It's raining snowing?!

There was a song maybe fifteen years ago where the chorus was, "It never rains in Southern California."

The song was by the group Tony, Toni, Tone and the song was called, "It never rains (in Southern California). Every time it would rain they would play that song on the radio. Occasionally I will still hear that song play when it rains, but I didn't hear it yesterday, maybe because it really wasn't raining.

This is what it looked like from the window.

You can see K's fingers on the bottom of the pic. He was so excited that it was "snowing" he ran around the house saying, "it's nowin, it's nowin," with a huge grin on his face.

When B got home from school, he was so excited because according to him, he actually got to see it snow. In fact he wanted it to continue snowing so he kept asking if it was cold enough for it to snow again.

It actually wasn't snow, but hail. Who am I to disappoint the kids?

Also, thanks for the well-wishes. I went to the doctor's yesterday, turns out I have strep throat. I am starting to feel better and should be all better in a few days.

He's got personality!

And lots and lots of it may I add. Lately whenever we ask K to pose for a pic, he will do so in a manner that when we look at the end result all we can do is laugh. Here is exhibit A, B, & C.

These were taken last week. And all I could do was laugh my butt off when I saw them. The second pic reminds me of the movie A Christmas Story, the scene in which one of the characters gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole.

Then, when I asked K to pose for some pics of him in the socks, this is what I got.

In fact he was very definite on the way he wanted to pose for the socks. Oh well, what could I do? If he ever goes into the entertainment industry.....I don't even want to think of the demands he is going to have.

You can click on the link in the sidebar for more details on K's socks and my finished socks, too.

In other news, I have been sick for the last couple of days. In addition to being sick, my throat is swollen and I have no voice, which means I haven't been able to add any miles for Run Yourself Ugly, no real cleaning, and not much in terms of knitting.

I am about to go batty, I need to get back into the swing of things soon.

Home Sweet Home

I feel as though I have been moving non-stop for the last few days. Monday Hubby and I went snowboarding, Tuesday and Wednesday we were at the Magic Kingdom. Finally we are home. There is so much that I need to do. There is so much that I want to do. But I really just want to be lazy today.

The thing that I have difficulties with is deciphering the difference between the needs and wants. Need things to me usually mean the household type of things laundry, cleaning, etc, while the wants are things like knitting, exercise. Though, knitting and exercise are things that I actually think I need to do. I'll just rephrase the earlier statement.

There are so many things that I need to do.

While we were away, I finished K's socks. I was working on them in the car ride down when Hubby realized that I was a little frustrated. He looked at me as though I was crazy and then asked what was wrong.

I had to explain that while I was knitting I came across not one, but two knots within two yards of each other.

That's right there were two knots where the yarn was joined within two yards of one another. Here is a closer view.

I understand that there are going to be knots in the yarn, but for there to be two so within the same skein and so close to one another. It's just frustrating.

Having finished K's socks, I think I am finally ready to start on a bigger project. I signed up for this KAL a while back.

I swatched for the sweater, but I didn't have the inspiration to actually knit a sweater. I really didn't know what I wanted. I think I am going to do a cowl of some sort. We will just have to see. I just realized that the button I had on the sidebar is no longer there, WTF!?!?!

I guess I'll just have to fix it if blogger lets me.

I need to relax

I finished the cap I was making for B. Although I wanted to finish it before 2007 began, I ended up finishing it the following morning. I was trying to get B to take a pic in it, but he being almost 6 wouldn't sit still long enough. Now I can't find it. Go figure.

I was anxious to work on another pair of socks for myself, so I have worked on (and finished) these.


They are the first pair of socks that I made for myself using Koigu KPPPM. All I have to say about them is yummmmmmm! They are so so so so comfy.

After I finished these on Saturday, the guilt of making something for B and not K started sinking in. So I decided to make K another pair of socks. I decided to so a basic stockinette in self patterning yarn and after double knitting B's cap, I thought that I would do K's socks the same way.

They say third times a charm right? The first time I tried to do the two socks at once toe up. Things seemed fine until I realized that I wasn't going to be able to check to make sure the socks were separated because they would be enclosed by the toes.

The next time I tried, I went from the top down. I was doing well until I had turned the heel. Somehow I managed to switch yarns. So the yarn that I was using for one sock I was now using for the other. Uggg!

This was where I was with K's sock this morning.

I decided that I was not going to do the two socks at once thing. Besides constantly mixing up the yarn while turning the heel/toes, the fabric was just so loose. So now I am doing it the ol' fashion way. One at a time.

The pic above was taken on the way to the mountains when we left our house. I wanted to do progress shots every hour, just because.

This was my next (and only other) progress shot for the day. Hubby made great time. What normally would take one and a half hours or so, only took a little over an hour.

We had a great time snowboarding. Though my ankles feel like they are falling apart. They have been bugging me a little for the last couple of months every time I would go running. I attributed it to needing a new pair of running shoes. Even with new running shoes, the ankles are still a little uncomfortable. But after boarding for five hours, they are swollen and I am having trouble bending one of them.

I need to take a break and stay off of them for a little while, but we are going to take the kids to the "Magic Kingdom" for the next two days.

Wish me luck!

I will do it!

Call me crazy, but look what I just signed myself up for.

You can read about it here at Whitney's. If you are so inclined to join, go over runagogo and register. You don't have to run all of the miles, it's any movement/activity that gets us out and moving.

The kids made me do it

I finally decided that for my next project (and final for 2006) would be a cap for the kids with an AT-AT on it. I first got the idea from Jessica when she made this for one of her sons.

I decided on the AT-AT for one main reason. When B first would draw things from Star Wars, he would always draw an AT-AT or Imperial Walker, as he likes to call them. So I figured, that the first Star Wars item that I made would be an AT-AT (I'm just sentimental like that).

The thing is, I hate weaving in ends. It's not that I can't, I just don't like weaving in that many ends and I wanted to work this in the round so I knew that there would be many to weave in. When I made this for the kids, I had a gazillion. I just don't want to do it again. I'm not good at it.
So you know what I decided to do instead?

If you couldn't tell from the first pic, I decided that I would double knit it.

That's right. Rather than weaving in the ends, I would rather learn a new technique that would require very little weaving.

Ever since I saw Keohinani knit two socks at the same time, I have wanted to try the whole double knitting thing, but never pursued it. When Knitty put out an article about it, I printed it up and it had just been sitting there. This was the project that finally got me to do it. What I wouldn't do for the kids.

I am hoping that I will be done with this before the stroke of twelve. But who knows. I still have dinner to make and a party to go to tonight.

Happy New Year to all!

Done

I finally finished the Jaywalkers. They were really a joy to work and I can't wait to make another pair. I tried to put a little button on my sidebar to create the easy link, but for some reason, it won't save. I figure blogger is just being blogger, so maybe tomorrow it will work. But if you absolutely cannot wait for the one in the sidebar, you can click here.

I really want to start on another pair of socks for myself, but I am actually starting to feel a little guilty because I rarely knit for the boys. I think that I should knit something for them before I knit anything else for myself. I already have an idea of what it will be (a Star Wars cap), but there are a few details that I have to work out.

I will keep you posted though.

ETA: The link is now working in my sidebar.

Strange but true

Hubby and I met through a friend that I went to junior high school with. From the moment I met him there was something there, a little spark as some would say. Whenever I would go to this friends house or to a party and he was there, we would talk, flirt, but that was that.

A year after we met, while I was playing volleyball for the college I was attending, I sprained my ankle. I had not seen my future hubby in quite some time, but the very next time that I had seen him he, too had sprained his ankle, though, while he was playing basketball with some friends. We both thought that it was a little funny, but that was it.

Another year had passed and this time I had taken a pretty bad fall mountain bike riding with an ex-boyfriend. My leg was pretty bad, in fact I still have the scars on my thigh from the road rash. The very next time I had seen my future hubby, he too had road rash, though his was from sliding while playing baseball. Again it was funny, but we didn't think much of it.

We started dating about a year after the road rash, occasionally we have joked about how neither of us can get hurt because that means the other will have a similar type of injury. So far, so good on the injury portion of it.

You may be wondering what has brought this bit of nostalgia to mind. Well, I'll just show you.

Those are the gifts that Hubby and I bought for each other for Christmas. The scary thing is that we even wrapped them in the same manner. Each of us put the Nano inside one of the shoes to "surprise" the other.

If Hubby and I aren't meant to be, then I don't know who is.

Now for a little teaser.



I finished the socks. I will post about them next time.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

They did it!

"MOM!" B yells from the kitchen.

"Yes, B."

"Brother spilled some of his milk."

"Okay, help him wipe it up and I will be right there."

"Okay."

When I got to the kitchen, this is what I found:

The good thing is they did try to clean up the spilled milk. I just didn't think that they were going to use all the napkins trying to do so. Next time, I think I will be more specific and tell them to use a towel instead.

The most wonderful time of the year

Things seem so crazy right now. I don't know if it is because of the holidays or just because life is life or just a combination of both. The house is a royal mess and we are going to be celebrating Christmas Eve here with Hubby's family. I think his brother and their family may even be staying with us overnight sometime this week (I usually don't find out until they are on their way down).

So there is a little stress there. The good thing though, is I am done with everything that has to be done for the holidays, with the exception of cleaning the house. I'll probably just do it the day before everyone arrives.

K has started this thing that he only wants me, "nowandnowandnowandnow."

For those of you who need translating that is, "Now and Now and Now and Now and Now."

I know a lot of it has to do with me giving in, but sometimes, honestly it is so much less headache if I just pick him up. The funny thing is that half the time I tell him that I can't pick him up usually because of my back, and the next thing I know he is in my arms. Though, I think I should consider myself somewhat lucky. Many kids don't want their parents to cuddle with and I know he won't want me to do that forever.

B will be out of school for three and a half weeks starting this afternoon. I am excited yet, I don't know exactly what we are going to be doing during that time. I know we will figure something out. He really wants to go to the snow, so maybe we will have a snow day. The last time we took B to the snow I actually took him out attempting to teach him how to snowboard. We will just have to give it another try this year.

As far as the knitting goes, I have one sock finished and two almost ready to have the heels turned.

I started another Jaywalker when I left this one at my parent's house. So in addition to this one and the twin that is being worked, I have one that I am working on as my travel project.

Nine months and counting

Hubby will be delighted when he finds out about this one.

For me to announce this to him today when he gets home from work will definitely earn me some points. He was just telling me how I can't go shopping without buying something for myself. In my defense, 90% of the time, I will only buy something for myself if it is on sale and I am getting a really good deal. I posted about my shopping philosophy here, okay maybe it is more habit than philosophy.

You can find the Knit From Your Stash 2007 rules here and the thing that is nice is that you can modify the rules to suit you own need.

I am going to make a few modifications to the rules and these are mine. Even though in the rules, Wendy is not going to count sock yarn, I am. The next modification is if I use up any particular type of yarn that is in my stash, I am allowed to purchase more of that yarn, but only for one project at a time. In other words, if I use up all my sock yarn I can buy enough sock yarn to make one pair, if I use up all my yarn that is at a particular gauge, I can purchase more to complete one project. Also, if I decide that I am going to make a gift for someone and I don't have yarn that is adequate for the particular project I have in mind, then I can but yarn just for that project.

We will see how it goes.

One step forward, two steps back

I had one of the Jaywalkers completed this morning, but this is what it looks like now.

I had to frog back to below the heel. In my haste to finish this sock, I never tried it on (except for the photo from this post. As a result, I could barely fit the thing on my rather large foot. It turns out I turned the heel about two inches too soon. Ugh!

So that is where I am at now. I am glad that I like my socks somewhat on the short side, only about three to four inches above the ankle bone, which means less time wasted knitting the mistake. Maybe this time, after turning the heel I will make sure to try it on so I won't have to frog it again.

The Force is Strong

There has been a lot going on over here lately, some knitting, but mostly other stuff. As you can see from the above picture, the holiday cards are addressed and ready to be sent, which means the picture has been taken and B did not have a fat/busted lip in the picture.

We have actually had our tree up for going on two weeks. But finally I feel we are complete in the decorating department. All the cookies are baked, strung, and hung, as are all of the candy canes that K decided should go on one, no I'm sorry, two branches of the tree.

I was reading Lynne's blog a few weeks back and the last picture in this particular post caught my eye. You see, many years ago after Hubby and I first got married, I went antique/flea market shopping with my cousin. When I was there I picked up a couple of holiday ornaments, this was one of the ornaments that I picked up:

Do you see any resemblance to Lynne's ornament?

Since Hubby and I started our home, we generally get a few new ornaments each year. You know, a family ornament and each of the kids their own personal ornament. This year Hubby had come across these while he was shopping:

I am trying to figure out who is more obsessed, the kids or Hubby.

All you have to do is ask

There is nothing that starts your day off better than caffine and knitting. Hubby is home for the next few days so he is taking B to school. I don't have to be out of here for another hour so this is what I have been doing.

Actually, I cast-on for the cap in the background after I realized I left my Jaywalkers at my parent's house. A few short hours later, I had my cap done. Now I am working on a child's version, though I will have to make two. One for each of the boys.

When I was working on the kids version, I was also catching up on my blogs. I showed Hubby a cap that Jessica made. He suggested that I make something like that for B. I am seriously thinking that I will. Later he asked if I could make him a cap with cross-bones. I am going to have to because after all of the time that I have been knitting, I have never made anything for Hubby before and he has never asked me to.

It's not as though I don't want to knit for him, it's just that he doesn't wear knits. He is truly a t-shirt and jeans type of guy and I before I started knitting, I had purchased three sweaters for him that he has worn maybe once or twice each in eleven years. I have even offered to make him socks, but he only wants plain white socks (how boring). I think eventually I will make him a pair, but for now, I am just not into the plain white.

So later I will be off to the LYS to find just the right yarn for Hubby's cap and if B is lucky, his cap, too.

BTW, I will try to put up a free pattern for the caps in a few days.

Budding Artist

The great thing about digital cameras, is that you can take a gazillion pictures and not worry about how they come out. Not that you don't worry about the outcome of the photos, but for me, I no longer have to worry about having to take them in to get processed only to find out after spending large amounts of cash, that none of the pictures you had taken are what you had in mind.

A few months ago on a Sunday afternoon while I was knitting, K decided that he wanted to take some pictures. Now if he would have grabbed our 35mm SLR, I would have been involved in a tackle/wrestle match with a three year old. But he actually had the digital, so I thought, "What the heck. If I don't like the pictures, I will just delete them."

K ended up taking over one-hundred pictures and they actually were decent.

This is my favorite one.

So to show how proud I am of my son's picture taking ability, you can now find this picture over there on the right.

BTW, As you can see in the first pic, I started on my first pair of Jaywalkers, I have modified them just a bit to work them toe-up.

Another One

Yes that's right. I have another finished project and have pictures and am posting about it. I started these socks in the car on the way to my cousin's house on Thanksgiving day. A few days ago, I was talking to my grandmother and had asked her how she liked the last pair of socks that I made for her. She started going on about how comfortable they were and how much she liked them.

That is when the light bulb went off and I decided that I would make her another pair for Christmas. She is and has always been the hardest person to get gifts for. Up until that point I thought that, how do I say, not that she did not like the socks, but possibly did not want another pair of handknit socks. Afterall, if someone doesn't appreciate the time that goes into a gift, then I won't make them another (that is the topic of another post though, maybe next time).

Anyway, Grandma loving the last pair made me want to speed through these. If you want more details on the socks, click on the pic in my sidebar or here.


Yes, the socks are two sizes too small for my feet, but how else could you see the full socks. And do you see the pattern and yarn that are under my feet? I am finally going to be working on socks for me. I have had this pattern for so long, but have always put them on the back burner. Though I think I am going to use a different yarn than what is show there.

It's That Time

For those who choose to make gifts, decorate the house, etc. for the holiday season, it sure feels as though it is the busiest time of the year. It's even busier for those of us who are a bit on the disorganized side. Last year, by the time Thanksgiving was done, I was pretty much done with my holiday list of things to do/buy/make.

This year is another story. The list feels like it is a mile long. Though, I do have a stack of gifts ready to go, but labeling, packaging, and wrapping is going to be two hour project in itself. Everytime I finish a handmade gift my inner-voice tells me to make the label for it before I put it away, but I just ignore it along with all of the other voices.

The one thing that should be checked off is the photo for our holiday card, but B busted his lip last week and hubby wants to wait until it heels. Hopefully within the next couple of days (everyone keep your fingers crossed).

For now I will leave you with this:


This is the boys decorating their very first gingerbread house a mere three hours before B busting his lip open. I think they ended up eating more candy than was actually used for the house.

All those beads, yet no candles

What do you get when you mix twenty-four hundred plus beads, 150 yards of 28 gauge wire, some knitting needles, and a person who wants to crank out holiday gifts?

If you said sixteen completed votive sleeves from this book, Handknit Holidays, then you would be correct. For complete details click here or on the link in my finished projects.

They truly were an easy knit and I basically just kept making them until I ran out of beads and wire. Sachi had a good point, I really should put candles in the votives to really show them off. So here is a pic of the votives with candles.

The thing is, I haven't actually purchased the candles that are going to go with the votives and all I could find in the house were the three that are lit in the pics above. In my opinion the small one in the middle looks fine, but I am going to have to get bigger candles for the other two.

What to do?

A lot of knitting has been going on here and none of it with yarn. All I had to do was put it all in perspective. I have been working on these for the last couple of days.

I have wanted to work with wire for the longest time. In fact I think I had most of the supplies for this project for at least two years, but never took the plunge. It was after purchasing this book a few weeks ago and reading this post that finally got me to do it.

I did make one adjustment though, I am using 28 gauge wire versus the recommended 24. It seems to work and my hands are doing well too. The votive sleeves are going to be holiday gifts for the kids teachers.

Though I do have a question. How many do I give to each of the teachers? I was thinking eight (two sets of four) for each of them, or do I give them six (of one set), or just four?

Any input would be appreciated.

The Morning After

Eight of the last nine years Thanksgiving has been at our house. We would have all of our family and occasionally some friends come over to celebrate with us. I really enjoy having people over and entertaining. Though when we first decided to host Thanksgiving, my cousin had said that we would alternate between our houses.

Having thirty-some-od people in the house could be a little crazy, it really isn't that bad, afterall, we do it pot-luck style, so one person is not going crazy in their kitchen. This year was the first year we went to my cousin's house for Thanksgiving. So I feel like I really had it easy. All I had to make was the turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. It doesn't get much easier than that.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know I did.

It's A Miracle

Yes, it is. I don't know exactly how it happened, you know, with the lack of knitting that has been going on over here, but it happened. I finally have a finished object. One that I can actually post photos of.

These were my travel project. So I have been working on them since mid-August. Ten minutes here, five there. They are my Uncle's Christmas gift.

The thing is, usually I love Christmas and the holiday season, but for some strange reason, I am not really looking forward to it this year. Maybe it is all the pressure of me not being anywhere close to finishing all of the gifts I want to make and I know that I don't have the time to actually finish knitting them. You would think this would put me into a knitting frenzy, but it has actually done the exact opposite. I have not really wanted to knit for the last week or so.

It kinda sucks. I have actually had to force myself to knit. WTHeck????

I am hoping that my knitting will come back, which I know it will as soon as I put what I have to do versus what I want to do into perspective.

Me

Not much on the knitting front, so here is a meme stolen from Rabbitch instead

You.Can.Only.Type.One.Word.No.Explanations.

1. Yourself: reliable
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): stubborn
3. Your hair: long
4. Your mother: controlling
5. Your Father: irrational
6. Your Favorite Item: clothes
7. Your dream last night: intense
8. Your Favorite drink: vodka
9. Your Dream Car: improbable
10. The room you are in: calm
11. Your Ex: arrogant
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years? wiser
14. Who you hung out with last night? family
15. What you're not? prepared
16. Muffins: poppyseed
17. One of Your Wish List Items: none
18. Time: lacking
19. The Last Thing You Did: commented
20. What You Are Wearing: clothes
21. Your Favorite Weather: spring
22. Your Favorite Book: Many
23. The Last Thing You Ate: cheese
24. Your Life: interesting
25. Your Mood: pensive
26. Your best friend: beautiful
27. What are you thinking about right now? everything
28. Your car: messy
29. What are you doing at the moment? typing
30. Your summer: hot
31. Your relationship status: interesting
32. What is on your TV? electronics
33. What is the weather like? dry
34. When is the last time you laughed? today

There is a little about me, how about you?

It Wasn't So Bad

Cutting the steeks wasn't such a bad thing afterall. Yes, I felt sick to my stomach. Yes, I almost passed out while cutting. Yes, I would do it again.

This is where I am at with the vest.


That there is the vest being blocked and on top is my next project. I am not exactly sure what it will be, but I am thinking something along the lines of a lace cardi of some sort.

I Think I am Going to be Sick

I have never cut steeks before, but the thought of not doing it right is about to make me sick. All of the whatifs are going though my mind. Seriously!

What if I did not choose the right yarn for the crocheted portion of the steeks? What if I did not choose the right yarn for the project itself? What if I didn't crochet it the right way? What if I don't cut the steeks right? What if? What if? What if?

This is where I am at at the present time.


The scissors are right there. The only thing left for me to do is cut. The problem is I have not been able to muster up enough courage to do it. Liquid courage is always a possibility....but that always leaves the other what if possibilities. Like I may mess up beyond repair, the good thing is that at the time I do it (if I am under the influence) I really won't care if I mess up or not.

I know I really just need to suck it up and cut. But....what if?

The Force is With Us

As much as I love Halloween and getting dressed up, I am glad it is over. I have pretty much dedicated the last week to making their costumes which means I have had very little time to actually knit.

Hubby thinks I am a little nuts because every year it is the same thing. After the kids decide what they are going to be for Halloween, I go and scramble to make their costumes. Hubby thinks I should just buy the costume and every year I tell him the same thing. That I could make a better quality costume for less than what purchasing a costume would cost.

This year was no exception. The only thing is I was up at 6AM doing a bit of finishing work because I left the costumes to the last minute.

The boys loved their costumes which makes it all worth while. The funny thing is K initially wanted to be Steve from Blues Clues, but when he saw the fabric for B's costume he immediately changed his mind and decided he was going to be a Jedi from Star Wars, too.

I wonder what they are going to be next year.