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Six years.  SIX YEARS!  Wow it's been almost six years since I have posted anything here.  It has been so long, I almost forgot how to log in...yikes!

Sorry.  Really, I am sorry.  I know, I have slacked.  I didn't plan on it, but you know, life...it happens.  Where I slacked here, I made up for in other areas.  For example, I was part of my kids PTO for 8 years.  In addition to that I was also on the board for a few of their extracurricular activities.  In fact, I am still heavily involved with one of our local youth sports programs.  One of the biggest changes for me was I went back to work.  That was probably the hardest part of maintaining this little blog of mine here.  In fact, with me going back to work, I wasn't able to knit nearly as much as I would have liked to.  Which in turn means I wasn't designing either.  To be honest, I missed it.  I missed knitting, designing, and blogging.

But now I'm back....

Second Time Around

Puppyhood has proven to be a bit more trying than the first time, twelve years ago. I am starting to think that with Pebs we got lucky. Very lucky. Training Pebelles was hard for me since she was the first dog I had ever had, so it was more me than her. When we would teach her not to do something once, that was it. She wouldn't do that particular thing again. Unlike Duchess who we are constantly correcting on the same issues over and over. With the exception of stuffed animals, Pebs wasn't big on chewing things that were not intended for her, like clothes or worse yet WIPs. That's right. A few months ago I was working on something and left it on the coffee table. When I came back there was yarn all over the house. The only thing that saved her was that the actual project wasn't harmed, only the ball of yarn, or what was left of it. What was supposed to be a long sleeve, ended up being a vest.

I should have learned from that experience not to leave anything on the coffee table. You know, like coffee. Honestly, I never thought that I wouldn't be able to leave coffee on the coffee table. I didn't think that Duchess, a dog, would drink a cup o' joe. I left a cup of coffee on the table and walked away to finish something upstairs. When I got back, the cup was completely empty, except for one piece of dog hair she left in it to let me know that she decided to share with me. Had she not left that little piece of her, I would have thought I drank the entire cup and forgot about it.

The fact the boys love her more than anything and I love them more than anything, keeps her here.

I have been doing a lot of knitting and even crochet. Unlike the 2008 Holiday season, where I was completely organized and had the majority of projects done weeks before Thanksgiving. This year was the complete opposite. I think I only had one project done before the holiday season, if that. I was able to complete at least ten projects that were to be gifted during that time, five of them were crocheted. In the bunch were six scarves and four pair of socks.

Unfortunately, during the mayhem of it all, I didn't photograph any of them. Fortunately, I was able to finish this

right before she was old enough to cause any harm.

I call them Honeycomb Kid. They were designed for Three Irish Girls Sock Yarnista Club. I love, love, love the colorway and like always, their yarn is a joy to work with. If you like the pattern, you can go here to purchase the pattern.

Best Laid Plan

Ever have plans for something, really good plans too, only to not have them go through? The better question is if you ever have had a list and plan for lets say a hundred things and only complete two of them? It seems as though that has been the story of my life for the last year. I make a list (usually mental) of things that I want and or need to do and I prioritize the list. Of course blogging is on the list, unfortunately it has been one of the items that has not been on top of the list. Other things that are on the list (that have yet to be done) include cleaning my baseboards and windows, going through the closet, re-doing my garden (though I wonder if I can really call it a garden, if technically it is nothing but overgrown weeds, rose bushes, and shrubs), you get the idea though.

Most of my time this last year has been spent volunteering for various things that my boys are involved in. And though I have had a lot to say, I'm not sure that you want to hear about things that are not knitting/craft related. Another thing I'm not sure about is whether or not you like to read posts without pictures. I know what I like and I try to give what I like to receive. I love when blogs have pics and since I have not been taking as many pics lately, I have been hesitant to post. I don't know, I just feel as though, there has been a lot on my plate and I have seemed to justify to myself why I haven't posted. I still check on many blogs frequently, I just haven't been giving back.

One of the (many) reasons is we have recently had a new addition to our family.

Obviously, she is not of the human kind, but the canine kind. Her name is Duchess. We are not sure of her exact breed as she was abandoned on the side of the road with four of her siblings. The wife of Hubby's co-worker saw them be abandoned and well, the rest I guess you could say is history. The vet thinks Sheppard/Terrier/Chihuahua mix, though I can honestly say I don't think think there is any chihuahua. The pic above was taken the day we got her home and she weighed in at a whopping 3.8 lbs. That was about five weeks ago. Today she weighs closer to 12 lbs.

If only someone could have reminded me the part about how hard the house training process was going to be...UHG!!!!

My Faux Sense of Perception

Oh my gosh! I didn't realize that it has been almost two months since my last post. Wow, how time flies when things are going on. It is really funny how I thought that once both of the boys were in school, I would have more time to do the things that I want to do. It seems as though the more they are out of the house, the more I have to do. Though, much of this is self induced and it drives Hubby crazy.

The fact that I am busy is not what drives Hubby crazy so much, but the fact I keep adding more and more for myself to do. I won't bore you with the details because let's face it, we are all busy. My day may seem like a walk in the park to some, while to others it may seem as though I shouldn't be able to keep my head afloat. It's all about perspective or should I say perception? And let's face it, this is just my perspective of the situation. Is it right or wrong. I don't think it is. Everyone sees things the way they see it.

The good thing about all of this stuff going on is that it really has given me a chance to work on my time management skills. Something I have always lacked. It has also forced me to be a bit more organized. I like to think that I have always been organized, but lets face it, I could always get better.

Even though I have been busier than ever, I still have found some time to knit and have even dabbled with some crochet. Finished photos will come relatively soon (the key word being relative).

Here is one of the projects I had been working on during my little hiatus:

They were designed for The Three Irish Girls Sock Yarnista Club. The yarn was a pure joy to knit with! If you like the pattern, you can find it here.

As for all of the projects I have that need to be finished before Christmas. I think I have a hold on that. I have most of them completed. I think I have only three or four left. I don't know if I am going to finish before Christmas, but hopefully I will not add any other things to the list of things for me to do.

That was then

How many times has this happened to you? Someone finds out you knit and the next words out of their mouth is...

..."Will you make me..."
..."I want you to knit me..."

I find this happens quite often. Some of the time, I tell people if I have time I will make them whatever it is they are asking. And more often I tell people I don't have the time, but if they want me to teach them to knit, I would be more than happy.

Unfortunately most of the time it is family members who expect knitted items whenever they see something they like and know I can make it.

About six months or so ago my mom told me to make asked me to make her a mobius. At the time I told her I didn't have the time and I would make it when I can. Well that was then.

I finally had time to make the mobius for her.

I will probably give it to her for her birthday next month (if I don't forget I have it and get her something else).

I am really curious though, do a lot of people ask you to knit or make things for them when they find out you knit/craft. And if they do, how do you handle it?

One is more than enough

It's still not here. Fall that is. For a couple of days after my last post, I honestly thought that it was working. The weather started cooling and I actually put on long sleeves in the morning while I was walking the kiddos to school.

It is now a couple of days into "Fall" and I am still wearing shorts and tank tops, with no need for knit caps or socks...yet.

This is a pic of one of the things I had worked on over the summer. It is China Doll from Interweave Crochet Spring 2008.

It is actually finished but I don't have a pic of me in it. So that is all you get.

Oh, I almost forgot. I was at the dentist with Big Monkey a couple of weeks ago and as usual, I was knitting in the room while he was having work done. The dentist who was working on Big Monkey is relatively new to us since he has only been with the practice for a few months noticed that I was knitting and asked what I was knitting. I told him it was a sock, to which he replied, "For a set or are you making just one?"

What I wanted to say was, "Usually when I wear socks I like to wear one on each foot, just like my shoes. Doesn't everyone?" Though I didn't dare because for all I know my sarcasm wouldn't have been taken to so kindly and then I would have pissed off the person who was working on my son.

If I Make it....

...fall and winter will come.

At least that is what I am hoping. The weather over here has been in the high 80s and 90s. I am so over the heat and can not wait until we get fall weather. Not So Cal fall/winter weather either, I want it so I can wear my hat without busting a sweat by the time I get to my front door. The chances of that happening are pretty slim, so I guess I will just wait until snowboarding season.