and the rest stockinette. I should have started my decreases a bit sooner. I even took about 7 rows out using a tutorial I found when I first started knitting and thought - man that looks hard, but it really wasn't. Fortunately, I remembered how to do it, cause now I can't find the tutorial. I thought it was on http://www.knitty.com/, but who knows. You basically just decide what row you want to frog back to and pick up the stitches in that row. Then rip away w/ careless abandon. When you get to the stitches you just picked up, you won't be able to unravel anymore ( unless you tug really, really hard - I guess) The little flowers are just something I came up w/ too. They are crocheted. The real trick was making sure the whole in the middle would accomidate the button. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. It was a quick knit. I did it in about a day's worth of knitting, which usually includes a lot of stopping and starting up again, but if I had to guess it prolly took about 5-6 hours.

Next is Shedir. It's actually been finished for quite some time. It's for my aunt that was diagnosed w/ breast cancer early this summer. I finished it sometime right before her second chemo treatment and unfortunately did not give it to her until her second to the last treatment. I was really dissapointed w/ the obvious difference in color when I switched to a new ball of yarn. I used the yarn recomended - Rowan Calmer and the ball band SAID that they were the same dye lot, but obviously they were not. She loved it anyway and was amazed that I made it. The Debbie Bliss for the baby hat was supposed to be for my Shedir, but I was not happy w/ the way the gauge swatch looked and decided that I really should try to get over my obssession w/ pink. I ordered some KnitPicks dk merino this week to work mine up in. Of course, it's raspberry so I guess I'm a lost cause.

Lastly is this adorable little bag. It needs a good haircut and I'm planning on lining it (I hate unstructured bags - unless it's just a reg. old tote bag, but this bag screams for structure, and a lining w/ a stiff facing is the only way to achieve this). I used Pattons SWS in Natural Geranium. I bought it last year to make a felted bag and never finished it. I have enough left to make another like this. This is the purl side and I think it's going to be the outside of the bag. The handle is a bit floppier than I had anticipated so it will get lined to, somehow. I've been pondering how to accomplish this all week. Another quick knit. I could have completed this in about 4-5 hours, but worked on it a little all week. I also worked mine in the round untill I got to the bottom shapping and then worked back and forth. I think if I make another I will do it the same way, but either use a circ. needle that's short enough to work the bottom in the round or work each side of the bottom individually. I also kitchnered the bottom seam shut instead of a 3-needle bind-off. I do love kitchnering and was too lazy to get up and go get a spare needle to do the 3nbo. It's currently drying and blocking over P's lunch box and in the future it will be my sock knitting bag. I hope it dries soon! I can't wait start using it.

I think mom and I are going to E-ville tomorrow to the Goshen Market. We've been wanting to do this for the past few years and just keep on forgetting or putting it off or something. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I know there will be baked goods! A friend of her's brings her flax seed cookies sometimes from the market. I think there may be produce and I'm guessing handcrafted items too. I can't wait to put my crocheted grocery bag to the use I intended it for.

Oh, here's a little preview - guess what my 3 1/2 year old niece is going to be for Halloween? I don't remember Gene Simmons ever wearing pink nail polish though.

FO - Coupling

2007-09-26T15:28:00.001-05:00

It took me exactly 2 weeks from start to finish. Of course, I worked on nothing else except for my design team pages for FKS. I forgot to photograph the pages though, so I'll have to try to remember to do that next time I'm in there. I think they may have been the best pages I've made for the store yet.

I'm really pleased w/ how the socks turned out too. The lace pattern was easy enough to not be overwhelming - I memorized it easily, but interesting enough to keep me going. Every 4th row is a knit row, so I think that kept me going. When I felt like stopping, I made myself go till the end of a knit row. I knit the second sock w/ a looser tension than the first, but I can't really tell when I'm wearing them. The 1st is just a bit harder to get on, but looks fine once on. The lace pattern is more pronounced on the 1st cause it's being stretched more. I might go back and re-knit one of them, but I can't decide which one to redo. In the pic w/ one shoe on, the sock w/ the tighter gauge is the one w/out the shoe (my right foot in the other pic.) I love the way they look w/ my Born loafers :) I could not resist that color either. It makes me want to go apple picking or make a pie or something.

The color in the pic. on the bottom is more accurate.

Pattern - Coupling by Deb Barnhill, Knitty Summer '07 Yarn - KnitPicks Gloss in Pumpkin

Adventures in dying

2007-09-24T03:59:00.000-05:00

One of my assignments this week for class was to research a subject that I am interested in. I had this awful color of pink yarn that needed a transformation, so I choose to research dying your own yarn. It was a dk weight merino, and while I did not pay much for it, it would be a shame to waste such lovely and soft fiber.

I'm very happy w/ the results although I don't claim to be an expert by any means. Here's a list of the websites I found most helpful.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/FEATdyeyourown.html - includes instructions on using food coloring and vinegar to make your own, less toxic acid dyes. Demonstrates 3 different dying methods. I choose to use Wilton gel icing colors.

http://knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/review/product/070830_a.asp - explains how to use the Louet hand dyed sock kit. Although it seems to be directions from the kit, this is the method I choose to use, I just adapted it to the food coloring and used squirt top bottles instead of syringes.

http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2005/12/techniques_selfstriping_yarn.html - explains how to make your own self-striping yarn. A bit of math is used and a bit more prep work, but I'm sure if I ever make ssy, I'll use this method.

Some other sites worthy of mentioning are:

http://www.knitty.com/issuefall02/FEATdyedwool.html - the basics of drink mix dying. Also has a photo of kool-aid dyed yarn w/ their corresponding drink packets so you can see what kind of colors to expect. I for one think Kool-aid is meant to be drank, but I love the lemon-lime dyed yarn looks. It reminds me of St. Patrick's day!

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer07/KSsum07GS.html - using solar power to heat set your yarn, very cool!

The garish pink yarn is the one in question. I think it looks worse when compared to the other 2 picted. On it's own, I almost decided I liked it. Ultimately, it reminded me too much of Dora the Explorer, so it had to go. Dyed yarn just out of the microwave. I really wanted to tear into this, but knew my patience would be rewarded. Just out of the ziplock bag and ready for a rinse and a soak in some wool wash. dyed yarn hanging out to dry away from nosey kids and dog. the color of pic on top is more accurate, pic on bottom shows off subtle variegation a bit more.

Santa Baby!

2007-09-17T15:58:00.001-05:00

Christmas is only 14 weeks away. So here's my list Santa!

Quite possibly the perfect knitting bag/purse - the Namaste Everyday Handbag. It has all the features I've been searching for in a bag that can double as a purse. I think I'm in love. Not sure which color, I do like the rust that is pictured but then there is also the raspberry or the turquoise or the brick red. Hmmm... decisions, decisions. Knitpicks Harmony DPN set.

Anything from Bare Essentials, gift cert would be best though :)

Anything from my Amazon wish list.

See that isn't so hard. And Santa, you don't have to even leave the comfort of your computer chair.

Technologically repressed

2007-09-17T00:18:00.001-05:00

Yes, that's what I said. That should be a Bush-ism or something! I really am feeling repressed. I'm still living without my printer/scanner. Ever since Q poured blue raspberry lemonade kool-aid in my printer, I've been repressed. I'm a technology junkie and I need a fix. I ordered a new printer from Epson.com... this sweet little number that prints better than lab quality photos (according to them, but the samples they sent me were fabulous!). So I get it out of the box, plug it in, start to put the ink in, and the carrier that holds the SIX ink cartridges won't move over into the correct position to open the darn thing up to put the ink in. So it is now back at Epson and I am still printerless cause the model I ordered is out of stock.

I did however figure out that it is not the usb cable that is defective, it's my camera - or at least the usb port on the camera. So I went out and got a card reader and I'm back in the photo business.

I am 3/4 of the way done w/ my first Coupling sock from Knitty's Summer 07 issue, out of the orange yarn pictured below, and I have 2 double page 12x12 spreads to complete by Tuesday this week for For Keeps Sake design team. So I really have no business playing on the computer till Wednesday, but I'm sure that won't stop me, it never has before. Then I really should work on my homework for the week too... sigh! If only I could knit and read at the same time! Then all my wildests dreams would have come true.

Here's a few pics just for fun. Every post needs a few pics ya know!

My super cute Kids!

Welcome home party for T's cousin that just got back from Iraq. This all the men in the family (-1) and they are a silly bunch... this is the best pic I got. That's my FIL in the background who appears to be dancing around like a fairy and my youngest BIL lounging.

Cousins, again -1

Yarn from my recent KnitPicks purchase - that pink is ghastly... I thought it was going to be more berry-like so I'm gonna use it to experement w/ dying. The orange is currently being worked up into socks and the russet tweed will also be socks. I hope to have a whole drawer full of hand knitted socks someday!

This is a little shopping bag I crocheted up in less than 3 hours out of Cotton Ease. It really stretches. I had everything but the kitchen sink in it testing it out.

Bribes

2007-09-13T13:57:00.001-05:00

I learned something really cool today - how to use my email to post to my blog. Maybe I'll be better about posting now. Prolly not though :) As a parent, the one thing you hate to have to do is bribe your kids to do something. You quickly realize when you become a parent though, that it really does work. It is something though that I try to make an effort not to use to often. Q has been sleeping w/ us since he was a baby. We have no issues w/ the family bed, but now that he's 4 yrs old, it's time he started using that race car bed w/ the Lightening McQueen bedding. We've been talking to him for a while about being a big boy means you don't get to sleep w/ mommy and that you get your own bed all to yourself to spread out and relax. He has not been too convinced though. He's been falling asleep in our bed for a while, and then when we go to bed, we put him in his own bed. Sometime during the night, he gets up and crawls back into bed w/ us, usually not waking either of us. Well, since Monday night he has been falling asleep and spending the whole night in his own bed. He was promised a trip to the bakery the next day (one of the boys favorite after school spots) before he went to bed. For being a big boy Tuesday night he got a Baby bottle pop... I swear I'm never buying one of those things again. We're going to Target after we pick P up from school. He really wants some AquaDots, but I don't think sleeping in your own bed for 3 days straight is AquaDot worthy. Maybe we'll do some ice cream or a fizzy bathtub ball instead. One things for sure, I have to break the cycle soon or I'll be buying him something everyday till he's 10.

I'm ready for the snow....

2007-08-23T16:49:00.000-05:00

Well, not really. But it can be 50 degrees anytime now. I'm so sick of almost 100 degree weather. It's been like 20 days now. The older I get, the more winter appeals to me. And thanks to Global Warming, we only have like a week or two of weather that is cold enough that I have to actually wear a heavy coat. I've been putting off buying a new one for 3 years now cause it never really seems like I need one. It seems that I am getting ready for snow. After reading my Knitting Daily email from yesterday, I made myself make a list of all my WIP's. I didn't realize how much I have going on. I need to cut back a bit. Here it is: 1. Trellis from Knitty that is overdue for gifting. I ALMOST sewed it all together the other night, when I realized that the fronts don't match the back. They are about 3 rows shorter and the cables are not matching up at the shoulders. I had to frog the left side back to the armhole decrease and need to add 3 rows on the right side and it should be all good. Of course, it's sitting in a basket in it's frogged and still in pieces state. 2. Mini Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style. It really is fantastic. I'm using Patons SWS in colorway Natural Earth. Wish I could show U some pics but my usb cable for my camera I think is defective. (which bumbs me out!) 3. Fitted Knits Mini Cardi - I just cast this one on yesterday and it is going so fast. I went w/ the Raspberry and I'm torn as to weather or not I should use a different color for the edging or not. I'm just not sure if I'm a multi-colored kinda gal. It's cute on the super-thin model though :) 4. Entrelac "sock" for my waterbottle. Yes, really, I'm making a sock for my water bottle. I'm trying to be as green as I can though and stop purchasing bottled water. My water w/ my Pur filter at home tastes just as good if not better. And I love my Rubbermaid pink bottle. It just sweats a lot and when I put a koozie on it, the ice melts slower. 5. Mini-sweater by SJ - it's in Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Cream and I haven't touched it in weeks. I'm threatening it that it might be frogged soon! 6. Nantucket Jacket - I love, love, love this sweater, but I'm second guessing my yarn choice and might go down a size since it has "grown" bc I used cotton. I might try to budget to do it in a wool blend. 6.5 Currently Swatching for another Shedir. I'm looking for the perfect color chocolate brown in a merino/ cashmere blend that is also dk weight and I'm discovering that there is no such creature. On another bummer note... the boys poured kool aid in my printer/scanner and now I'm w/out both. I'm about to die. I live for technology...... I'm on the internet everyday trying to decide which model to go w/ and when I think I've decided I either can't find it in stores or change my mind to something else. In the past 18 hourse I've changed my mind 4 times. The plan is though to buy something that I will love enough to not use a commercial photo processor anylonger. So I guess it's worth the wait if I get something that I end up falling in love w/.

My scrapspace

2007-07-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

This is totally embarrassing, and I prolly shouldn't be posting these, at least not with it in the state of chaos that it is in, but here is my scrapspace. The schematic is what my back wall somewhat looks like now and I'm using it cause I could not get a good pic w/out moving the dining room table. Items "e" are 2 magnetic boards I have not hung yet and "f" is a shelf, that I have yet to purchase. I do have all these cubes though and the desk. It's a tall, almost island like kitchen set I got at W-mart for cheap b-4 we got married. I've been scrapping standing up a lot lately, so I like the height. This is prolly from my days of making samples at Archive's while standing @ the cash wrap. Just seems right now, and I'm not up and down off of the bar stool every time I need a stamp or ink pad or whatever. In the 3-drawer, or "a" I have favorite alpha stamps and rubons in drawer one, large punches and circle cutter in drawer 2, and smaller punches in drawer 3. "b" & "c" are self explanatory. In "d", the 4 drawer, adhesives (yes they have their own drawer, I do have a lot), paint, and ribbon spools all have their own drawer. One is open and I change my mind all the time what to put in it. Right now, I think their might be my eyelet setter in it, but I'm not sure. "h" is also in a state of limbo. I have photos on one shelf, and a cropper hopper embellishment box on the other, but I'm not sure if they will stay that way. "i", the 2 drawer, has Quickutz and my Sidekick in one drawer, and the bottom is kinda undecided right now too. I think my least favorite is the 2 drawer and I wish I had gone w/ another 3 drawer instead. They have shallower drawers, so they just seem easier to fill w/out piling stuff on top of each other. I think I may take the extra drawer from the 2 drawer and move my chipboard there, which will free up more space in the dresser for more stamps (hehehe). I've been taking my sweet time organizing which is proving to be both a good and bad. The good is that I'm thinking through my purchases and only buying what I really need (except for that darn 2 drawer). The bad is that I keep reorganizing things I've already organized. I'm hoping posting these embarrassing photos will motivate me to get it done.

The paper cubes are full of, well paper, but they are all sorted in the Cropper Hopper vertical paper system. I do love it. I'm using a combo of the paper holder, paper pouch and the paper file. Most of it is divided by manufacturer, but some is by color family. All the cardstock is separate and I have those in the paper holders and all my Basic Grey is by line in paper files and that fills another paper holder (and then some). I do love my Basic Grey! I got this black wire shelf at Kmart a few years ago. I keep my mags and idea books (along w/ a bunch of other junk-currently) on top. In the middle are 6 archival boxes that I have labeled and store assorted things like cards, giant chipboard, photos, alterables... and a holder for my 8.5x11 cardstock. The drawers under that were white, and I sprayed them black to match everything else. It was way cheaper than buying new ones. They are kindof in a holding pattern right now and are sorta a catch all for things that need to be organized. They hopefully will serve a greater purpose someday.

What the inside of one of the archival boxes look like. I've sorted tags into some archival photo envelopes.

The black storage drawers are one of my fav. things. Those are from Office Depot and hold stamping supplies like wheels and embossing powders. I've also sorted my loose stamps by category so everything is much easier to find. Love it. The smaller black drawers (that were also white) hold items that don't get used often, but I don't' want to get rid of. I wish i had room for another one of the 6-drawer units, but the shelf is not wide enough.

The white chest of drawers was mine as a child. (yes, it's part yellow and has no drawer pulls.) I keep pages that need a home in top drawer, chipboard in next, foam stamps in next and my Stampin' Up! sets in last 2. I have 12 jars ($1.50 each at Old Time Pottery) w/ ribbon on top and a metal box that I currently have all of my acrylic stamps in.

Lastly, this was another one of those purchases that I'm not thrilled I made, but I've grown to like it anyway. Yes from the hardware dept. I put things like my mini chalk inks and flowers and metal rimmed tags in it.

Hopefully it will all be more orderly soon and I can post some neat and tidy pics. This is a sign that I've been playing more than I've been working.

I prolly shouldn't have....

2007-07-12T14:44:00.000-05:00

but I did. I went in to Sarah Lynn's today just to "look" and they had just gotten in their new fall colors. I just couldn't resist. I shot this outside in the sun and the colors are pretty close to real life. It's exactly what I've been looking for, something that I can use for a purse and still carry my camera in and/or a small knitting project.

Monday I got another treat. I made a purchase a few weeks ago on everyone's fav. online auction site and it finally came. All the way from Hong Kong. 6 new pairs of Addi Turbo's. And I got them for a song - less than half price even w/ the shipping. It's my first foreign online purchase, but I'm sure it won't be my last. I almost cry when I think of how much I would have spent on these if I had purchased them at a yarn shop or US website. Here's a few pics. I love all the postage on it. I don't think I'll be throwing that envelope away for a while at least.

It's gotten me in the mood to knit again, and scrapbooking has temporarily fallen by the wayside. Actually, the projects got me in the mood to purchase the needles.... lol. I've got 3 WIP's going right now, which is more than I would like. The first is this sweater that I am making for a certain little someone who shall remain nameless right now incase her mother is peeking here. I have several little someone's who I could be making it for, so even if I post it, mommy will still be guessing if it is for her little someone. This is what it looks like after a 1/2 day of work. It's going pretty quickly.

Then there is the Nantucket Jacket and the Boobholder (which I have started about 5 times now). I'm in love w/ the Nantucket Jacket- it's actually what started me wanting to learn how to knit. So far, I've only finished that back of it. I was waiting for my new needles so I can do both the left and right fronts at the same time and then do the same w/ the sleeves. The color is a warm, mushroom taupe. Should be able to wear it w/ anything, if I ever get it done.

I wanted to make the Boobholder (aka Mini sweater) to have something to throw on over a tank top this summer if I needed to run somewhere and did not care to show of my big, meaty arms. I've started 3 times cause the directions are pretty generic and I'm sure would work on someone who is smaller than myself. I ended up casting on 64 stitches and I'm hoping that this gives me the room I need in it. I placed my markers as so : 8-10-26-10-8 w/ the numbers being the # of stitches in between the markers and the - is the marker. I'm using Lion cottonease for all 3 projects, which is buttery soft and right in my budget. It just my be my fav. yarn right now.

Lastly are some pics of the boys just for fun. Whew... that sure is a lot of pics in this post.

Super-duper excited!

2007-07-06T00:49:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to be a newly appointed member of For Keeps Sake's design team. Here is my bio page for the store. Just some misc. stuff about what's going on in my life right now. Next week is my first design team meeting, where I'll be recieving my first assignment. I can't wait!

I hope to get back on tomorrow and post some pics from Q's b-day party and the 4th of July party. Until then, these are some of the pages I've completed lately. I'm deep in knitting mode right now, but I have some assembled pages waiting for journaling and embies so when my wrists get tired and need a brake, I can switch right into scrapbooking mode. Of course, I should be doing the dishes or something.

Just some pages

2007-05-15T12:27:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to post these for a while now. They are not the most recent pages I have done, but I love them anyway. If I ever get my scrapspace in order maybe I'll get some more pages completed. Now that the whole circle journal fiasco is completed, I can start focusing on stuff for myself.

Jane's B-day present

2007-03-02T10:55:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Jane! I hope you are enjoying your crown. Only took me 2 years to get it too you.

Love ya,

Heather

My b-day present

2007-01-25T14:25:00.000-06:00

Card I made w/ Cricut I got for my b-day using Doodletype cart. Love the way it turned out. Simple, but I'm trying to go that route these days.

Four more days and counting

2006-12-21T19:10:00.000-06:00

I hope that Santa is done "checking it twice" cause if he's not then my kids are getting coal for Christmas. Seriously... Christmas break started 4 hours and 11 minutes ago and the boys have not stopped fighting, I caught Quinn coloring on the wall and Patrick told me he was going to sneak out of the house so he could play with the kids in the neighborhood (I know, not too smart- he doesn't get that from my side of the gene pool). I think I'm going to lock myself in my bedroom with my knitting needles and yarn stash for the next 2 weeks till Patrick goes back to school. Even if I do, I probably still won't have Corrina's hat done in time for Christmas.

2006-02-23T23:44:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those crazy days for me when I don't have to work and I'm home with the kids all day. Well, at least Q all day. On one hand, he is such a good boy. Just past two and a half and as sweet as can be. On the other hand, he's my arch nemisis. He insists on having his way, all of the time, and when you tell him no, he cries as loud as he can for as long as he can. The way most two year olds who are really good at being two do. Sometimes he doesn't actually cry, and this can be even more annoying because he gets right in your face and repeats "uh-huh" untill you want to gouge your ears out. He especially likes to do this when I have told him that he is not the boss and he doesn't always get his way. Today was no different really than an other day I am home with him all day. We had some errands to run, which included going to Archiver's so I could pay for my mania for this Friday night. He ran around like a child who has never ran before (probably has something to do with the fact that he's always in the stroller when we go there, and this time I didn't bother with it). I caught him just in time right before he was about to pull a roll of stickers completely off the roll. Danielle tried to rescue me by giving him a sheet of firetruck stickers out of the damage bin, which gave me about 30 seconds of peace. He then went straight for the door and activated the automatic door, at which time I gave up and ran out the door after him. We then went to Target, where he was good, but insisted on standing in the cart the whole time because I would not let him get down and walk or carry him. We got lunch and he fell asleep on the way home. While he napped, I goofed around trying to arrange the songs on my mp3 player, even though I should have tryed to put a page kit or two together for the mania tomorrow night. He slept for almost 3 hours and woke up just in time to get P from school. Today was such a nice day out that I let them play on the playground at school for a bit before heading home. Once we got home, one of the little boys from the neighborhood wanted P to play, and he's been dying to get out his new scooter he got for his birthday. This of course though made Q want to play outside and he threw a huge fit when mommy did not agree with him. He then screamed at me for the next 2 hours until T got home from work. Pretty typical day I guess. Except for the nice weather.