Nicole's knits and everything else....

Etsy here I come....

2010-10-22T23:14:00.003-04:00

Well I have been working on getting my Christmas presents out of the way and I decided against making 30+ dishrags to give this year. I am so bloody tired of that pattern that I could just pass out. I have came up with the most precious little star pattern that I found on Ravelry and adapted it to suit my needs.

I am also thinking about opening up my own Etsy store. I have already registered myself under the name BakerThird. I just need to get my paypal account in order as far as getting my name changed since it is still listed under my maiden name. I am tempted to just close the thing and reopen it under my married name but I don't know how they will like that. If anyone has any experience with paypal please enlighten me. I just don't feel comfortable faxing a copy of my driver's license and a copy of my marriage certificate to them no matter how secure they are.

As far as selling things I am not trying to make a fortune or anything, I would just like to sell a few items to keep up my yarn habit not make a living. I guess we will see how successful I am once I get a few things made to try to sell.

I have many WIPs that need to be finished including some longies that I made for Samson. I just need about another 2 inches on the legs and to make a drawstring and they will be done.

October is here.

2010-10-10T09:01:00.002-04:00

Well between crocheting and knitting and taking care of the family, time does fly. We are now already 10 days into October. I am still working on Samson's big boy afghan for his big boy bed we hope to get him for Christmas. He is almost 15 months old (well he will be on the 26th) and he is taking me to his crib when I ask him if he is ready to go night-night. We are planning to start trying to get pregnant again in January but we will see how that goes. We would like to have our kids somewhat close in age.

I have enjoyed my adventures in crocheting but I have kind of fell off the wagon. With Christmas coming up, I would rather spend my time knitting dish clothes to give away as presents. I may go to town and buy some dish towels to crochet towel toppers to but I am not certain at this point. I am in the process of making Samson some knitted longies for winter since we try to cloth diaper him at home as much as possible. This has helped with the diapering expense and I intend to cloth diaper the next one just start sooner than at six months. Also my MIL is not able to fully regulate the temperature in her shop where she keeps Samson and my niece (who is now 4 months old) so the extra warmth of having wool pants on will help some.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful the weather has cooled off some. I love the brisk air of fall.
2. I am thankful for the small blessings in life.
3. I am thankful for having the free time to knit and crochet because it helps me relax on tough days.

Catch up time

2010-08-06T13:56:00.004-04:00

Wow! It's August!

Samson is now a beautiful 1-year old toddler!! He turned one on July 26th. He has been keeping me extremely busy! He has gone from walking at 9 months old to running constantly. I have so been enjoying being with him and my husband. We have now coined him "Wild Man" so beware if I should reference him as that. He is still very strong for someone so tiny -- tiny being 29.5 inches and 21 lbs 14 oz. at his last check up. He has also had his first haircut and transformed to a very fine little boy.
**I have given up on trying to sew diapers right now but I will investigate it again at another time. We are just doing the regular cloth diapers; they work just as well. I did however invest in some bummi's liners and they have worked wonders on them to help from getting them stained as badly. Charlie's Soap is great too!!**
I hope to put up pictures soon...my computer has been out of commission for a few months now so I finally sat down at my husband's laptop to type up this post.

I have been crocheting more than knitting lately but I have been doing both crafts that is when Samson allows me the time. I have completed a baby blanket for a girl at work who is a Georgia Tech fan. Its just a plain ripple baby size blanket in their colors. I know she will absolutely love it.

On a bright note we are now the adoptive family of a loving beagle mix puppy. About 3 weeks ago, my husband G was oil changing my car when the oil filter cartridge holder cracked. So we had to go get our extra vehicle from my MIL's house. Well when we got there we found this little starved, one day away from death's door puppy. She was absolutely pitiful. Well we just had to take her home due to the state she was in. We haven't looked back since. I took her to the vet because she had a very BAD skin condition. Turned out it was red mange. Vet gave her some meds and she is now lots better. Her name is Daisey and hopefully when I get somewhere I can hook up my camera or my SD card I will put some pictures up.

Thankfuls:
1. I am so glad I got my two week vacation.
2. I am thankful my parents were able to help us go on vacation.
3. I am thankful we were able to help out another animal by taking in Daisey.
4. I am thankful I have lost 15 lbs and still counting. (only 30 more to go)

Can one be too crafty?

2010-03-22T20:32:00.003-04:00

Well my little Samson has come down with some awful diaper rash so we have been keeping him in cloth diapers the past couple of weeks. They really are not any more trouble from disposables; it just adds a daily load of laundry to do.

Which leads to my title question -- can one be too crafty? I have been experimenting with some diaper sewing patterns over the weekend and I have been busy knitting diaper doublers for the diaper cover I have bought. Its supposed to work as one of those all in one deals but we just put an old fashioned diaper on him and use the AIO cover as a soaker so we don't have to use pins. I am in the process of also knitting him a wool soaker too.

Pictures soon hopefully as I try to figure out why my Picasa pictures disappear after I post.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful that my wonderful husband rearranged our furniture in the living room now we have more space.
2. I am thankful that my husband has spring cleaning fever; maybe now we can get the house more organized.
3. I am thankful for my wonderful MIL and SIL that keep Samson for me while I am at work everyday.

Thomas has went to kitty heaven..........

2010-03-07T09:31:00.006-05:00

July 19, 2000 - March 6, 2010

Thomas went from being an inside cat to outside cat at his insistence on Jan 18, 2010. I wish I had known then that he would only live another month and a half. He always wanted to be out in the sunshine and most the times I would let him out for a few minutes on really sunny days; I never left him outside because I was afraid another animal might attack him.
I gave in and let him start staying outside all the time though. We still brought him in on really cold nights to sleep in the house but he would race you to the door the next morning to go lounge outside again.

Thomas was my kitty guardian angel while he was here. He got me through a lot of tough times in the years since he was born.

I think that was what made it so hard to loose him. I had had him since the day he was born. I had named him Squeaker then because his little meow came out as a squeak. A few months later the name just didn't seam to fit, so I began to call him Thomas after the Thomas Magnum from Magnum, P.I. I'd always liked Tom Selleck.

I always called Thomas my strong but silent type. He got to where he wouldn't "speak" unless he lost me or was deeply upset. I can only recall him meowing twice in the past year. He had a deep rich purr that I will miss because above all he would always purr.

I tucked him into my husband's boot box the way he would have done himself had he been living because he always loved to curl up into shoe boxes. I then drove to my mom's house and buried him. That was the worst part, but it gave me lots of closure.

My mom insisted on going out with me to help. She was mainly there for moral support. I dug a little and cried a little. Once the hole was big enough, I opened the box to pet him one last time, then we placed him in his final resting spot and covered him up.

He now lays with his best friend. My dog we lost 7 years ago, Brownie. She and Thomas wasn't always on the best terms but you could always find them somewhere in the house together whether laying on my bed or on the floor. I don't know who was more confused the dog that thought she was a mama cat or the cat who thought he was a dog. Now they are both lying in the sunshine licking each others heads.

Thomas may you rest in peace next to your beloved chihuahua friend Brownie.I will miss you old man.

Quick Update and a couple of pics

2010-01-30T09:19:00.006-05:00

Thanks for the encouragement Batty!! I appreciate your comment on my last post. It helps a lot to be brought back to reality. I didn't really understand how Samson was going to change my life as far as my "free time" but it doesn't matter about free time now. He is more important than knitting or crocheting will ever be. I will worry about all that later. :-)

I do somehow find time to crochet some. Mostly I do it at work when I am on my lunch break. I have created a pair of fingerless gloves that I am putting edging on and I plan to give them to my mom.
This post is going to be a little challenging to type up because Samson is asleep in my arms. Everytime I try to put him down for his nap the first few min he whines in his sleep--its so cute! He now has two teeth; the other one came in about a day after my last post. He has also turned 6 months old on 1-26-10 and is scooting around and saying Hey.

My crochet instructors taught us how to make a plain vanilla granny square last week and asked us all to make a few to turn in this week so that we can make a blanket. The blanket will be given to my boss's daughter and her family due to having lost everything a couple of weeks ago when their house burned. The blanket will have the stained glass look effect -- we are going to trim the squares in black before we sew them together.

My ability to crochet has also led me to teach a friend of mine who is on strict bed-rest due to having a lot of complications with her pregnancy. I go back to see her tomorrow for her next lesson.

Here are a couple of pictures of Samson. He really does not like having his picture taken as you can tell in the first one.

Thankful:
1. I am thankful that I can pass the knowledge of crocheting to another.
2. I am thankful this month is over because it has been very hectic at work.
3. I am thankful that I am able to help others in need.

I'm horrible...

2010-01-16T20:49:00.005-05:00

I am horrible in the fact that I haven't blogged anything in a VERY LOOONG time. I will try to do better in the coming months. I haven't been knitting all that much because life is fun and full with a baby around. Baby S from here on out will be called Samson in my blog because the little boy is strong for a five month old and its will be easier as he grows up to refer to him as this instead of baby S. He has gotten his first tooth on the bottom left side, Monday will be two weeks ago, and he said Da-Da clear as a bell today and has refused to say it again.

I have somehow by some small miracle found the time to learn to crochet and I must say it may take over my passion for knitting. It is so fast to work things up with it. My supervisor's church is providing anyone and everyone who wants to learn with free lessons. I have only been to two meetings and I am addicted. I have already learned enough to make my first pair of crocheted fingerless gloves. I have one down and starting on the other. I will post pictures soon.

I hope to also post a current picture of Samson.

Thankful:
1. I am thankful for my wonderful husband and my beautiful little boy.
2. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn a new craft and to use it to the benefit of others.
3. I am thankful that I still have a job when there are so many who are unemployed.

Another thrifty idea....

2009-09-04T11:37:00.003-04:00

...that I came up with all by myself! I am breastfeeding Baby S so I have been trying to pump and get a stash of milk for my MIL to feed him while I am at work. I was looking for something that wouldn't take up much room in the freezer for me to store it in. Well one of the Huggies wipes containers that I have is a perfect fit. The bags of milk once frozen flat can be stacked in there like cards and the wipe container doesn't take up much space.

Batty, you commented on using vinegar in the dishwasher; I read that too. I didn't think to include that because I don't currently have a dishwasher except for my own two hands. I would love to have a dishwasher in the next place that we live, but yes you can substitute vinegar for the Jet Dry as your rinse aid in the dishwasher. There is a website actually dedicated for the uses of vinegar that you can find here.

Another fabric softener recipe can be found here for vinegar and baking soda.

Well I intend to cast on my Traveling Woman shawl today since I am trying to wean myself into having days without Baby S. He's with my MIL and SIL today hopefully I can make it through the day so my husband can pick him up this afternoon. Yesterday wasn't so successful; I dropped him off at 9:30 am and only made it until about 2:30 pm. Boy was that hard. I know I won't have a choice come next week though.

1. I am thankful for wonderful in laws.
2. I am thankful for a few hours to myself.
3. I am thankful for the very LONG shower I was able to take this morning.

Almost time to go back to work

2009-09-01T09:24:00.005-04:00

I go back to work on Sept. 9 and I still can't believe that it has been six weeks since the birth of our beautiful son. He is quite the character. He is more talkative with cooing, oohs and ahhs but he still sleeps most of the day like new babies tend to do. While I am ready to go back to work, I am not ready to start leaving him for 8-9 hours at a time.

I have been searching for ways to minimize my spending on things I don't deem important since he has been born and some before he was born. I recently found a couple of tips on the Internet about how to prevent static cling in the laundry without use of dryer sheets and commercial fabric softener in the washer. I have been using white vinegar in place of commercial fabric softener for a couple of months now. I just simply pour it in the washers dispenser instead. My clothes do not come out smelling vinegary either but I have been able to tell that they are softer against my skin. I also read a few nights ago that if you ball up some aluminum foil and put into the dryer it will protect against static cling. I was somewhat skeptical about this one but I have since tried it and so far so good. The only thing is that after so many loads you have to replace the ball of aluminum foil. My ball is a little bit larger than a golf ball so it really doesn't take much.

Why go through the trouble? Well fabric softeners to me are just to expensive in my opinion. I have very sensitive skin and it is also recommended not to use them for baby items. I don't spend extra money on baby detergent because I already use a perfume free and dye free detergent which has been working just fine.

I also read a neat article while searching for a knitting pattern. It was a way to recycle old t-shirts. I'm sorry I don't have the link at the time I failed to write it down. She took old t-shirts and cut them into one to one and half inch strips and tied them together to make her yarn. She then knitted them into "sponges" these sponges were then used for washing dishes or the car depending on how large or small she made them.

I'm back to knitting now but things are still going slowly. I have a shawl in mind that I want to start and one that I need to work on that is a WIP. I have also started knitting Christmas presents for my mom and aunt. I may make a few extras for my Nana and Nanny also. I also plan to make Baby S some mittens. His little hands stay cold all the time and I just can't see spending another $5.00 on 3 pair of cotton ones when I can make him some wool ones that will probably keep his hands warmer.

1. I am thankful for going back to work next week but sad that I won't be able to spend all day with my little man.
2. I am thankful that I have a great mother-in-law that will keep Baby S while we are at work.
3. I am thankful for finding tips that save me money.

A Birth Story

2009-08-08T17:38:00.005-04:00

Gosh I can't believe that two weeks ago tomorrow my little prince arrived!

Baby S was delivered naturally by induction on July 26th, 2009 at 11:18 pm making his way into the world at 7 lbs 7 oz 20.5 inches long.

My doctor had instructed me to go onto church that morning if I felt up to it and then call the hospital around 12:30 pm to see if there was a delivery room available. Well I did not make it to church, I had been in an uncomfortable state since Friday evening and by Sunday morning it was worse. My mom came to the house to pick me up so that I could go sit with her and my dad until it was time to call the hospital. Poor hubby had to work half a day so I would not end up seeing him until after I was at the hospital.

I called the hospital at 12:30 pm and they told me to come on in there was room for me. After eating a very light lunch, my mom and I left and headed over. I called hubby to let him know just to meet us there at the hospital that way, he wouldn't have to worry about coming and getting me.

I checked in at 2:00 pm and by 2:09 pm I was all hooked up to the monitors. We had a slight scare with the fetal monitoring because Baby's heart rate was "acting up". My doctor broke my water in order to check the amniotic fluid to see if perhaps Baby was in distress. It was clear, however, we called my husband to see how much longer he would be before arriving at the hospital just in case a c-section was inevitable.

My husband arrived shortly before 3:00 pm and was relieved to find out that everything was OK after my mom called him. About 5:00 pm is when the drama began, I had been on pitocin for about 2.5 hours at this point and was doing well with my Lamaze but it wasn't working as well as I had hoped. I requested my epidural but the nurses told me it was too early that they could give me some other pain medicine until I had dilated further. I couldn't begin to tell you what happened after that. I was loopy from the medication for the next two hours; I did know that something was definitely wrong. Baby's heart rate kept disappearing and we had to keep changing my position in order to bring it back up to normal. My poor husband was beside himself trying to keep me calm in my drugged up state and worrying about both me and the baby.

My doctor was called in at that point and was very agitated at the nurses as to giving me the pain medicine instead of having my epidural placed. They had discovered after I received my epidural (by this time it was 7:00 pm), the Baby did not like having the pitocin drip upped to above 10 mg at a time. We had to restart the pitocin three different times once it reached above 10 mg.

By 11:00 pm I had fully dilated and we were still having problems with Baby's heart rate. They got me into position to start pushing. My husband was at my side the entire time (holding one leg in the stirrups while the nurse held the other) coaching and encouraging me with every push. Once I started pushing, I was not allowed to stop to rest. I had just seconds between contractions to get a breath to begin pushing again. At 11:18 pm I heard, the most precious sound, my son crying. He was placed upon my chest and my husband cut his cord.

We found out after his birth that our baby had had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. After being assured by the doctor that this is not uncommon, it was the reason behind his heart rate dropping and why I had to keep pushing once I started. My husband looked at me as I held our son in my arms while we were still recovering and said that witnessing his son's birth had to be the coolest experience he ever had.

The picture below is of Baby S only a few of hours old. My husband is also included in the background trying to get some rest.

Here is my husband and Baby S at one day old:

Birth-Day Approaches

2009-07-23T17:37:00.003-04:00

I feel terrible about the lack of posting. I haven't updated since our last ultrasound at 22 weeks. Well we are approaching our due date this weekend and baby S has not arrived yet. I will be 40 weeks if we make it to Sunday, July 26, 2009. I asked my doctor at my last appointment on Monday what our options were. Baby S is perfectly fine hanging out in my womb, but he can't stay there forever. He will be evicted soon.

My doctor told me that if he hasn't arrived by Sunday for me just to get up and go to morning church services as I normally would and then call the hospital to see if there were any available rooms in L & D. If there was an open room for me to head in and we would start the induction. We will be given a full 24 hours to see how to induction progresses. If things do not go well, meaning if I do not progress well or Baby S gets distressed, we will have to end up as a C-section birth.

I hope this is not the case. I hope that we go into labor before Sunday. I would like for him to pick the day he decides to get here and not the medical staff. Now granted I love my ob/gyn but I feel like there is a natural order to things without meddling too much. My husband and I are very excited about bringing him home. I look forward to the next few weeks I will be home with them both.

I shall hope to post an update soon after his birth as well as a picture of the adorable little boy I saw on the ultrasound screen two weeks ago.

On the knitting front, I haven't knit a whole lot since becoming pregnant. I have received some knitted baby gifts though which I will post about soon. Thanks to the wonderful ladies of the Wandering Georgia Sheep group on Ravelry.

A look at Baby S...

2009-04-04T20:39:00.004-04:00

We had our 22 week ultrasound on March 27th and were able to see how Baby S is developing. According to measurements taken he weighed a whopping 1lb 5 oz. He still has a ways to grow! Here is a cute picture we were able to get of him. He looks as if he is saluting.

I have a pair of baby slippers finished for him and a pair of tube socks in progress along with a hat in progress. I can't wait to post a 36 week picture because it will mean that he is almost here!!

Just wanted to add a little note to this. I just found that MomSue is back to blogging! I am so happy you can find her here if you haven't already found her but used to follow MommieSueKnits. She is now the Cody Country Knitter. She also posted this video which if you click the link you can see what I think most knitters already knew just couldn't prove it!

December really?

2009-03-03T17:38:00.003-05:00

I can't believe its been so long since I posted last. It was way back in December!! Well I will blame it on my first trimester. It was not very pleasant but it was well worth it knowing I will be holding my baby in a few months. While I was going through the first three months, I didn't want to do a dang thing especially knitting. The only time I knit any stitches was when I met up with the Purlin' Peaches which are now in a brand new group on ravelry called Wandering Georgia Sheep.

Anyway back to the main reason I am posting today --- we found out Friday that we are expecting the arrival of a baby BOY come July 26th or somewhere in that neighborhood. The doctor told us during the visit that there was no mistaking he was a boy because he was very proud. He even went to the extent on showing us the difference between what makes him a boy and his umbilical cord so that there would not be any doubts. Our next appointment is on March 27th; we will get to do an anatomy scan then. I hope to have pictures to show next time.

With this new news I have gotten back some of the urge to knit now. I plan on making Baby S a knit hat for winter, Felix's cardigan and of course his very own knit socks. I also intend to make a couple of practical things like some burp clothes and some knit nursing pads along with a nursing shawl. Or at least that is the plan, none of these things have come into being yet they are still just balls of yarn.

The magic day is .......

2008-12-07T20:49:00.003-05:00

July 26th is when baby is supposed to make his/her arrival. I tell you what. I am not sure if any of us could possibly get more excited about this baby's arrival. G & I went to the doctor Friday (Dec. th) and was able to hear its heartbeat. Talk about something truely amazing.
My mom and I have been nonstop on shopping for maternity clothes. We got a steal today when we went to Belks and caught a very good sale. I was able to get 3 maternity tops and 1 pair of pants for only $21 and some change. I have a hard time finding pants normally due to being tall and plus sized, so its going to be even more challenging now.

Thank you so much for the congrats and nice messages. It means the world to me. I haven't knitted a single stitch over the past week but I intend on getting busy this week. I have a couple of projects I must get done before Christmas so that I can start on knitting things for our baby. I am in the process of modifying Felix's cardigan into a sleep sack pattern. I also want to knit several burp clothes and baby wash clothes. I also plan to start on some leg warmers too. I have so much I want to get done. I just hope I can get a few items done before the baby gets here.

My mom is so wonderful; she is going to come over one weekend when G is at work and help me get the house better suited for baby's arrival. We have to move somethings out of the bedroom like my hope chest so that we can get the crib in. I also need to rearrange somethings to make room for the rocking chair too. I hope to post a picture of the sonogram soon. I have to get it scanned into the computer.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for being able to hear my baby's heartbeat.
2. I am thankful for great sales.
3. I am thankful for being able to spend time with my mom and my dad this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

2008-11-25T18:44:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that all of your family is safe and warm. I know that not everyone gets to be with their family but for those that do I hope it is a great one.

I finished yet another baby sweater for baby Micah who hasn't gotten here yet but the countdown is on. He has dropped into position so his mom is just waiting for him to decide when he's coming out.

I found out last week that G and I are PREGNANT!! This week we are at five weeks and I go for my first prenatal visit on Dec. 5th. Everyone is so excited and happy. G can't wait to go to the doctor with me.

I have started on baby things now and hope to increase my knitting arsenal so that I can knit something besides just a blanket and a sweater for the little one that is on the way.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful that baby Micah's mother liked the little cardigan I made for her.
2. I am thankful that God has decided to bless us with a child.
3. I am thankful that my family, especially my husband, is so excited for us.

Expectant moms beware!

2008-11-16T10:34:00.004-05:00

I may end up giving you all cardigans for your babies!!! (Well maybe not all but it might get close!)

Let me tell you I have found the easiest baby cardigan to ever make! It is called Felix's Cardigan and it is so EASY! I had previously chose the Baby Surprise Jacket for my first "clothing" item but as simple as it was I just couldn't get the pattern and with all those charts to follow I was just overwhelmed. Which led me to search Ravelry far and wide to find this pattern. I LOVE IT! I will be keeping the first one because well it is my first sweater/cardigan. I highly recommend this pattern to anyone who is sort of antsy about making a clothing item. With all the baby yarn I have stashed (when my life wasn't so busy I was making baby hats and giving them away) I think I will start making a lot of these little guys. They are just so fun and it has only taken me three evenings to get this far and I am a slow knitter. Below are a couple of pictures of the first one in progress--- I still need to add sleeves and buttons to it.

This sweater will only end up costing me about $0.53 because I bought the yarn on clearance for $0.50! Plus I have a button stash my grandmother gave me for Christmas one year and I have all the buttons already I just need to three out.
This one will be going in my hope chest since it is my first one but the next two or three will definitely be gifts for people I know that are having babies.
I have also been working on my toe up socks. Heaven knows, I think I will try to covert every pattern I want to knit into toe ups because it just easier in my opinion. I just need to perfect my sewn bind off a little bit more and definitely learn how to do the picot bind off.
Here is an updated picture of the Hedwig patterned socks --- I'm still on the first one, but I have turned the heel. I have been busy making a lot of dishclothes for co-workers at work for birthdays and Christmas.

Thankfuls:

1. I am thankful for learning this incredible new pattern.
2. I am thankful that my coworkers have loved their new dishclothes.
3. I am thankful for clearances.

Another sock in progress and no knead bread

2008-10-31T21:27:00.003-04:00

I felt like baking some last weekend and I took a chance at the FAMOUS no knead bread that was in NY Times some time back. It was also featured in Mother Earth News magazine (which I LOVE!) and a fellow Purlin' Peach has also tried so I said why not.

I love to bake but just about anything beyond cakes and brownies and I am lost. I feel like this was a minor accomplishment due to the state of things. First off, because I am a novice at this, I didn't realize, you needed to keep the resting dough at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit so it didn't really rise as well as it could have. Secondly once I had folded it per the directions it failed to rise the second time during the resting stage which produced a really tough but edible bread. G didn't care for it but I thought it was great with some butter! I plan to attempt this again tomorrow. My dough is resting right now in the (turned off) oven so that it will stay a constant temperature.
Here are some pictures:

I have started on another pair of socks. I have frogged my first attempt at the Hedwig pattern due to just not really liking the way things were going cuff down. Once frogged, I just started again except going toe-up. I think once I get to the point where I need to bind off I will get one of the more experienced knitters of the Peaches to help me with the Picot bind off.

The only thing I do not like about this colorway is due to the way it decided to pool you can't really see the pattern in the picture. It's somewhat better in person. I still think that they will be a great pair of socks.

Please do not forget to go vote this coming Tuesday! I personally can't wait until we get some of these officials elected so that I can have them removed from the television. One thing I hate about election years -- all those damn campaign commercials on TV! Granted we don't watch a lot of TV; however, I have been tempted just to watch a DVD or something just so I can avoid seeing all the politicians every night.

3 Thankfuls
1. I am thankful for the courage to try new things.
2. I am thankful for October to be finally over (things have been really hectic this month at work).
3. I am thankful toe up socks -- they are just easier to me.

I have some photos to share!!

2008-10-19T11:23:00.003-04:00

My wonderful husband G has agreed to buy me a new camera for Christmas! I am so excited. I do have a few pictures to post that I have taken with his camera now that I have wrangled it from him. Thanks for the comments on my new car and thanks for the Anniversary wishes. We still have yet to find nice people when we go somewhere that are willing to take pictures of us together so most everything is just a picture of each of us.
Here is a picture of my new car (just a month old and needs a washing!)

A few of us ladies from Purlin' Peaches got together a couple weekends ago and had a dying day. I didn't have a camera with me but we all had a blast. It was a lot of fun and a very long day.
Here are the two sock blanks I dyed. The striped one will become a pair of socks and I do believe the other will become fingerless gloves for myself (if there is any left over the rest will be ankle socks)
We (the Purlin' Peaches) decided to call the crazy looking one the Jackson Pollock colorway as Batty has pointed out in the comment section it looks similar to his paintings.
I can't wait to see what the random one looks like as a ball of yarn. I think I will go wind them up once I finish this post. I have started my Christmas knitting and have gotten a couple of thing completed. I will be knitting my aunts a couple of dish clothes (my Aunt B can't stop raving aobut them) and a mitered hand towel out of the new Mason Dixon book. I also plan to knit my immediate supervisors at work a couple of mitered hand towels too.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful that we will be electing a new president next month.
2. I am thankful that I had the experience of dying my own yarn.
3. I am thankful for the friendships I have made through Ravelry and the blogging world.

Update for Mom

2008-10-01T19:44:00.003-04:00

This update is for my mom. Even though we talk almost every day or at least every other day, she loves reading my blog. She always asks when I will be updating again; well, Mom this update is for you. I don't really have a lot going on knitting wise at the moment. I feel that my blogging has taken a back seat due to my lack of having a camera which I intend on remedying by next month.
I was offered an opportunity at work to make a little bit of cash by getting the mail every morning and taking the mail every afternoon to the Post Office so I am saving to get me a camera. I would love to be taking pictures again. I swear I am going through camera withdrawals. I never realized how much I loved taking pictures until I lost my camera in April. Sure G has a camera I can use at any time but its just not the same. Its kind of like having your own car. Yeah your spouse says that you have free range over either of the vehicles you have but its not the same as having one of your own.

I recently purchased a brand spanking new 2008 Ford Fusion in the Silver colorway. I love it. The ladies I have lunch with from work have dubber her the "Silver Streak".

I have began my Christmas knitting and on the needles so far are a couple of camo caps and an entrelac scarf. I intend on making a couple of dishclothes and a set or three of fingerless gloves before its all over said and done.

G's camera is at the in-laws' house so I will try to get pictures soon and get some in progress or completed projects posted.

3 Thankfuls:

1. I am thankful for my New car.
2. I am thankful for the wonderful trip we had to Panama City Beach, FL for our first anniversary (Sept 22).
3. I am thankful for my grandparents who celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary today!

Kaylees are done!!

2008-07-30T21:27:00.001-04:00

I finally have some photos to share!!

2008-07-27T11:13:00.003-04:00

My poor husband, G, had to pull night shift (7pm-7am) last night and he is currently sleeping as I type this post. I have been trying to find things to do that are quiet so that he can get some rest and go in again tonight at 7pm. I rounded up things that I have been working on that I have yet to post pictures about and took them outside to photograph them. Well so much for that being quiet look how started pitching a fit when I didn't allow him to participate in the photo shoot. He is such a diva. (Look toward the bottom of the window just above the date.)

It looks like I had another forehead-palm moment. I was a day ahead setting the date on the camera.
I know I have posted several times on that Mitered Blanket pattern that I have been working from to create G's throw for the living room. Here are some pictures of the progress so far.

I also started on a KnitFit Bag at the last Purlin' Peaches meeting. The stats are:
US 5 needles
1 Ball of Wick + just enough of a second ball to make the I-cord tie and handle
1 old CD --- I added the CD for personal preferences. I wanted the bag to stand up and have a sturdy bottom so I took one of those AOL CD's you get in the mail once in awhile and sewed it to the bottom of the bag.

Here is a second one that is being made from Caron Simply Soft Seasons
Color is Balsam 2906 also on US 5 needles

I really didn't know what to do with the left over Wick so I decided to start a Dream Swatch Head Wrap. I should have more than enough to complete it.

Last but not least -- here is an updated photo of my Embossed Leaves socks that I started with the Tofutsies.

I can't wait to see these finished. As far as my Kaylee's go well I am still trucking away on them. I am working on the heel and I intend to finish them as soon as I get my green KnitFit Bag completed. I recommend to all my sock knitting friends to knit a couple of those bags. They are so handy and after all the designer made them for knitting on the go!

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for getting some of my Knitting Mojo back.
2. I am thankful for my dad who will be celebrating his 52nd birthday on Monday, July 28, 2008.
3. I am thankful for being able to sleep in on the weekend.

Purlin' Peaches Day

2008-07-19T18:40:00.002-04:00

We had our monthly meeting of the Purlin' Peaches SnB group today and boy did I need it! I haven't been knitting a lot lately due to the heat mostly but I was able to get rejuvenated by talking to Ms. Kathy and Mrs. Suzie about their projects and things I have been working on.

We will be attending our next group meeting at a Fiber Day get-together that the ABAC Ravelry Group is hosting at the Agrirama in Tifton, Georgia on August the 2, 2008 10:00 am until whenever they tell us its over.

I recently was asked my a lovely lady named Jackie to have my Hugs and Kisses baby blanket pattern added to her blog roll over at the Baby Gift Guide. I emailed her back and told her of course that it would be great to give others ideas on hand-knitted gift items.

I really need to get back to doing my regular comment leaving on the blogs that I read. My friends out there I have not forgotten you I just have been doing a little bit of anonymous blog-stalking. I have been keeping up on the wonderful items you all have been knitting I just haven't left any comments lately.

Weddings seem to be in the air over the next couple of months. We were in G's brother's wedding this past weekend (July 12th) and it was beautiful. Everything was just how the bride wanted it and nothing that she didn't want. My co-worker is getting married Aug. 2nd. A good friend, of mine, her daughter is getting married Aug. 8th. Then come Sept. G and I will be celebrating our firs anniversary.

Also let me update you on my good friend Al Capone-- I may have already posted this but it is so great I'm gonna post it again!!! He went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and was told that he is CANCER FREE and that he is in FULL REMISSION!!!!! He won't have to go back to get a check up again until January and that will be only a routine thing. Thank you to all of you that have kept him in your prayers.

Thankfuls:

1. I am thankful for my new Sister-in-law.
2. I am thankful for my wonderful husband.
3. I am thankful for Al Capone's cancer-free status.

Happy Independece Day!!

2008-07-04T10:31:00.002-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

glitter-graphics.com

glitter-graphics.com

Motorcycle Scarf

2008-07-03T18:54:00.002-04:00

My very first design can be found here. It was a scarf I had made for my dad because he needed something to keep the cold wind off of his neck. I have had several people ask me questions about it. I made this thing just to have a different pattern out there for a scarf because at the time I was just beginning my knitting compulsion. And yes to answer, Kari's question, it did curl up as I knit it. I was able to remedy some of that with blocking. For those who have knitted and experienced the curling or coiling that scarves can sometimes do --- I'll just let you know what I did.

I blocked my dad's the best I could due to the fact it was made from acrylic yarn. I would suggest to anyone who has knitted this to block it the best you can but it will most likely always have some curl or rolling up to it if it is made from acrylic. I washed my dad's in the gentle cycle then laid it between two towels with books on top of the top towel and allowed it to dry like that for 2 days because that was the only method at the time I could think of to block it. I hope this answers your questions that you have been leaving me. Also you might want to try to go up/down a needle size depending on the tension of your knitting. Just have fun -- it's not meant to be a challenge -- its just a scarf after all.

I'm still trudging along on the Kaylee's -- I am at the heel on the second. It seems like the second sock is taking FOREVER!! I also have the embossed leaves still on the needles--I'm on the third pattern repeat then I will be turning the heel. I also casted on Hedwig (Ravelry link) with some Tofutsies in the brown/black/white/gray colorway. I think it will look awesome as an owl-reference type yarn.

Thankfuls:

1. G found out today that he now is on his way to be employed!!
2. Al Capone's cancer is in full remission --- THANK YOU to all of you that kept him in your prayers.
3. I thank the Lord, our Heavenly Father, for being able to celebrate our Independence Day tomorrow.

Fun Exercise???

2008-06-23T20:32:00.004-04:00

Have you ever heard of fun exercise??? I haven't either until I let my inner gamer out of control. Back before I became addicted to knitting, I was unfortunately addicted to video games: curse those who invented pong--- the game that started it all! Well due to this I gained some weight because well I was sitting on my arse all the time --- oxymoron moment ---I continue to sit on my arse while knitting hmmmm..... Anyway we own a PS2 and the husband wants to get a PS3 eventually but until then I have been seeing these dancing video games. Well I thought they were kind of cool. So Sunday while we were in town I talked G into getting some video games. Grand Theft auto Vice city something or other for him and Dance Factory and a dance pad for me. For those who are in the know about guitar hero --- Dance factory is kind of along the same lines except you use your feet instead of your fingers.

I LOVE THIS GAME!!! It is so addictive and the great part about it is that you can put in your favorite tunes and the game creates a dance for you. Until I sat down to type up this post, I had been dancing (and breaking a sweat) and having a blast for over an hour. I just happened to glance at the clock and was blown away at how long I had been playing. There you have it FUN exercise.

I still have my Kaylees on the needles. I am to the heel on the second one and will be knitting it on my break and at lunch until I finish it. I have also started on the Embossed leaves socks. Love the pattern. I just wish I had bought a solid colored yarn but they still look fabulous in the Tofutsies. I hope to buy another camera once G starts his new job which will be June 30th. I am so excited for him.

WWKIP

2008-06-14T20:05:00.006-04:00

Well our local Pulin' Peaches group did our best at World Wide Knit in Public Day. Please pardon my husband's camera --- it knows not what it does ---- plus it could be the operator too but anyway. My camera's picture is dated 6/13/2008 but I promise Mrs. Hazel, Mrs. Suzie, and Ms. Kathy can vouch that it was in fact 6/14/2008 when I took the picture. Also included are my Kaylee socks. One is a sock that is in progress and one is finished.

Kaylees:

I am also currently starting the Embossed Leaves socks from a skein of Tofutsies I purchased at Creative Yarns in Macon, GA. I've seen a few finished pairs of the Embossed leaves on Ravelry and loved how they looked so I purchased the book they were in and decided to go for it. I also found out what has been been my demise as far as chart knitting --- I was reading and knitting the charts in the wrong fashion. Maybe my knitting will improve now that I know you are supposed to knit a chart from right to left unless otherwise stated.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for being able to attend our knitting meetings every month. I enjoy the ladies' company so much and I am able to learn a lot from them aslo.
2. I am thankful that G found out Friday he has a new job that comes with benefits.
3. I am thankful that Al Capone has been getting better news about his health.

(crickets chirping in the background)

2008-05-28T19:47:00.003-04:00

I know it's been kind of quiet on the blog front. I do have some great news though --- I have officially FINISHED one sock!! I have one Kaylee sock finished and I have casted on the mate. I must say I feel so accomplished now especially since I have not completed a single thing since JANUARY!! I'm still working on the camera situation so please bear with me over lack of photos.

Things have been pretty hectic on the home front lately. G's father decided to go out of business resulting in him being out of a job then he was able to get a job with T of the T & L fame. Well they decided to get out of the logging business too. So right now is kind of difficult for us money wise. G's been out of work going on two weeks but not due to lack of looking for a job. He's going to a job fair this Friday and if that doesn't pan out then he is going to get a truck driving job.

I had to go to the doctor a couple of weeks ago due to getting a very bad poison ivy rash from doing my dear husband's laundry when he still worked for the logging outfit. One round of predinisone (spelling?) later and I still have it although not quite as bad. Doctor also put me on a 1500 calorie diet!! Which is not bad except that I have a list of food and can only eat what is on the list --- that stinks. He also wants me to get more active so I have been trying to get a little bit of aerobic exercise in and doing more walking. I still don't know how I am going to figure in that 15 miles a week he wants me to walk.

As far as knitting goes right now on the needles are the following projects:
a. BSJ
b. Swirl socks
c. a lace scarf
d. Kaylee sock mate
e. mitered throw for my husband (design from Creative knitting Nov 2007)

Thankfuls:

1. Thankful for the stimulus check I will be expecting in the next few days to help with bills since hubby is out of work.
2. Thankful for getting paid tomorrow.
3. Thankful for my cat, Thomas.

Too many needles??

2008-05-14T07:04:00.004-04:00

Is there such a thing ?? Too many needles?? I don't think so. I do however have a few projects going that I do intend to complete before casting on more. I have a pair of Kaylee socks going that I just cast on last night. I also have a pair of toe up Jaywalkers going and I am still going strong with my swirl socks. I am going to cast on again my BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) due to my gauge not going exactly how I want it to go. I think the yarn I am using is a bit small for this project so I am going to try a different yarn and a different set of needles. At the rate I am going right now that BSJ will probably only fit a preemie which if it does will be great because I can donate it but I would like to keep my first one. I'm going to frog it tonight and restart due to being at a stopping point on the Kaylees. I am only at row 5 but I cannot understand the instructions for it so I will be taking it with me to the LYS in Macon next Thursday for some further instruction on how to do the center.

Speaking of the LYS in Macon, GA which would be Creative Yarns. They are having open house on May 22 from 5 pm to 7 pm. They are having sock boot camp all that week to help new and more advanced sock knitters with what else socks! I unfortunately will not be able to go to it all week so I decided that I would treat myself to an early birthday present and take off of work just about an hour early so that I could make it.

The job is going great still.... I'm still trying to convince this girl at work, Kris, that she is knitter but she still refuses to allow me to teach her. She admires my socks in progress and always comments on them. Then another another one that is going to be working within my department as soon as we find a replacement for her told me she bought her first set of needles this weekend. I was so happy for her. I told her that if she needed any help I would be more than happy to teach her anything that I could. She aims very big too -- she wants to make an afghan for her first project.

Thankful:
1. I am thankful that my cousin loved my great-aunt Mim's shawl and decided to keep it for herself.
2. I am thankful for being able to spread the knitting bug.
3. I am thankful for the great mother that I have.

On to new things.....

2008-04-21T18:51:00.002-04:00

I'm still working on my swirl socks in a Dancing color way I had bought on clearance a year or so ago from KnitPicks. I am working on getting both socks the same length so that I can work on both of them at the same time using the magic loop method.

At our last Purlin' Peaches meeting, Mrs. Hazel and I went to Creative Yarns where I purchased the BSJ (baby surprise jacket) pattern to try out. I have been wanting to make a sweater for sometime now and I think I may can handle this one due to being all knit in one piece. We have another lady at work expecting now so maybe I can get this test run knit in time to possibly knit one for her little one if all goes well.

I'm also working on a mitered square blanket from a past creative knitting magazine for G as a throw for when its cool during the winter. It has become a great stash buster. I have several small balls of yarn that I can get rid of now.

I am still enjoying my job at the bank; however I will be learning more things about my jobs as I get the work caught up that I already know how to do. I have some things that I should be doing daily but due to the circumstances around the lady leaving that I replaced I have had a lot of catch up work to do. I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel which means I will be able to take on more of my responsibilities of my position. My supervisors and I will also be getting an assistant as soon as we can find someone to fill her position in the bookkeeping department. I can't wait to work closer with S; she has such a great personality. I think it will be a smooth transition for all of us.

I hope to get some pictures up by next week. My dad informed me over the weekend that I could borrow a camera of his that he no longer uses so I could take pictures for my blog. I may go get it sometime this week or either use G's digital camera until we can get me a replacement.

Thanfuls:
1. I am thankful for the ability to do things for others.
2. I am thankful for sunny spring days.
3. I am thankful for cookies.

Moments of Silence

2008-04-19T21:37:00.003-04:00

Hi guys --- Sorry for lack of posts theses past couple of weeks. I am taking moments of silence.

G's grandfather passed away April 10 and my great-aunt Mim passed away April 17. I hope that next week I will be back to my regular blogging. Please keep our family in your prayers during this time.

Thankfuls:

1. I am thankful that my great-aunt Mim no longer has to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
2. I am thankful that G's grandfather is forever youthful and now is able to see his wife after such a long period without her.
3. I am thankful for being blessed with two more angels around us.

I have just about lost my mind....

2008-04-10T17:55:00.004-04:00

The past week or so has been very horrible with the exception of the last Saturday night. Saturday night we had some folks over to grill out and everything went well considering the fact that it rained all day. Sunday, however, was a different story. G and I got up to go fishing and all Heck broke loose.
I was going to take my camera just in case we caught a nice size fish so that we would have pictures to prove the tale. Well as we were getting our fishing gear in the truck (the doors were locked) I put my camera on the hood of the truck so I wouldn't forget it.... Can you see where this is going???
Well I didn't think about the camera again until we got to my Nanny's house to start fishing. This camera had a huge memory card like 1-2 gigs or something. It had ALLLL of my pictures from our wedding rehearsal and our honeymoon on it. Lets just say it literally made me ill to find out that I had lost it. Then to make matters worse I lost my cell phone on the way home that night. We had stopped at a gas station and I was on the phone with my parents. I got out of the truck and saw that one of the fishing poles was standing up in the bed of the truck. I got off the phone and laid the phone on the side of the truck bed where it stayed until we drove off from there only God knows what happened to it. Sunday just was not a good day for me and electronics!
Naturally we didn't have insurance on the phone so I had to call Verizon using G's phone to get mine deactivated just in case someone found it and it was still in working condition. I now have one I bought from eBay being shipped to my house.

So as far as updating pictures on my knitting, there won't be any pictures until we can afford to replace it. The socks are going along great and I plan to take them to our next knitting meeting this weekend.

Oh by the way---Have you heard the new George Straight song "I saw God Today"? LOVE IT!!! It is so wonderfully fantastic!

UPDATE: Al Capone has three more treatments of chemo and he will be finished. The doctors can no longer feel the lumps and think they may have it going into remission. Thank all of you who have kept him in your prayers.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for each day I get to spend at my wonderful job.
2. I am thankful for my work family.
3. I am thankful for the small blessings in life.

Frogging

2008-04-01T18:50:00.003-04:00

I've frogged my past two attempts at sock making, so knitting hasn't been that productive and I have nothing to show just yet. I am working on a mitered square throw for hubby from a recipe in a past Creative knitting magazine. Its a great stash buster. I am haven't started back working on my other mitered blanket from Mason Dixon knitting yet but I haven't made it an after thought either. I am currently working on a pattern called Swirl socks and as soon as I make it to my next Purlin' Peaches meeting and get my yarn wound up I will be starting on the Kaylee socks. I received my new circulars that I had ordered from KnitPicks yesterday and I love them for magic-looping socks.
I have definitely been bitten by the sock bug but I just don't have as much time to knit as I would like. I am able to at least block out some of my break time and lunch time at work to work on small things.
I hope to post pictures on my next post as to what I have been working on.
I've been doing a lot of house cleaning and just regular chores in order to get our house in order. We are getting a lot of our friends together this weekend to get together and grill hot dogs and hamburgers. We (the bridesmaids) will also be going to get fitted Saturday for my BIL's wedding but that will be Sat. morning so I will have plenty of time to get things together before they all come over later that evening.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for spring.
2. I am thankful for the rain we received over the weekend.
3. I am thankful for seeing my family over Easter.

Birds, leaves, and toe-ups

2008-03-14T18:58:00.002-04:00

Things are still going on pretty swell. I have little visitors now and they devour the treats I leave for them. I have two bird feeders on my front porch and lets just say the bird food goes fast around here. I took the pictures which include the birds only two days ago. The picture of the empty bird feeders is what I found when I got home this evening.

I also have been doing a little bit of yard work in the evenings which cuts my knitting down some but I do love being outside. I can't wait to get a place we own so that I can make flower beds and have a garden. Plants I have right now are in pots which will do for the time being. Here are a couple of pictures of my labors.

I was very sad to here that one of the Ravelry sock designers had passed away. The Purlin' Peaches are starting our own knit a long making the Beatrix socks and the Kaylee socks that mommamonkey of Monkey Toes designs had designed. I am in the process of knitting the Beatrix socks backwards from the instructions --- meaning I am knitting them toe up instead of cuff down. Not sure how they are going to turn out especially when I get to the lace part. I think I will just start with the last row and go in reverse and everything should turn out alright. Here is what I have so far.

I think it will work out. My gauge is a little loose but I can live with it. These are my first pair of toe ups and I can't wait to get them finished.

I have been trying to catch up on my blog reading so if I am a little behind the times with what is going on with you my friends I am sure you will understand. I will try to leave more comments in the coming days. I so enjoy reading everyone's blogs that I keep in touch with. It is so nice to know you are all doing well. Now that I have internet here at home, I will definitely have to listen to one of Gnat's podcasts.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for longer days which means I can get out in the yard more.
2. I am thankful for warmer weather.
3. I am thankful for my crockpot for busy days when I don't have time to really cook.

Back to our regular scheduled blogging......

2008-03-09T16:04:00.002-04:00

First off I wanted to say ---- I totally forgot my thankfuls in my last post, so with that I plan to post six today.

We have finally gotten our internet here at home connected and I must say I have been very busy catching up on my blog reading and my Ravelry surfing. I haven't been knitting very much but I have taught myself how to do a toe up sock on DPNs and I am now working on getting my first ever toe up sock finished.

I must admit I chickened out of the SOTSii. I was very intimidated by the charting of the whole thing and I just could not bring myself to attempt it. I am however working on some lacey patterned socks as my first toe ups as I just mentioned so that way I will be a little more prepared if I decide to go into something bigger.

I have missed my Purlin' Peaches meetings this month due to lack of internet but I do hope to get with the gals again before April approaches. I miss getting to together with them so much. I have missed all of my blog friends too. I feel like I have missed a big chunk of goings on with all of you since I have been without internet this past month.

My job at the bank is going along great. I could not be more happy. It is so much less stressful and such a quick (20 min) drive everyday. My mood has greatly improved since coming to this new job. The two ladies I work mostly with are the greatest ladies in the world. I was just telling my supervisor this past week that I do not think I could have found any better people in the world to work with. Everyone is so nice and more than willing to help each other.

I spoke with Al Capone this weekend. He has started his treatments and so far so good. He informed me that his treatments have yet to make him sick or to make his hair fall out. I intend on making him a cap if it does fall out though. He said he won't mind his hair falling out when and if it does---he's been waiting to see what he looks like bald-headed. He is in great spirits which I think is great.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for my husband getting our internet hooked up.
2. I am thankful that Al Capone's progress is going as great as it is.
3. I am thankful for my great new job and co-workers.
4. I am thankful for the blessings the Lord has continued to give me.
5. I am thankful for cornflake candy (that my husband made).
6. I am thankful for all of my friends.

HI!

2008-02-16T10:30:00.003-05:00

Hi guys just wanted to check in. My new job is going great! I really enjoy it. We have been a little under the weather this week with a bug that is going around so not much knitting. We are both feeling better now though. I will try to update as much as I can but I most likely will be limited to updating on the weekends since I don't have access to internet now.

I'll try to have more to update next time. Happy Knitting.

I got a new job!!

2008-02-05T14:55:00.000-05:00

I went for a job interview this morning and a couple of hours later I was notified that I had the job! I am so unbelievably happy right now! I will be commuting for only 30 minutes now.

My last day at my current job is Friday. I'm saddened over this. I work with a great bunch of people here at the shop but the commute is crazy. I made sure that I told my new employers that I wasn't leaving here because I disliked my job or the people. I like my job and I love my co-workers but the drive was just TOO much. Everyone I have talked to said that they don't blame me for leaving and everyone completely understands. I have gotten well wishes from all.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for my new job.
2. I am thankful for my new SHORT commute.
3. I am thankful that I will have more spare time.

Having a case of the Blahs......

2008-01-31T09:14:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like I am having the case of the blahs this week. I frogged my second attempt at a swatch and I think I will just start with hint #1 of my SOTSii. I haven't really worked on ANYTHING this week as far as knitting goes.

I really have started to hate that ~~damn~~ commute to work that is an hour and twenty minutes which has also started to make me hate my job which equates to 130 miles round trip EVERYDAY. I took the advice of Shannon, who is a member of the Purlin' Peaches, and borrowed a book on CD from the library. Well it helps, but next time I need to borrow at least 2 instead of one. That one book got me through the drive from Monday morning to Wednesday morning. As far as my job goes, its not all that bad. I have a great supervisor and things are pretty much laid back at work. Who really wants to get up at the ass crack of dawn to be at work by 8:00 am though?? Its dark when I leave for work and its dark when I get home. I am so exhausted from my drive that I hardly have then energy to cook supper when I get home -- then as soon as supper is done and we eat its nearly bedtime. Thus the viscous cycle repeats.

I have wanted to stay at home for the past 3 days. Tomorrow I am taking off at lunch to go take care of somethings that I can't ordinarily do because I get home at 6:30 pm everyday. My gracious employer could care less that an extra 12.5 hours of my life is thrown away every week just to come do this job. My supervisor asked if there was a possibility if the company could help me out as far as gas goes. Let me tell you what my supervisor told me after he came back from the meeting. My employer told him that things were tight and that if they could do anything; it wouldn't be much. Which all in all translates into --- we're not going to do a dang thing.
I mean come on! If you had a dependable, hardworking employee that was willing to drive 130 miles round trip which takes 2.5 hours out of her day away from her family to come work for you wouldn't you do something to make it worth her while?????

Sorry for the rant -- but I do get a little whiney sometimes.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful I have a job.
2. I am thankful for the right to free speech.
3. I am thankful for what little bit of patience I have.

Al Capone Update:
Al Capone came by the shop today for a visit and we all loaded up and went out to lunch with him at lunchtime. He went to the doctor on Monday -- they found two places that were in early Stage 2. He will be going to get a CT/PET scan and a bone marrow test done tomorrow. Then next week, he will start his treatments. Thank you for your prayers so far, but please continue to keep him there.
Thanks.

Lace....

2008-01-28T10:37:00.001-05:00

Well we are now going into week #3 of the SOTSii.... My lace swatch is still not knitted nor have I started on Hint #1. Shame on me -- I will however sit down tonight and try my best to get started again. I did try to start on the swatch this weekend but I was half paying attention to what I was doing and by the time I got to the third charted row -- I had to frog. I just have to start over again tonight no biggie -- I can definitely do this.

As for my Pay It Forward ----- I will be making Mrs. Batty something since she left a comment on that blog post. I can't wait -- I have the perfect thing picked out to make her and I am sure she will love it. It involves color work and I will say no more but I have a practice project I want to get finished first that way hers will be just as great as I know it will turn out.

I haven't gotten any knitting done in the past week due to bringing out the PlayStation 2 and the old reliable Nintendo. The husband and I have been playing Mario 3 (Nintendo) and Centipede (PlayStation) over the past week to give us a break from nonstop movie watching. It was a nice change up in routine. We are hoping that once we get our taxes back and pay off some of these bills we have that we can get satellite service.

Thankfuls:
1. I am thankful for having extra money left over out of the budget to eat at Applebees yesterday.
2. I am thankful for spending all Sunday with my husband browser-shopping.
3. I am thankful for Excedrin Migrain -- it is wonderful over the counter medicine for migrains.

Paying it Forward

2008-01-22T10:50:00.000-05:00

Well I have been chosen to pass on the Pay It Forward Crafting that has been floating around the blog world. Mrs. Amy from Knit and Fall back in it chose me from her random number generator :) I'm so excited to participate in this I now have to figure out what I will be making for my participants!

I have seen this floating around since the late part of last year only at the time I did not have the knitting time to participate due to Christmas knitting--thank goodness it is only January. Here are the rules I borrowed from Marianne's Knotminding :

“It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months)(or in my case, 9 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!”

And, remember…you have 6 months (or 9 months, to be 'fair') to get your gifts done!
Also, you don’t have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join.

Any takers?

The funny part about this is that I have never seen the movie this exchange is based upon, but I would love to be able to Pay it Forward as it says. The only thing I will be changing as far as the rules is that if I have more than three people comment then I will do a random drawing of names if only three comment then I will choose those three naturally. You have until Friday to post then I will select and post winners on Monday. So come on lets do something nice for others. Make sure you tell all of your friends too!! And to my lurkers out there -- I know you read here don't be shy!

My gift will most likely be something knitted!

3 Thankfuls:

1. I am thankful for the visit Al Capone made to work today.

2. I am thankful for sweet tea.

3. I am thankful for sunny days.

Woe is me....

2008-01-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

...My knitpicks order has not arrived yet so I am officially behind on the SOTSii. I really wanted to start on it this weekend but alas it was not meant to be. I did go to the library this weekend in search of knitting books to look through. Well the library in town isn't open on Saturday so I had to drive to my hometown which is 25 min. away to browse the books. There wasn't much to look at but I was able to get a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac reserved from another library. I have only been able to find it online and I just don't have the spare cash to buy it right now so I thought I would get it on loan from the library to see if I really wanted to buy it eventually. I think I will do that with other knitting books as I find ones I think I would like to buy.
We (hubby and I) were able to be quite productive this weekend. We finally got our living room straighted up from where we got our new TV (something went out in it and the picture jumped we put up with it until it got to be unbearable) and we just hadn't gotten around to putting what was left over from Christmas up yet. We still have a lot of things we want to be able to do around the house as far as getting our spare room organized and useful -- right now there are a lot of totes and things we got for our wedding still in there. We need to finish organizing and moving things into our storage shed so that we can actually use that room and I can organize my knitting stash better.
I think we will be doing more things around the house now that deer hunting season is over until October. I think we will be buying a couple of rakes this weekend and rake up all the leaves that have fell this winter. The upside to all the leaves on the ground is that we have not had to mow grass since I moved in in September.

I was able to go visit my Nana this weekend and give her the fingerless gloves I had made. She was so funny -- she told me I didn't have to buy anything for her for her birthday. I told her I didn't --then she saw them....She said you MADE me a gift that is so much more special than anything store bought. I was so glad that she liked them. She said that now her hands will stay warm while she crochets/crafts.

I have almost another pair of mittens made for our missionary to take with him back to Russia. I now have an adult size made and a children's size almost complete. I hope to have at least 8 pairs made before he comes for a visit in April.

The Purlin' Peaches have yet to say anything about our Feb meeting but I am still excited about it. I am so glad that I am a part of a group that have the same interest as I do. It is so fun to get together with all those gals and just talk about our projects and different patterns and yarn and whatever else we need to talk about.

Three thankful:
1. I am thankful for libraries.
2. I am thankful for gifts well received.
3. I am thankful for the rain we received over the weekend. I just hope it helps with our drought.

So the Secret of the Stole ii starts today.

2008-01-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

The SOTSii starts today and guess what.... Are you guessing??? My yarn as of this morning at 6 am has yet to arrive. Now granted I did not expect to have yarn waiting on my front steps at 6 am but I do hope that by 6 pm when I arrive back home it will be there so I can do my swatch and then begin my first clue. I can't wait to start because as I progress I really would like to show my Nana along the way so she can see what my knitting has become.
Speaking of Nana, I finished weaving in the ends to her birthday fingerless gloves last night.

I have also cast on for another pair of a different pattern for my Mom's birthday in March. Maybe if I start on them now I can get them out of the way --- or I might just keep them for myself and then make her another pair....It's not like I don't have plenty of time.
I also started one of my Christmas presents. It's another Sofia Cowl from the One Skein Wonder book. It's being made on my KnitPicks Options -- US #9 needles with a 20" cable and Natural Plum colorway of Patons SWS that I bought while I was in Macon for my Purlin' Peaches meeting.
I also bought a skein of Patons SWS in the Natural Denim Colorway that I was going to make for another Christmas present but I am very tempted to turn it into fingerless gloves for me. I think that is what I will do that way I can go ahead and get mom's fingerless gloves out of the way.

My co-worker, from here on out I will call him "Al Capone", that is the nickname we gave him at the shop. We all have nicknames around here -- mine is Littlefoot. Al Capone gave it to me because he said I had small feet (I wear a size 7 shoe). Anyway I have talked to him the past couple of days and he is in good spirits and he will be going into surgery to remove the affected lymph node today. After that he has to go back to the doctor to see how good/bad things are then they will start him on treatments. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he has been in mine since we found out the news.

Thankfuls:

I am thankful for my co-workers for they help the day go by faster at work.
I am thankful for SOTSii, so that I can better improve my knitting skills.
I am thankful for Patons SWS -- I have a growing fondness for this soy/wool blend yarn.

Photo update!

2008-01-15T09:57:00.001-05:00

I have new pictures of my Sofia Cowl from my One-Skein wonder book. I still need to get a picture of the Scalloped hat from that same book that I finished.

I also have been making progress on my Nana's birthday fingerless gloves. I finally chose the pattern which was Symmetrical Braided Gauntlets. I like the color I chose although the camera doesn't really photograph it that well. Its called Country Blue.

Oh let me let you in on a little secret --- my Nana makes awesome sausage and cheese biscuits! I finally got around to making some from her recipe this weekend and they are heavenly just like hers. I think I need to go with a hotter sausage next time; I used a mild sausage. I had only hoped that they would come out as good as hers and well I think they may have just come out a little better.

We had our Purlin' Peaches S'n'B this past Saturday and I had an awesome time! We were able to meet a couple of new members that have found us on Ravelry and we are stoked up to meet again in Feb. Check out this awesome poncho that Mrs. S (you can find her on Ravelry as Tinkite) made :
Its really cool and it even has a hood!

Thankfuls:

I am thankful for my Nana's Sausage & cheese biscuit recipe.
I am thankful for being able to expand my cooking skills.
I am thankful for my Purlin' Peaches ladies.

To all of my knitting friends: Could you and would you please pray for my co-worker? He just found out that he may have/has lymph node cancer and is going tomorrow to see what his options are. He is married and has two children both under the age of 12. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Ravelry is so bad......

2008-01-11T10:20:00.000-05:00

...in a VERY GOOD way!! I am super excited about the doing the Secret of the Stole ii -- I've got my yahoo group invite and have joined the Ravelry group too.

As far as Ravelry being bad in a good way --- lets just say that I have 111 projects in my queue and if I knit ever get them all knit before adding countless more I will definitely have to buy lots more stash yarn. I currently have 6 WIP's (which will be 7 once I start SOTSii) and I keep knitting quick things from my One Skein book.

You guys I have a SERIOUS fingerless gloves addiction. I think I have at least 20 different patterns for them saved to knit later in my queue. I have started back on my house mittens from Charmed Knits and hopefully will be finishing them this weekend, so I can knit more. Oh, what a ~~viscous~~ wonderful cycle!! It seems the more things I get finished the more things I want to knit. Is that necessarily a bad thing??

I will post pictures soon. I just need to be able to put the needles down long enough to take them. I am sure you understand.

3 thankfuls:

I am thankful for Ravelry.

I am thankful for fingerless gloves.

I am thankful for finished projects.

Secret of the Stole ii

2008-01-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

OK--- the lace bug has definitely hit me!

I have signed up for the Secret of the Stole ii. My yarn has been purchased -- I am waiting its arrival. Hopefully I will have it before the first clue is out so I can do my swatch.... Join up if you like lace --- Sign ups are until January 18th!

Purlin' Peaches are meeting again! I can't wait for Saturday!!

3 Thankfuls:

I am thankful for meeting the group that is Purlin' Peaches.
I am thankful for, another knitting enabler, my friend Shannon.
I am thankful I am taking the challenge to expand my knitting abilities.

If all lace were this easy.....

2008-01-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

I wanted to make something different this weekend while I was waiting for the laundry to wash/dry. So I dug out my skein of Alchemy Lone Star that I received from participating in Ms. Criquette's blog contest last year and casted on the Sofia Cowl from 101 One Skein Wonders...
Its a nice project to knit and a great starter lace project considering its only a repeat of 2 rows.

Thomas snoozed most of the day next to me on the electric throw.

That is when he wasn't snoozing in my shoes...

I was able to get a pair of mittens up to 85% completion. I need to decrease the top of one and get thumbs on both of them. Then start another pair --- I am going to try to have at least 6 pairs (if not more) done by April to send to Russia.

Three Thankfuls:

I am thankful for getting over my head cold so quickly.
I am thankful for my wonderful husband.
I am thankful for the good night of sleep I had last night.

Welcome 2008

2008-01-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

Wow I sure am glad that 2007 is now behind us. Don't get me wrong it was a great year with all the wedding planning, the wedding and the honeymoon but that last part which was December was a real doozy.

We had a rough December around our house. It started with car problems (flat tire) then with Hubby's work accident (he's fine) and then the big one -- I hit a deer on the way to work Wed. after Christmas.

Hubby cut his leg with the chainsaw at work the Thursday before Christmas but he is fine and well now. He only had 7 stitches and they have been removed and now the outside just needs to finish healing up.

On my way to work Dec 26 -- I was going in early to make up some time from Christmas Eve since we didn't work and we didn't get paid for that day. Well much to my surprise a deer ran out in front of me and needless to say we collided. It killed the deer on impact as well as my car (busted radiator) but I thankfully was not hurt. Now we are just waiting for the body shop to open so that we can get an estimate and get the KIA fixed.

I have started on my Nana's birthday gloves -- they will be a pair of Dashing since she loved the ones I had made for hubby. I had to frog them on the first attempt because I totally had a spacey moment and forgot to do the ribbing and it was all in stockenette. I have gotten back to where I was on them now and hopefully I will have them done after next week.I will most likely still make her the ones from the Simply Soft website just not for her birthday.

I think my goals for the month will be:

Knit Nana's birthday gloves
Knit one sock (and have its mate done by end of Feb)
Finish Quant #2 (I think that will be a Christmas present not sure at this time)
Get to 50% on Randy's Danica Scarf

My next Purlin' Peaches meeting is on Jan 12 and I can't wait to see all the ladies again. I think we will have new members joining us too.

Thankfuls:

I'm thankful I have a warm bed to sleep in at night (it supposed to get down to 19 F tonight).
I'm thankful for being owned by a cat; Thomas could have chosen to love anyone but he chose me.
I'm thankful for teaching myself how to knit socks even though I haven't completed a pair yet.

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of a few things I would like to accomplish in 2008:

Loose at least 30lbs -- I intend on doing this through walking, doing sit-ups, and cooking/eating healthier.
Be able to downsize my wardrobe and fit into a size 12/14.
Knit primarily through my stash. Only buying yarn that is specific to the present it will be made into.
Finish Hubby's mitered square blanket -- it will be throw sized instead of queen per his request.
Knit at least 1 Christmas gift or more each month.
Knit at least 2 dishcloths per month.
I will not be so hard on myself this year. I will stay committed to my personal goals and pick myself up when I fail and try again.

Three thankfuls:

I am thankful for my health which I intend to improve.
I am thankful for my family.
I am thankful for being loved.

A new year of knitting..

2007-12-31T10:01:00.001-05:00

Well this is the last year of 2007 and I have already started planning my knits of 2008. So far on the needles are a pair of Dashing for my Nana -- she really liked the ones I knit for ~~hubby~~ myself. I also have a black and white scarf that was requested by J's brother Randy two years ago. I kept telling him that I hadn't made it because ~~I hadn't had time~~ I hadn't found a pattern that suited me yet that was until I stumbled upon Danica. Then there is another quant I decided to make, it is smaller than the original -- it's made with a smaller gauge yarn and on US #6 needles.

Here are some pictures:

Randy's Danica

Quant #2

I decided to make another Quant because
A. it is such a simple and quick pattern
B. I love the results.

I think I will be making quite a few of these for Christmas present next year. I just need to buy some Patons SWS -- I think they will look great in the natural colorways.

Things I am thankful for:

I am thankful that I didn't get hurt in the wreck I had with the deer last week. (more about that later)
I am thankful for diving into the wonderful world of flavored coffees. (I recently began drinking coffee)
I am thankful for the wonderful life that my Savior, Jesus Christ, has given me.

Its the little things.

2007-12-27T15:41:00.000-05:00

Its the little things that mean so much to me. First off, I hope everyone had a great and safe Christmas and I hope that everyone has a great and safe New Year's. I was definitely blessed to get most of the things that I had requested for Christmas.

As far as the little things go, all of the gifts I knitted were definitely loved. My MIL really surprised me at how much she liked her fingerless gloves. My SIL adores her Dragon Scale Gauntlets just like I knew she would. My mom, my aunts, and my grandmothers all loved their dishcloths.

In spite all of this --- the one present that I almost didn't make was the one that meant the most to me. It was the little shoulder shawl that I made for my great-aunt; see my great-aunt Mim has Alzheimer's. I was sitting on the couch watching a movie Sunday night and all I could think was I should have made her something to help keep her warm. I went through my stash and found the perfect yarn and proceeded to knit over half of a shawl in less than 3 hours. It was just a simple pattern where you increase by one every row but I just felt like I needed to make it for her. I didn't work on it at all Christmas Eve because of family functions. I got up early Christmas Day and began working on it again. By the time we arrived at Nana's I had finished and wrapped it.

Once we got to Nana's, we all began unwrapping presents. I gave Aunt Mim her present and once she opened it I wrapped it around her. I told her that I had made it just for her and she cried. At that moment it didn't matter whether or not everyone else liked their gifts, it just mattered to me that she knew how much all of us cared for her. She may or may not remember that I made it or that I gave it to her today, but she knew on Christmas when she opened it and that means a lot to me.

Starting today I'm going to try to post at least 3 things I am thankful for everytime I make a post just because I think we all forget how blessed we are from time to time.

I'm thankful for learning how to knit.
I'm thankful for all of the friends I have made through blogging.
I'm thankful for the little things that we sometimes take for granted.

I'm loving this.....

2007-12-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

How good is this going to look?! I have been knitting away the past couple of days on this lone skein of Noro Silk Garden which I received from the lovely Mrs. Poops for participating in her blog contest last year. I can't wait to finish it to see what its goint to look like but right now I am so loving it. Once I get some extra $$ saved up I will definitely see about purchasing more of this yarn. I have heard a lot of negative things about it on Ravelry but I have not had any problems with it this far. The texture is something to get used to though.

Someone Pinch me please

2007-12-18T14:06:00.000-05:00

Please someone pinch me (just not too hard) Okay? I am finished. Done. Completed.

No more Christmas presents are on the needles. All are done. I am so proud!

I will be starting on me knits next. I only have a few birthday presents I will be knitting this year and after seeing the reactions of my other knitted presents, I may or may not knit for Christmas next year.

So as of today I will be:

Knitting a pair of armwarmers for my Nana's birthday --per her request. I figure its the least I could do since she taught me how to knit :)
Knitting me a Quant from the skein of Noro Silk Garden I got from Mrs. Poops last year. I wanted to find the perfect pattern and I do think this will show it off well.
Knitting my mom another set of handwarmers so that her hands won't get so cold while she's out tracking down parts for planes in the hanger.
Then I think I will make me some other things.....I have grand plans for myself.
Oh yeah, I need to pick up where I left off on Hubby's mitered blanket.

I have exciting news --- and no I didn't forget I just hadn't had time to inform all of you. You know that blanket the Hugs and Kisses one I worked so hard on for T & L's baby????

-----Well T & L's baby arrived shortly after 11:30 pm last Tuesday, December 11, 2007. Weighing in at 7 lbs. and 20 inches long with a head full of black hair. She looks just like her big sister (who is 2) did only she's not bald :)

I still have to finish that Log cabin blanket for baby Mc -- he arrives next month -- the 10th I think.

Finally Friday!!

2007-12-14T15:55:00.000-05:00

Thank God this work week is over! Lots of pictures to catch up on now! My work computer has hated me and the Google site yesterday and today. I have blog reading to catch up on and I am late in posting today. My computer decided it hated google sometime Wednesday night after I left work but it must be acceptable due to the fact that I am now posting.

First order of business:
MIL's fingerless gloves

This pattern is ok in a pinch which is what I was in. I just hope that she likes them. I intend on making her prettier ones next time. I figured she could wear these to work out in the yard picking up pecans or just to wear to her flower shop.

Next, more dishcloths --- I have to photograph the last three still. One needs to be sewn, one needs to be finished and another still needs to be knit!

Last but certainly not least -- my prize from the lovely Gnat over at Barknknit.
I opened the box to find this:

Then I carefully unwrapped everything and this is what I got:

This lady is after my heart! She gave me kitchen cotton which I will be making into dischcloths for me and maybe a soap saver sack. Plus she included my absolute favorite size of knitting needles US #7 AND they are bamboo. I think the knitting needle thing was just a mere ~~mind reading~~ coincidence but I still think its great. My other bamboo sevens are on the brink --- they are starting to catch on the cotton and have gotten very blunt.

Check out this awesome card:
You can get them here.

Have a great weekend ! Happy Knitting!

Pictures Friday??

2007-12-13T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well since I have been so lame in forgetting my camera all week. I hope that I will remember to put into my little knitting bag I take with me to work when I get home today. I have one dishcloth on the needles and one more to make after that then I won't have anymore of them to make for Christmas I hope! I will be weaving in the ends of the fingerless gloves tonight so I can take a FO picture of them.

For those of you who responded on my week from hell, I do apologize for sounding whiny! Wednesday was just as bad as the first two days! I had a crick in my neck and Lawsy Mercy I could not hardly move at all yesterday without being in pain. Once I got home and got supper cooked last night, Gene massaged my neck and shoulders and was able to get all of the stiffness out which enabled me to get a good night sleep. Today has been going pretty well so far. I think that once I get through today and tomorrow I will be much better and can start a fresh new week come Sunday.

I officially have only twelve days to finish my Christmas knitting. I think it can be done since I only have a couple of things left. I might just be able to squeeze in a pair of these for my Nana. I thought it would be a fitting gift since she is the one responsible for this knitting obsession of mine. She loves cables so I think they will be perfect for her. If I don't get them done I will definitely give them to her for her birthday in January.

Bad Ju-Ju

2007-12-11T14:03:00.000-05:00

I think I might follow the lovely LesleyD's example and knit me a Bad Ju-Ju! This week has been absolute hell and it is only Tuesday! I just need something to put all of this negativity into and get rid of it! I am almost always the person that perceives the glass half full but good gravy this week is getting to me!

Monday: I locked my keys in hubby's car (the Mustang) upon arrival at the gas station. I had to call hubby to come unlock it so I could get to work. I arrived late at work by a good 10 minutes.

Today (Tuesday): I had a flat tire---in the Mustang---on my way to work. I was only about 30 minutes away out in the middle of nowhere and the passenger front tire decides to deflate. About 30 minutes and that many cars later this sweet black gentleman in his super nice Pontiac pulls over to see if I needed assistance. I graciously thank him for stopping to see about me and let him know that someone is on their way to see about me. I had already attempted to change my tire (yes, I can change a tire) but due to the Mustang being low to the ground the car jack I had just was not going to work. Thank goodness that my co-worker who came in our service truck had thought to bring a floor jack because that was the only way we were going to be able to get that baby off the ground.

I finally got to work after having to take 45 minute slow drive (which would have normally taken me 20 minutes) with the spare tire.

But I am grateful that I am still alive and the car didn't decide to take me on a wild ride when the tire blew. Well, Ok it didn't really blow it just kind of went flat very quickly.

I hopefully will be playing catch up by the end of the week. My wonderful prize came in from Gnat's contest and I will be posting pictures of the wonderful loot. Hey if you are not too busy go check out her sister's website. The card she sent me was one of her sister's creations and I loved it!

I will also be posting pictures of more dishcloths that I have finished. I only have 2 more to do and I will be through with them. The thumb and end weaving still needs to be done on my MIL's fingerless gloves and I still have the other half of SIL's to do too! I will be finished by Christmas because well I have to be. :)

Happy knitting!

Purlin' Peaches

2007-12-10T14:05:00.000-05:00

Well part of our Purlin' Peaches got together in Cordele Saturday at the Arby's. We had only planned to meet for about 2 hours but it ran over into three. I don't think that anyone minded and had we all not had other things to do we most likely would have stayed longer.

I have my MIL's fingerless gloves almost finished. I have to do some end weaving on one and finish the thumb on the other one. I hope to get them completed tonight and get them wrapped. I still have three more dishcloths to finish and I will have them all done. I wrapped most of them last night and discovered that I still had four more to go. I need to get started on the other half of my SIL's Dragon scale guantlets. I took them on the train ride and spazzed on the pattern because I wasn't paying attention so I had to frog the one I had in progress.

We are putting a baby gift basket together for our pastor's daughter who is having a little girl and I would love to make her some little knitted socks and a hat but I am afraid that I won't have enought time. They have to be ready by next Sunday. I have been knitting like a mad woman trying to get all of my gifts made.

I will definitely start at least by June next year, September at the latest if I am going to knit any gifts.

Hope to have pictures of my finished dishcloths and fingerless gloves by the end of the week.

Happy knitting!

I love my kitty!

2007-12-06T11:17:00.000-05:00

I just dropped by to read Gnat's blog, who I found by way of Nichole over at Lapdog Creations and I must say I love this post she linked us to on her Dogs on Thursday post.
I couldn't agree with it more :)

Do you have Ghetto Yarn???

2007-12-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

I must say I am Ghetto as far as my yarn is concerned; however, I think this is not the most efficient way of describing my yarn stash. See I am very frugal and I have to be right now considering the tightness of our budget. I don't buy yarn that often and when I do get it ---its usually from family members who have picked up things from yardsales, goodwill, etc. Ninety-five percent of my stash is primarly Red Heart or some other brand of acrylic yarn.

on another note......

I have learned my lesson on knitting Christmas gifts I do believe. I will not wait until late October to start again. I think I will begin shortly after my birthday (June) next year if there is going to be a lot of presents like there are this year that needs to be knitted. I really would like to get the Knitter's Almanac for project ideas next year. I've seen lots of little things knitted out of it on Ravelry and think it would be a nice addition to the books I already own. This will be my first Elizabeth Zimmerman though. Maybe I will get some cash to spend at Christmas :)

Speaking of new projects have you seen the new Knitty ??? Of course you have :)
I really would like to make this and this but alas my knitting skills are not so sharp.
This cute little purse would be a great gift for my SIL and I might just make one for myself. This would be great to try after my disaster with the Calorimetry.

So much knitting I want to do ------ so little time.

** My next Purlin' Peaches meeting is Saturday -- CAN'T. WAIT.

One year!

2007-12-04T10:06:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe it has been a whole year since I began blogging. What a year it has been. I must say it really feels like it has been much, much longer.

I have met so many wonderful people through the world of the internet and now through Ravelry. I feel blessed to have made such friends.

I have just about all of my dishcloths made for my Christmas presents. I need to sew and weave in the ends now. I will be beginning my fingerless gloves for my MIL and frogging my cabled footies. I most likely will make her a pair of the footies later on; she just won't be getting them for Christmas this year :)

Happy Knitting!

B.W.O.

2007-12-03T12:05:00.000-05:00

Amen to this post!

This makes me feel better about how much less I have been blogging due to not having internet connection at home at the moment. I do try to blog as often as I can but some days its more difficult to actually find a break here and there at work so that I can blog. I'll post more pictures and update on my Christmas knitting as soon as I can.

The Purlin' Peaches group is getting together again this weekend! I can't wait to see the group again.

I'm hoping after Christmas that hubby and I can have some of our bills paid off so that we can fit in the satellite and internet bill! We do grow weary over watching the same movies over and over again (or at least hubby does). I personally could go without it but TV is a nice distraction sometimes.

Well the cat is out of the bag........(Lots of photos)

2007-11-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

I finished my Dashing arm warmers that I gave to hubby and he gave them back to me. He said they were too long for him :( Oh well that means I don't have to make me a pair. It would have been nice to know this in advance though -- I could have made them a size smaller. Right now they are keeping my hands nice and warm at work although they are a wee bit on the large side.

As far as the cat being out of the bag....I went to my Aunt S's this Sunday for our traditional family gathering to eat Thanksgiving Dinner (its usually either before or after the holiday for this bunch). I was telling her about the gifts I was making. She said that she and my mom and my aunt B were supposed to just make gifts for each other and well my mom just started buying more and more presents :). She was telling me that people were just going wild over knitted dishcloths and washcloths. I said well good because that is what I am giving everyone this year -- knitted dishcloths! Then I realized what I had said......but oh well no one knows who will be getting which one so I can feel free to post them all as I make them!
Here are a few of the latest ones:

I also have some photos of our train ride and some of the things that we saw on our Purlin' Peaches outing.
The first picture is a little dark. This one was took on the train.( --- I think the guy turned the flash off by mistake)

We toured the Rylander Theatre ...

...and the Windsor Hotel which is still in operation.

Here is part of our group up on the outside balcony of the hotel.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Please be careful if you are having to travel and watch out for those other guys on the road too. I'm sorry I did not get my pictures up this week. I kept leaving my camera at the house but maybe while I am at one of my relatives' houses I can get them at least uploaded into Flickr.
I have the left hand done for Dashing and I am working on the right one now. I hope to have it done this weekend so that hubby won't have cold hands while hunting.

I absolutely have not been able to get any FO's as far as Christmas projects this week so far. I plan to at least finish the dishcloth I have on the needles tonight and hopefully get going on another one I have started. I also need to get to work back on the Dragon Scale gauntlets and the Cabled footies. I still have time I just need to stop procrastinating but I do think that this week will be just focussed on getting hubby's hand knits out of the way. I don't think I will be able to get much knitting done on Thursday or on Saturday. Thursday we will be spending most of the day with hubby's grandfathers and Saturday I will be cooking for a family get together on Sunday. I have two dishes that I want to prepare plus laundry and housework that needs to be done. One will be part of the main course and one will be a dessert. I will definitely take pictures of my creations.

I can't wait to see all of the family. I love Thanksgiving -- I get to see more of my family that lives far away plus I get to eat lots of great home-cooked dishes! Plus I can't wait to have FOUR days away from work!!!

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Excitement!!

2007-11-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well we went on our train ride S'n'B this weekend and I am thrilled to have a knitting group now! I am such a spaz; I left my camera at home this morning because I was trying to get to work early. We won't be working Friday nor will we getting paid for Friday, so I opted to come in early to try to make some extra time so I won't be short eight hours on my next paycheck. I will try to remember to get my camera tomorrow so I can load my pictures into my Flickr account in between getting paperwork done and answering the phone.
Back to our knitting group --- If you are on Ravelry you can find us in the Purlin' Peaches group. We had eight of us (including myself) come on the train ride excursion this weekend. It was so fun trying to find everyone because none of us had met before. One of the members came up to me at the depot and asked me if she spied knitting in my bag and from there we hit it off. We found more of the group as we waited in line to board the train. Since we are somewhat spread out we are going to have a traveling meeting or at least that is what has been discussed so far. I can't wait to get back together with them again. It is so nice to be a part of a group of other knitters. Here I thought I was the only knitter in south Georgia!!
There was a lot of knitting done on the train and lots of people coming by to ask what each of us was working on. I was able to get one and a half pattern repeats done on the Dragon scale Gauntlets for my SIL and I was able to get one third of the left-hand Dashing done for hubby.

I also have figured out that I can knit and walk on the treadmill at the same time ~~(I am such a nerd!)~~ Granted I only walk about 2 mph but I am walking and I am not bored out of my mind while walking now. I even somewhat designed and sewed a knitting bag to hang on my treadmill so that I can knit dishcloths while walking. Its even embellished with an I-cord draw string. Its not the best in the world but I had the fabric and the time so I just zipped it together.

Pictures later in the week I hope!

Oh yeah, let's not forget-- Jimmy Johnson #48 won the Nextel Championship Cup!!!

Hey you --- sneaking out from around the corner.....

2007-11-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

I see you reading my blog!

I just want to let you know that there is a blog contest in the works over at Lapdog Creations! Mrs. Nichole is raising money for the ASPCA and she is giving away knitting related items -- who couldn't stand for more yarn or stitch markers for that matter???

Please help her reach her goal!

I just want to give Nichole a round of applause for all the great work she does in her doggy rescue efforts. Go show some love for our friend and her four-legged babies. I think it is a wonderful thing that she is able to open up her home in efforts to find other dogs forever homes. Psst! Hurry up! Contest ends Nov. 30!

Hey just in case you just can't stand all the contest madness head over to Barknknit and let Gnat know what you are thankful for! Hey don't forget to tell her I sent you! Contest closes on Nov. 25!!!

Knitted presents

2007-11-14T10:18:00.001-05:00

I have pictures!

I have also decided that since I won't exactly be saying who my presents are going to that I can post FO pictures. If anyone in my family actually reads my blog they will just have to guess as to who is receiving what :)

Also here is a couple of more pictures of my kitty. I am going to try to start taking more pictures of him and posting them here every so often.

Sorry about the darkness in this next one -- everytime I use flash he gets a bad case of the red eye.

Where Have I been??

2007-11-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting of course. Sorry for lack of posts it really stinks when you don't have an internet connection (STILL!) at home. I attended my nephew's 2nd birthday party this weekend and did more of my Christmas knitting. I also continued to work on Baby Mc's log cabin style blanket. I also have a couple of pictures of Thomas to throw into the mix.
Oh I have good news! A few of us from the Purlin' Peaches Ravelry group are getting together for a Train Ride this weekend. We will be introducing ourselves and knitting and basically having a knitting group meeting on the train. I can't wait! We are also making plans to get together to knit on a regular basis.
Nephew J's birthday hat:

My nephew is a little morel preoccupied with the cars he's playing with instead of getting his picture taken.
Progress of Baby Mc's blanket:

Thomas posing for the Camera:

When I got the camera out to take his picture he held up his head like this. He was just lying on his side before I took his picture.

Thomas after a hard day of being a cat:

Thomas's eyes are actually blue but the flash makes him look like demon-cat!

Update photos

2007-11-01T11:16:00.000-04:00

Here is an updated photo of my first sock which I will be giving to my MIL as a Christmas present once I get it and its mate done.

I took this picture on the fly this morning so I apologize if its not that great of a picture. I forgot to take pictures last night so I took them this morning before I left the house.

Here are pictures of the new furniture that we purchased.
The couch:

The love seat (which incidentally is in front of the TV while the couch is on the side wall of the living room):

On top of the love seat is the John Deere (Hubby collects JD stuff) blanket that I made for Hubby as a present for our first Christmas together when we had just started dating. He loved it when I gave it to him. He was really impressed that I made it just for him.

And the bed:

The Headboard:

We didn't really know what this would look like in person. We picked it out of a catalog and all we had to go by was the picture. We had no idea it was this big or as detailed.
That is all I have for you today. I hope to get a few rounds done one my sock at lunch.

Wonderful!

2007-10-31T10:09:00.000-04:00

All of this encouragement is just wonderful and it is especially helpful in keeping someone motivated when trying something new and challenging. The cabled footsies are going to be a Christmas present for my MIL. They are being made out of some Simply Soft that I had in my stash. I have no idea on what the official color is supposed to be because when I got this yarn it didn't have a label. My Aunt B (same as the one in the wedding) was destashing (she crochets) and I snatched this ball of yarn up out of her bag. I tried to teach the poor muggle to knit but she got frustrated and gave up. I hope to post pictures tomorrow of my progress on this sock (I hope that I get a few more rows done too!) and the new furniture.
That is all I have for now. Happy Knitting!

Socks

2007-10-30T13:26:00.001-04:00

My first sock is a little further along than the pictures now. Thank you guys for your encouragement. I hope to post updated pictures later. Sorry it took so long to get these up. I have to steal some time to get them up since I am really not supposed to be blogging at work!

These pics are before I started on the gusset but I am sure all you sock people already know that. I think that this sock may be a couple of rows longer than its mate once I get them done. I lost track of a couple of rows while watching NCIS with hubby the other night. So my progress is a half of sock done. Love the pattern so far. I will keep you guys posted on my progress.
Now some non-knitting news:
We were able to get our furniture delivered this Saturday. We now have places for company to sit when they come over. We are the proud owners of a new couch and loveseat along with a brand new bed and mattress set. You guys -- If you don't own a pillow top bed you don't know what you are missing! I have been having the best nights' sleep since we got our new bed. Pictures to come soon!

Venturing into the unknown...

2007-10-25T10:04:00.000-04:00

Its that time again ---- time where I venture into sock making. I really want to knit a pair of cabled footies from One Skein for my MIL. Well I am down to knitting the heel flap and hopefully I can get the heel turned and the gusset done tonight.

Socks really frighten me but I have hope that I will be able to get this one done. The instructions are stated in a way I understand them plus I have some reference material that I can look at from various sites I have visited on sock making. I truely want to be part of this world of sock makers.

I hope to have pictures to post tomorrow but I won't make any promises. The blanket for baby Mc is coming along. I should have it done in a couple of weeks. I had to frog the right hand gauntlet of the Dragonscale gauntlets because I stopped mid chart and could not for the life of me figure out what row I was on. I have the ribbing and one repeat done on it. I hope to get another repeat of the chart done tonight also. I need to get these three (they are the most time consuming) gifts out of the way so I can start on other Christmas projects.

Clearance Sales

2007-10-23T08:35:00.000-04:00

OK I have to admit I am a sucker for bargain/clearance sales. I suppose you can see what I am leading up to --- I fell off the wagon of my yarn diet after only 4 days! Hubby and I went to Wal-Mart over in Fitzgerald Saturday after we got through furniture shopping. Our sole purpose -- to get things we needed to do a do-it-yourself oil change at home. Well we ended up over by the craft section during out little trip and low and behold -------- Bernat Softee Chunky was clearanced priced for ------------- $0.75 per skein.
I was estatic --- I like Bernat Softee Chunky and the colors that were clearanced were perfect for baby blankets! So I talked it over with Hubby and he informed me that if it was still there come Monday (yesterday) that I could buy some since it was regular priced at almost $3.00 per skein.
I had to return a key we had made because it would not work once we got home so I hi-tailed it over to Wal-Mart after work (I was going right by there on the way home anyway) tried to exchange the key (they were out of the right size so I have to go back again) and checked to see if my yarn was still there. I had to resist the urge to snatch up all 20 something skeins that were there. I walked away with 2 different colorways one which was hot pink/purple/orange looking (3 skeins) and another that was greens/blues (2 skeins) and a hunter (bright) orange skein.
I'm thinking of making the verigated skeins into baby blankets and the bright orange I am going to turn into a hat for hubby.
There were about 10 or more skeins that were navy but I figured it would attract too much of Thomas's hair to be in my house so I left it there. The cool thing about it was that my cashier crochets and had no idea that they had any of there more expensive yarns ($3.00 and up acrylics) on clearance.
I still remain on knitting from stash only; however, this is only one minor slip up and too good of a bargain to pass by.

Log Cabin and yarn diet

2007-10-17T14:40:00.000-04:00

Well now that I am finished with one baby blanket, I have cast on another one! I will be making a Log cab baby blanket for another set of soon-to-be-parents that are also friends of ours. I will try to get pictures of the WIP for baby boy Mc (His parents' last name is Mc______) but to protect their privacy he will be called baby Mc from here on out. What's so ironic about that is that T & L's last name starts with Mc too only they are having a baby girl.

My ~~hubby and~~ budget has put me on a yarn diet right now and I will be mostly knitting from my stash over the next couple of months so that we can ~~buy more yarn~~ get some bills paid off so that we can spend money on other things besides interest!
I bought enough Knit Picks Swish Superwash to last me for a few mittens and hats that I am knitting to send over to Russia. This should be enough to tie me over until I am allowed to start buying yarn again. Considering I will be knitting only during my lunch break it could take quite a while to turn 6 skeins of wool into mittens and hats.

I have enough yarn to start an Argosy Baby blanket so I might start on that as my next big project. That is after I get all my other holiday knitting done. I still have to work on doing squares for Hubby's mitered square blanket. He told me not to be in any real rush about it now that we are married ~~just as long as I get it done in the next five years~~.

Hugs and Kisses Baby Blanket Pattern

2007-10-16T10:50:00.001-04:00

A few people have asked me about the pattern for T & L's baby blanket. Well there really isn't a true pattern for it but here goes nothing........
I found the Hugs and Kisses cable pattern at Lion Brand's website. They have the pattern written up their way along with a chart.
I don't like the way they worded the stitch explanation so I reworded it for my own ~~sanity~~ use so it would not be as confusing to me. When I started this blanket it was my first cabling project so the way the folks at Lion had it worded just boggled my mind.

Hugs and Kisses baby blanket
needles: Knitpicks Options size 7 (US)
yarn: Caron Simply Soft mint green (no dye lot) 1.5 skeins (at 6 oz per skein)

Cast on any multiple of 20 plus X amount of stitches (for the border)
in other words -- I casted on 130 stitches which was:

5 knit sts (border) + 120 sts for the cables + 5 knit sts (border)

so in reality I had 5 stitch border 6 cable sets (20 stitches each) then another 5 stitch border

Hugs and Kisses baby blanket
Cast on 130 stitches
Knit 10 rows
Cable Pattern: (** NOTE: Knit the first and last 5 stitches of every row to create a border**)
Rows 1, 5, 9 and 13 *P1, k8, p1; rep from *, to end.
Row 2 and all WS rows *K1, p8, k1; rep from * to end.
Rows 3 and 7 *P1, C4B, C4F, p2, C4F, C4B, p1; rep from * to end.
Rows 11 and 15 *P1, C4F, C4B, p2, C4B, C4F, p1; rep from * to end.
Row 16 Rep row 2.
Rep rows 1–16 until blanket reaches desired length.
Knit 10 rows.
Bind off.

Abbreviations :
C4B ----- slip 2 stitches onto cable needle and hold in back of work (away from you); knit 2 stitches, knit 2 from cable needle.

C4F ----- slip 2 stitches onto cable needle and hold in front of work (to you); knit 2 stitches, knit 2 from cable needle.

What I like the most about this is that you can pretty much knit a blanket anyway you want with this pattern. Nothing is set in stone. You can have a border as wide or as narrow as you like and you can have as many cables as you want depending on the size. I'm sure there are much more gifted knitters out there that could incorporate all kinds of cable patterns into the blanket and not just have the X's & O's. You could also have spaces of different types of stitches in between the cables or what have you. The possibilities are endless.

I'm not sure about copyright information since I borrowed the cable pattern from Lion Brand but if you do decide to make a blanket from this pattern; please use this pattern only for personal use, a gift, or charity donation. Please do not use this pattern for profit.

**** I may have over simplified the pattern or the explanation but that is how my brain works. If you have any questions please let me know.

T & L's baby blanket & other goodies

2007-10-15T09:32:00.000-04:00

As I stated Friday, the ~~monster~~ baby blanket is finished.

I even made a little hat to go along with it---but I am thinking she may have to grow into it once she arrives. It's somewhat large for a newborn.

I also have yarn goodies to share. I recieved this skein for knitting the most squares in the Summer of Squares -along from Mrs. Pricilla.

And I received these goodies from being the Random winner in Mrs. Criquette's drawing in a contest she held for those who participated in knitting squares for Greensburg.

Thank you ladies so much for allowing me to be a part of the knitalong and the contest. It was truely an honor contribute to such a great cause.

It's finished!

2007-10-12T10:31:00.000-04:00

I have finished my Hugs and Kisses baby blanket that I some what designed for T & L's baby (considering I used Lion's stitch pattern for the X & O cable -- I came up with the concept of the blanket though!) ! All that is needed now is to block it and I need to go buy some T-pins from Wal-Mart in order to get that done this weekend. I am now working on a top down baby hat for them which somehow I will incorporate the Hugs and Kisses cable. I hope to get pictures this weekend of it blocking and a final picture before I give it to them.
I am also working on hats and mittens that are from patterns listed in Charmed Knits to give to our missionary that is stationed in Russia. That is along with all the Christmas presents I will be knitting. I have specific gifts for my mom, aunts, and grandmothers. If you are on Ravelry you can get a sneak peak of these, but if not I will not be posting any FO for Christmas presents until after then because I don't want anyone to find out accidentally. I will be making my SIL the dragon scale gauntlets as I have stated before but I think I will be making my MIL some slippers instead of fingerless gloves. I have a couple of things in mind to make the hubby too.
Please forgive me for not posting my presents I have received from 2 of the contests I have participated in. I have not had the time to upload the photos to flickr yet. I am very appreciative and thankful for my yarny-goodness its just that sneaking time to blog and be on ravelry and uploading pictures is a bit of a task in itself. I hope that next week won't be so busy so that I can get it done.
I hope we get Internet soon but it looks like we may not be getting hooked up until January :( at the earliest. We need to get some bills paid off first before we look into getting cable/Internet.

sniffles

2007-10-03T09:32:00.000-04:00

OK so I couldn't come up with a better title. I have this colossal head cold and its taxing on my creativity. I was so going to try to post pictures today from the honeymoon but I left. my. camera. at. home. Which made me really mad because I was also going to post an updated picture of T & L 's baby blanket so you could see what 1 1/2 skeins of Caron simply soft looks like done in mostly cables. It may not be that fantastic to some but I cannot believe how ~~it feels like a ton of bricks~~ heavy it is. I didn't realize when I first started this ~~monster~~ baby blanket that it would be so dense because of the cables. I guess it is a good thing that T & L's baby is due in December instead of JUNE! I still have to block this thing too! Any one have any suggestions on how to block acrylic yarn?? I know I may have broken many rules of knitting according to some yarn ~~snobs~~ fanatics by using acrylic yarn for a baby blanket but it is SIMPLY SOFT and I thought really hard over my yarn choice and selected what I thought was a suitable choice for the baby. I hope I can get it finished by the end of the month .... I have other things I need to work on for Christmas like my SIL's dragon scale gauntlets. I'm thinking of making my MIL some mermaid gloves for Christmas too. Guess what!--Those are going to be made of Simply Soft too!! If I have to use acrylic I much rather use Simply Soft than some of the other brands because it is a different animal than the other acrylics -- It really is soft as the name states. My only complaint is that it does split sometimes like nobody's business though.

I also had pictures of yarn in my stash that I was going to post up on Ravelry and lots of other things I had planned to do but alas we will have to wait and see if I can remember to bring it to work tomorrow to upload the photos. I have an excuse -- my brain was functioning on less oxygen due to this stupid cold! LOL!

This head cold thing that is going around really bites! I've been doped up on Tylenol cold & sinus ever since yesterday afternoon. The fever comes in and out in spurts and I just wish I could breath properly. I have that one sided breathing through the nose down pat. OH and the congestion is horrible!! Enough whining I suppose.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Ravelry

2007-10-02T12:52:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh -- Ravelry is quite awesome! I was very reluctant to jump on the Ravelry train at first and then I received an e-mail from Nichole as to WHY? Well I thought it would be super complicated and very time consuming. Since I have received my invite, I have found out -- BOY WAS I WRONG!!
Nichole thank you so much for that because if you hadn't sent me that little fateful e-mail I most likely would not have signed up for it. Ravelry is just so easy to navigate and it is much better than using those search engines on the web then weeding through your results to finally (if you ever do) find what you are looking for.
You guys if I haven't invited you as my friend so far please feel free to look me up. I think I have everyone that I am in close conversation with already invited. If I have left you out it is not intentionally but only because I have limited time to ~~play~~ be on the site.

Those of you who are still waiting or haven't signed up --- It is definitely worth the wait!

Go sign up if you haven't already :)

HI!!

2007-10-01T10:45:00.000-04:00

I'm still here! I haven't fell off the face of the planet yet. AND I'm in RAVELRY -- my user name is none other than nicolesknits. Blogging has to be done during work breaks. Last week, I was so swamped after being off for the wedding and the honeymoon that I had no time to post anything. I have finally gotten caught up at work so hopefully I can start posting more regularly. We are trying to get some bills paid off so we won't have Internet at the house for a couple of months.
Wedding:
The wedding ceremony with very smoothly and so did the reception. Afterwards we drove to Jekyll Island and stayed for our honeymoon. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. I won't be getting the proofs back from the photographer for another 3-4 weeks and we still need to get the disposable cameras we bought for the reception developed and scanned into the computer. I can't wait to look at them.
Married life definitely suits us and I don't think it could be possible to get any happier. Hubby and I have been settling in quite nicely in our home and we are still unpacking and getting things situated to our liking. The toughest part so far is getting used to sleeping with another person being in the bed. Hubby is allergic to cats so Thomas can't sleep with me anymore and he is not allowed in our bedroom. Thomas is none to happy about it either because he starts pawing on the door about 3 am sometimes. We make sure he gets plenty of attention before we go to bed though that way he won't be quite as lonesome during the night.
Knitting update:
I've been knitting here and there between keeping up the housework and learning to cook. T & L 's baby blanket is making slow but steady progress on the needles. I hope to have it finished by end of the month if not sooner. I have also tried to work a couple of rows on the mitered squares each night for Hubby's blanket but I think that getting it done before Christmas may be a goal that is not going to be able to be reached especially with all the gifts I will be trying to get made before Christmas.

Thank you!

2007-09-19T09:26:00.001-04:00

I just want to tell everyone thank you for everything. Thank you for being in my life & for all of the warm wishes for my wedding & for all the friendship. It means so much to me. This will most likely be my last post before the wedding and next time I post I will be a MRS. instead of a MS.
I just hope it is smooth sailing over the next few days. I have been trying to remain calm and not to stress but I think my subconscious is taking over when I sleep because no matter how much sleep I get I still feel like I stayed up to 3 or 4 in the morning.
I can't wait to see what I will look like in my dress with my hair and make up done. And I certainly can't wait to see what G looks like in his tux. I know he will definitely be VERY handsome because he is to me all the time but its just different when he is all spiffed up.

On another note: Charlie's FIL is getting out of the hospital in the next few days! From what I understand he has made a full recovery. Thank you so much for your thoughts & prayers. She and I both appreciate it so much.

This is VERY interesting --- I borrowed this from an e-mail from Creative Knitting:

"Knitting benefits an individual's emotional and physical health. Knitting can reduce stress in an individual who is trying to manage the severity of their chronic illness. It can also help reduce stress in individuals who lead very hectic lifestyles," said Gary Scholar, Health & Wellness Consultant to the employees of the American Hospital Association.
"I have incorporated knitting classes in my Health & Wellness programs for employees because of the health benefits. I would like to see implemented at children's hospitals a program to teach sick children how to knit so they have something to keep their minds occupied and be proud of what they have made if they are in the hospital for an extended time."

I thought this to be SO ironic considering Dipsy's post the other day about a news article (the link to the article is about half-way through her post).

Wedding Sneak peeks

2007-09-17T11:55:00.000-04:00

Here are a few sneak peak photos of my wedding hair-do. Not much to look at in my poorly taken photos but its enough to give you an idea. I have the cutest little silver flowers with rhinestone centers that will be added to my do too. J didn't put them in Saturday at risk of loosing some of them. Please never mind those weird facial expressions; no one was around when I was needing a picture taken and I had forgotten to take the camera when I went to see J that morning.

G helped come to my rescue this weekend and helped me finish the heart shaped favor boxes that needed bows. Now all 100 of those boxes have their little bows on them.

We were also able to get some of our stuff packed up into boxes and have our bedroom/office a little more organized and hopefully I can get the computer up and running this week. Not much to do on it at the moment since we don't have internet but I am sure I can find something to keep me entertained.
Thank you so much for the prayers and thoughts for my friend Charlie's family. I haven't talked to her in a few days (she works weird shifts/hours at her job) but I will try to get an update for you guys.

Charlie

2007-09-14T14:19:00.000-04:00

Y'all please excuse me for lack of pictures. I ended up having to tie those little bows on the boxes by myself (I was able to get half of them done). Charlie was so upset to tell me that she couldn't come last night to help me. I told her not to worry I completely understood and that her family was more important than the little bows on those boxes. Charlie's FIL is in the ICU in grave condition; he ripped 9 inches of his esophagus due to complications with acid reflux Monday and things have not improved. If you don't mind please keep her family in your prayers.

Dress update

2007-09-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

I had a lot of errands to run and an eye doctor appointment yesterday, so I chose to take my dress to the local dry cleaners to have it altered too. The lady there told me that my dress would be ready for pick up Tuesday; I was very impressed at how nice she was! My friend J recommended the place because she said they were good and fast -- she took her dress there and she said she couldn't have been happier with the outcome.
Dipsy in response to your customer service comment -- yes they have horribly terrible customer service. I found out after I started telling people about what happened to me about all the other horror stories of that particular bridal shop. A few of the people I spoke to told me that I should have talked to them before getting my dress there. I told them I just wish I could have known.
My friend Charlie and I will be putting favor boxes together tonight. I sat down and put all the candy in them Tuesday night now all we have to do is tie the bows onto them. I have found my camera so hopefully I will get a few pictures of this little task tonight to post tomorrow or maybe next week. I can't wait until next Friday when I can get some pictures of us getting the reception hall ready for the wedding.

I promise more knitting content after the wedding!

9-11

2007-09-11T07:52:00.000-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

glitter-graphics.com

Wedding woes and charity knits

2007-09-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

OK -- This wedding stuff is starting to get to me. You guys remember me telling you about how perfect my dress fit and all that needed to be done was to take up the shoulders some? Well the lady at the store (when I was there 2 weeks ago) informed me that if I came back on Sept. 8 that I could be fitted for my dress. Well yall just knew it wouldn't be that easy didn't you? I went back and they told me that they had NO ONE to help me and they did not know when they would have a seamstress available. I quickly informed them that my wedding was in 2 weeks and they needed to give me my dress because I didn't have time for them to fiddle around -- I also said a few choice words about their customer service and told them that I would definitely be telling whoever I could not to shop there because of the run around I have been getting ever since I bought my dress. Good news is that I spoke to J (who is singing in the wedding) and she gave me a great reference to a seamstress that altered her dress for her so not all is lost on my wedding dress.

On another note -- I haven't found my digital camera to take pictures of WIPs, but I am still knitting away on top secret stuff for Christmas, making squares for G's blanket, the dragon scale gauntlets and T & L's baby blanket when I am actually able to find time to knit that is. I have chosen to work on a different one each night since my knitting time is limited in the evenings right now. There is nothing in this world that can't be finished in enough 30 min to 1 hour time slots.
I have also have ideas for some charity knitting. My pastor's son is a missionary in Russia and he has made several remarks about how cold it is over there during his message at the service he preached for our revival. I asked him last night at our little potluck we had for him and his wife, before they leave this Friday, if they could use hand knitted items like hats and mittens. He quickly let me know that there were several needy families that would definitely benefit from some items like that. He will return for a conference in November and in April and I told him that although I may not have anything made by November I definitely should have a few hats &/or mitten sets made by April.

Move successful

2007-09-05T09:18:00.001-04:00

Well we spent most of Labor Day weekend moving -- in the rain! Saturday was very productive. We moved just about all of my stuff to our new house in ONE day with just me and G doing the moving. We also were able to get 85% of my belongings unpacked. I have went through every box and determined what I can do without and a lot of stuff went either into the trash or is going to go to Goodwill.
I hope to be back to knitting next week. I need to finish T & L's baby blanket. (Did I tell you --they are expecting another little girl-- I'm so excited for them.) I have a lot of knitting I need to do before Christmas. I plan to give knitted dishclothes to several of my female family members instead of buying presents this year.

In memory of a Princess.....

2007-08-31T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was sixteen when she died. It seem so unreal at the time -- I like everyone else couldn't believe she had been taken from this world.

When I was little, I always wanted to grow up to be as pretty as Princess Di. No I am not British or a supporter of the Royal family, but I did admire this special lady who became known as the "People's Princess". I still want to be as pretty as Princess Di and I still want to be as compassionate to those in need as she was. I love the way she was photographed never really looking right at the camera in many pictures of her. There is so much of her to be seen in Prince William and I think that he and his brother are doing a fine job in keeping her work and her memory alive.

We're moving! (homes not the blog)

2007-08-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

G and I have found a place to rent that is about 30 minutes from both of our families. G is still in truck driving school and will be getting his CDL's in a matter of weeks. We will be moving a little along this week and hopefully we will be getting the furniture and big items that we have this weekend. I am so excited! We are getting closer and closer to being a married couple! The mobile home we are renting is somewhat smaller than what I am living in now. It is a two bedroom two bath singlewide but despite that it is really big enough for just the two of us and a great starter place. I love the landlord and his wife. They are just SO incredibly nice. We will not have cable or internet (ack!) when we first get moved in but hopefully I can still keep you guys somewhat updated by posting during my lunch break and going over to my parents house to use their computers on the weekend.
I have several projects still going on the sidebar that I have been knitting here and there as far as progress. I decided to frog the weasely cell phone cover -- we just didn't get along. I also have started some top secret knitting projects but can't post who they are going to as they are a jump start on Christmas gifts. I may post pictures of them at a later date though.

Dress Pictures and a Fairy Name

2007-08-23T18:32:00.000-04:00

Edit 8/30/07 -- WOW thank you so much for you comments on my dress and the bridesmaids' dresses! In case you are wondering --they all intend to wear them again after the wedding for other events. G's little sister is most likely going to wear hers to her senior prom (or at least that is the verdict as of now). My aunt (who is pictured) is going to have hers altered to just above the knee so she can have it as a Sunday dress for church or for an evening out with my uncle. R, she says that she will definitely wear hers somewhere but doesn't know as of right now if she is going to alter it further -- I think I might make her a nice shawl at a later date. We are going to use the shawls (to add a bit more blue with all those peach roses) with the decorations in the reception hall, but I am going to give them back so they can have them if they choose to wear it with their dresses later. I really fell in love with the dresses I picked out for them because they came with a matching chiffon shawl and purse -- these dresses also can be as formal or as casual as one can make them.
My wedding colors are peach,silver, and blue. The bridesmaids and I will be carrying bouquets with peach and white roses.

Here are some much waited for pictures of my dress and the dresses the bridesmaids will be wearing. I had my arms held out because the lady at the bridal shop said my dress may become "dirty" if I touched it due to oil on my hands no matter how clean my hands were.

I got the fairy name from Knitter in Progress.

Your fairy is called Berry Icewitch

She is a bone chilling bringer of justice for the vulnerable.

She lives in fruit orchards and vineyards.

She is only seen in the enchanted moment between sleep and waking.

She wears red, cerise and purple berry colours. She has icy blue butterfly wings.

Get your free fairy name here!

It fit!!

2007-08-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

As you guys may or may not know (not sure if I blogged about it), when I purchased my wedding dress the zipper had to be replaced. Well because of that little inconvenience we do not know if the dress actually fit, we just kind of pulled it together. Shortly after my mom went back and bought it, I took it back to have the zipper replaced -- this was back in June. Since then I have been steadily watching what and how much I eat and I have been walking 1 mile plus on the treadmill at least 4 nights a week.
The dress fit perfectly! The zipper slid like butter when we zipped me into it and the length will not have to be altered because of a combination of my height (I'm 5' 10") and my heels the lenght is on the money. Right now the only alternations needed is to take up the shoulders. I told the lady at the store that I would like to wait until September 8th to alter it that way I could continue my diet and walking. She said it would be wise that way I wouldn't have to have the dress altered twice.
We're getting closer! I'm starting to get really excited now that the little details are falling into place.

Contest!

2007-08-09T14:53:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Cass is having a blog contest! Go check it out -- free yarn and free books!

I would love to have the Knitting without Tears.

The cable guy

2007-08-07T10:52:00.000-04:00

The cable guy really hates coming to my house by now. He came out Friday and thought he had the problem fixed. Well he did for about 4 hours then my internet went out AGAIN. I waited until about 9:00 pm to call customer service because he fixed it at 2:30 pm and it worked until 7:30 pm. The reason I waited so long was that G and I were ready to go out to eat and didn't want to be on hold until someone decided to pick up. Mediacom has very BAD customer service.

So I finally got someone on the phone after about 30 minutes (which was really quick) and the lady set up another appointment for yesterday which was Monday.

The tech came out and fixed it yet again and replaced the modem for the third time and so far I have had service ever since. I told him that if it went out again; I would not be hesitant to call and complain about it.

I have been doing a little bit of knitting. I still have the Ron Weasley cell phone cozy on the needles and I have dragon scale gauntlets on the needles. I have kind of slacked off on making the squares for G's blanket but I intend on starting back on those tonight.

Things are starting to get better on the home front, but there are a lot of things we still have to do. We still have to find a place to live before the wedding and that hasn't been so easy. We also still have to get the invitations ready to be mailed out within the next week or two. I'm going Friday to get one of the photos we took this weekend to put into the paper.

I'll try to keep you guys updated as much as I can.

I have got to have one of THESE!!(every cat lover should have one) They even have one for dog lovers!! The proceeds go to the Humane Society of the United States. --- I've got to find this mug somewhere else please see below.

This is disturbing -- I got this from Mrs. Janice (thanks!) -- here is some information I read at Lousville Pet Lovers:

The Humane Society of the United States

“I don’t have a hands-on fondness for animals…To this day I don’t feel bonded to any non-human animal. I like them and I pet them and I’m kind to them, but there’s no special bond between me and other animals.”— Wayne Pacelle, HSUS President, quoted in ‘Bloodties’ by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 251

Despite its innocent-sounding name, the Humane Society of the United States does not own or operate one single animal shelter, nor does it directly care for any animals. Relying on the fact that the general public will mistake it (and 94% do) for the e e e American Humane Society, which does operate shelters, it further capitalizes on this lack of awareness by publishing manuals on how to start, fund and run an animal shelter, how to euthanize animals; and has made itself the authoritative source on inspecting and training animal shelters and their staff—and nobody has bothered to question how they can be expert at something they themselves don’t even do!

But what they do, (and do it extremely well), is raise money. $100 million a year. How much of it do they actually spend on the animals they claim to be saving? Well, in 2002 it was a paltry $150,000 (1.5% of their revenue). So, where does the money really go? That’s a question Louisiana’s Attorney General is asking, wanting to know what HSUS did with the $32 million in special donations it received as a direct result of its campaign to help rescue animals caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—because it sure didn’t spend it rescuing pets in Louisiana!

An examination of their books shows exactly where it’s gone for many years. To fund what Wayne Pacelle claimed he was going to build: ‘the N.R.A. of the Animal Rights Movement’. It’s gone into the pockets and campaign chests of politicians, and into raising more and more money from unsuspecting American citizens who honestly believe they are rescuing unwanted pets and improving the lives of animals.

And who do you think was the #1 ‘expert’ that helped write Louisville’s new Anti-Pet law? The same organization that has capitalized on its “victory” in Louisville and is now invading the halls for Frankfort to take their agenda statewide: the HSUS.S.S.S.

Ravelry

2007-08-01T12:44:00.000-04:00

Ok, I hopped on the bandwagon on this. I am not pacing constantly wanting to know when my invite will arrive or anything I just want to see what the big deal is. A lot of people have been praising this site.
Here is my status.
Found you!
You signed up on July 26, 2007
You are #20817 on the list.
13031 people are ahead of you in line.
1491 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

Life update -- I have started knitting again but as I said before I don't know how often I will be updating between now and the wedding. Things are starting to get a little crazy. G and I are going to have our engagement pictures taken this Saturday and we are going to be talking to J about what she will be singing.

I have started a couple of new projects for the month. I didn't get any of my goals accomplished for last month, so I will not be making a list for August. August will be taken day by day due to things that are already planned.
August 4th Engagement Photos & discuss music with J
August 12th Church sponsored wedding shower
August 18th Wedding dress fitting
August 25th Wedding refit
August 26th Second counseling session with the pastor

Somewhere in there we have to get with T & L about a "fill the pantry" shower for us and we still have to get with L about the wedding cake. Plus I have to print and mail wedding invitations!

Mediacom service still stinks and my connection is still wonky so I will be calling to have it disconnected tonight. Along with that and everything else going on we will just see how the posts go. I appreciate all of your patience with me.
Thanks a million!
update: the mediacom technician came to the house today (Fri) and replaced the cable coming into my house ---- he ~~claims~~ assures me this should fix the problem. If not please call mediacom and they will do some more checking...........

Visual DNA

2007-07-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I need a break..

2007-07-26T07:12:00.001-04:00

Guys I am going to be straight with you. We didn't get the house and we are not moving out onto the property due to things beyond my control. Things with house-hunting, the wedding and a few other people/things that are going on right now are seriously taking a toll on me. I haven't knit a single stitch all week, nor have I been sleeping well, and really don't feel up to it. I will try to get a post in here or there but I won't be promising anything. I will however try to start posting regularly again after the wedding and somethings get settled which means I probably won't get back to posting regularly until after October. I appreciate your understanding in this. Feel free to email me if you want to check in and I will try to reply as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Home Owners??

2007-07-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

Well we are one step closer to buying a mobile home now. G and I went to Eastman yesterday to talk to the lady at the bank and she told us some good news. We also found out about a double wide that is the size we had been looking for at a great deal. We should be going to look at it today; that is if G is able to get out of school early like he did yesterday. If he is not I might just take off by myself and go check it out that way it won't get sold out from under us before we are able to at least look at it. I will try to update on the situation tonight -- that is if the internet is working.

Now we return......

2007-07-24T07:24:00.000-04:00

.......to our regular knitting schedule. I took me all of one day to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was great. I believe I rushed myself through it but I couldn't wait to see what happened. I think I will go back and re-read it a little bit along and pace myself that way I can soak in every detail.

I will be back to knitting today. I am working on a cell phone cozy that I started this weekend because I wasn't able to make it to the post office to get my book because we went house hunting. I also intend to make this and give it to my dad for his birthday which is Saturday.

Well talk to you guys later.

Blogging Hiatus

2007-07-20T09:10:00.000-04:00

Just so you guys won't get worried about me and think I may have disappeared off the face of the earth -- I'm going to take a little blogging and blog reading hiatus until I get through with the 7th Harry Potter book. I don't want to have any spoilers or surprises while I am reading it. I will however hope to continue knitting while I take little tiny breaks from the book but I doubt I will be able to put it down long enough to make one stitch.

I have completed the Left mitten of the Hermione's cable & bobble mittens. I still need to weave in the ends, I will try to post some pictures before I start on the right one.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend especially those who are waiting for their Harry Potter books.

I'll see you guys in about a week or so.

Kitty vs. Knitting

2007-07-19T07:20:00.000-04:00

This is how my knitting time has been going lately. Knitting has been equal to Thomas's nap time.

Step 1. Let's make things comfy by making kitty biscuits.
Step 2. Give the camera a dirty look.
Step 3. Almost asleep.
Step 4. Gone.
End Result.

It's almost impossible to knit with a 22 lb cat taking over your lap. Lucky for me I am not working on any big projects right now. Only mittens and mitered squares. Those are the mittens caught in the pictures. I'm on the thumb of the left hand one now. I hope to finish the thumb tonight and get back to the body of the mitten. I may just knit a few rows then do some more work on the mitered squares. Spare time to knit is going to be very spare, I've got to do laundry and get on the treadmill tonight. I've been very bad this week; I haven't walked on the treadmill at all -- I'm definitely not going to fit into that dress if I don't get to walking!

I made my first bobble..

2007-07-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

As I have told you I purchased the Charmed Knits book sometime back and ya'll all know that it has a lot of the neat Harry Potter inspired patterns in it, well I am starting to love making mittens! I have gotten to the part on the pattern where it is cabling and making bobbles. Bobbles are too cute and so easy to make. I think I might have missed a row in my pattern but as of right now I can't find the mistake so I am going to continue.

My knitting time has been somewhat challenged by the ~~heathen~~ loving cat and torn between two projects. I have five completed mitered squares for G's Wedding/Christmas blanket. I really would like to make ten more before the end of the month but my knitting time is scarce. Thomas has really been snotty lately insisting that he has to be loved right about the time I pick up my needles and refuses to leave me be until himself decides he's finished being loved, petted and brushed. He is in a real need of a bath so he might just find himself in a very wet situation tonight and below is the proof of one clean cat. Thomas has been getting a bath about once a month or so since he was 6 weeks old so trust me this is nothing new to him.

G and I are supposed to go look at some mobile homes this weekend and hopefully get our engagement pictures made at the photographer. The mobile home looking won't be much of a problem; however, G getting in contact with the photographer has been a nightmare. He called the photog six times Monday and left 3 seperate messages and no return phone call has been made as of yet.
On another note.. Have you guys checked out the clustrmaps? They are pretty cool! I have a few readers in Australia! That is so awesome! I know there are people who in other countries that knit -- I'm not that dense but wow they are reading my blog! I didn't realize just how far my audience is located. I just want to thank everyone who reads and enjoys my little meanderings. I can't thank the knitting-internet community enough for all the dear friends I have made and wonderful people I have met who have helped me progress in my knitting. Just think I started this blog because I didn't know anyone in the area I moved to last year and now I have friends everywhere and almost all of them knit which is great!

The weekend that was...

2007-07-16T14:51:00.000-04:00

I had so much fun this weekend and I barely got to knit at all! G and I went out to eat at a Mexican Resturant in Cordele -- we won't be going back, G had a bad reaction to it. Besides the food was not that great or as G likes to hear me say : "It wasn't anything to write home about". We added a few more things to our registry too that we hadn't thought about such as a fire-proof box for all of our important papers. We spent the rest of the night until about 1 am up town in Rochelle talking to our friend J then I went to mom's for the night.

Saturday was really exciting. I was able to see my third cousin M who was down from Michigan. I haven't seen her in years and it was nice to catch up on things. She spends some of her time online so I gave her my blog address to check out and she said she would like to see some of the things I have been working on. I didn't go out to the property this weekend but I do have the before pictures that I had planned to post.

If you are wondering what G is looking at -- its a logging thing. He is actually looking up the tree to see which way it will fall if we have to cut it down. In response to Batty's statement (which is a very good point) on the importance of knowing which way a tree will fall --- G was trying to find the best way to lay the tree down (if we do end up having to have it cut down) and in which direction because in the picture you can't tell but there is a power line behind him and in the direction of the lower opposite corner to G there is a pool that the very top of the tree might land on, so we definitely don't want the tree to fall onto the pool or the power line. G said we might actually have to pay someone with a bucket truck to come cut it down in sections if it comes down to it. Below are a couple more pictures I took. I had hoped to get some after shots but I didn't have my memory card in my camera which I discovered after I got to my mom's house late Friday night.

This picture is really neat. The tree has actually grown around the bottle that was placed in the "V" of the tree a few years back.

Here is a picture of my loot I ordered from Angelika's. This yarn is becoming Hermione's Cable & Bobble mittens and hat from the Charmed Knits book.

I was able to get a little bit of knitting done Saturday while I waited to meet with my friend J. We also went to eat Mexican for supper except we ate in Eastman and then we went to the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie. It was quite impressive.

We met with the pastor and things went well. He gave us a lot of good advice and some ~~homework to do~~ Bible passages to read over before the next meeting on Aug. 26th. G and I also discussed what we were going to do about the rehearsal dinner. I think G might just grill chicken all day and we pick up the rest of the fixin's at KFC or at the deli and have a small dinner at the church. That seems to be more reasonable on our finances than the $600.00 meal we were thinking about planning at the lodge at the state park in McRae.

Note: This is the first time I have experimented with Flickr but I think all you have to do to enlarge the pictures is just click on them.

Internet Provider

2007-07-13T08:57:00.000-04:00

I just want to apologize to all of you who read my blog for the lack of pictures. Ever since I moved to my current address, I have had problems with my Internet and they have replaced everything from my modem to the cable "power pole" and I still have connectivity problems. Apparently they are not competent to fix the problem and it appears to be on the receiving end. I have called multiple times and complained and have gotten no where so I am just trying to stick it out until G and I get moved into our new place. By then I hope that I am able to get better service using a satellite provider if it comes down to it just basic dial up (YUK!) because we won't have the option of getting cable where we are moving. Anyway back to the pictures - about the time I finish typing my post my connectivity goes kaput which means in the middle of uploading pictures my connection is toast -- thank goodness for the blogger automatic saving mechanism or I wouldn't be blogging nearly as much.

We will be going for our first marriage counseling session with the pastor of the church this weekend. I think this will be a first of a few meetings that way he can decide if he will marry us or not. I will be very busy tomorrow. I plan to go clean up the property some after that I will be going to assist with cleaning up the church for their Revival next week then my friend J and I will be going to see Order of the Phoenix. I'm not real sure what we will be doing Sunday after church as far as leisure goes due to having to meet with the pastor at 4:00 pm. I might just take G over to the property to show him my progress on cleaning up the yards.
We still have so much to do -- I need to get back in contact with L about our wedding cake and whether or not she will still be able to do it considering that she will be about 6 months along by the time our wedding gets here. We also need to see our photographer to do our Bridal Registry there and to get our engagement photos done so we can do our announcement in the paper (G is supposed to call and make an appointment for next Saturday). We finally got registered at Wal-mart last weekend and we have to turn in our list of invitees to Mrs. B at church this weekend so she can mail out the wedding shower invitations. OY! So much to do in 2 months and 1 week and 2 days according to the counter today!

Nicole's knits and everything else....

Etsy here I come....

October is here.

Catch up time

Can one be too crafty?

Thomas has went to kitty heaven..........

Quick Update and a couple of pics

I'm horrible...

Another thrifty idea....

Almost time to go back to work

A Birth Story

Birth-Day Approaches

A look at Baby S...

December really?

The magic day is .......

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Expectant moms beware!

Another sock in progress and no knead bread

I have some photos to share!!

Update for Mom

Kaylees are done!!

I finally have some photos to share!!

Purlin' Peaches Day

Happy Independece Day!!

Motorcycle Scarf

Fun Exercise???

WWKIP

(crickets chirping in the background)

Too many needles??

On to new things.....

Moments of Silence

I have just about lost my mind....

Frogging

Birds, leaves, and toe-ups

Back to our regular scheduled blogging......

HI!

I got a new job!!

Having a case of the Blahs......

Lace....

Paying it Forward

Woe is me....

So the Secret of the Stole ii starts today.

Photo update!

Ravelry is so bad......

Secret of the Stole ii

If all lace were this easy.....

Welcome 2008

New Year's Resolutions

A new year of knitting..

Its the little things.

I'm loving this.....

Someone Pinch me please

Finally Friday!!

Pictures Friday??

Bad Ju-Ju

Purlin' Peaches

I love my kitty!

Do you have Ghetto Yarn???

One year!

B.W.O.

Well the cat is out of the bag........(Lots of photos)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Excitement!!

Hey you --- sneaking out from around the corner.....

Knitted presents

Where Have I been??

Update photos

Wonderful!

Socks

Venturing into the unknown...

Clearance Sales

Log Cabin and yarn diet

Hugs and Kisses Baby Blanket Pattern

T & L's baby blanket & other goodies

It's finished!

*sniffles*

Ravelry

HI!!

Thank you!

Wedding Sneak peeks

sniffles