Long Relaxing Weekends

Christmas went by uneventful in my house. Since we decided to sponsor a family this year instead of buying gifts for ourselves we didn’t have much going on. We were lazy and watched marathons of “A Christmas Story” on TV in our jammies. It was great. At about 4pm I decided that I wanted to make a big Christmas dinner only to discover that the only grocery store open on Christmas closed at 3pm, so we had spaghetti for dinner. Even though we didn’t have a big Christmas we still had a good time. I even got to hear from my sister. She hasn’t been the easiest person to keep in touch with because her life is crazy right now so I was glad to hear from her and my nephew. I was really surprised to hear she sent me something too. I felt bad for not sending my nephew anything this year, but because I don’t get to hear from him much I have no idea what he is into or where I would even send it. I’m just glad I was able to talk to all my family but the holidays always make me sad that I am not with them.

I had Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after off from work so I had plenty of knitting time. I mainly worked on the Ballet Cami and the Sweet Baby Hat.


This is the status of the Cami with our new pet. He is the Webkinz Beagle that I got for the hubby. He loves beagles. I just finished the second skein and have attached the third. It is going by really fast now. I finished the decreases and am doing the increases until I get to the armholes.

I really need to try to work on the hat more because I need to finish it but it seems like it is taking forever. I think it is because it is with fingering weight yarn. Usually hats don’t take me any time at all but this is the first time I am using this light weight of a yarn.

I am supposed to get my Options needles today since I was not able to pick them up over the weekend. I forgot that we were closed for three days when I had them sent to my office so I had to wait. They actually shipped pretty fast for Knit Picks but they happened to get here on Saturday and the post office holds the mail for my office until we are open again. I went to try and pick them up but the stupid post office said I wasn’t on the list. There is no list!! There are like 5 people in the office and we are all like family. I seriously doubt that the owners would care who picked up the mail but they still wouldn’t let me take it. So I will get them today along with the package from my sister. I am not too worried about what case comes with the set anymore because I found someone on Ravelry that would be willing to trade is she gets that black case that I wanted. She actually wants the cheap plastic case. At least it will work out for both of us.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!!

-Michele-

Time To Slooow Down

Wow, this post was supposed to go up a couple days ago. I hate when I get too busy to sit back and enjoy myself. Yesterday while driving home I noticed how beautiful the sunset was. I couldn’t remember when the last time I noticed the sunset. I really need to slow down and enjoy life! So I decided not to do the dishes and enjoy my evening off. I knit and listened to a few podcasts (the stupid satellite was not working again and I had no TV) while Diana glued herself to me. She must have been cold because she would not leave my side. She slept next to me with her head on my lap all evening. It has been getting colder and I finally got to wear my Fetching the other morning. They kept my cozy!

I got my yarn I ordered from The Loopy Ewe a couple days ago. I jumped in on the Cherry Tree Hill sale colors. I got “Sweet Potato Pie” and it is gorgeous!! It even came with a cute calendar from Romney Ridge Farm that was all about sheep. That went right up next to my desk. Now my office really thinks I’m weird. I am also waiting for a package from Knit Picks. I finally broke down and ordered a set of Options needles with my Christmas money (thanks mommy!). I have wanted them for about a year but just had not ordered them for one reason or another. So finally I put it in my cart on Monday and went to pay for it yesterday. It was gone from my cart and when I looked for it I found out they no longer offer the set in the zipper case. Now it comes in a cheap vinyl case and they kept it the same price. I was so disappointed! I even called them to see if I could still order it with the zipper case and all they said was “I guess you waited too long”. That was mean…So I still ordered it but I wasn’t too happy about it. I still want the other case but it is $20.00. Maybe next time I order from them I will add it in to get the free shipping…Geez…

I do have some knitting for you today. I have been working on the Ballet Cami since I didn’t have a sock to work on for a couple days. I finished my first skein of yarn and already have attached the second. This is working up pretty quick now.

I also started another sock but I’m not sure I like it yet. The yarn is Zen String Lotus Toes in Purple Eater and the pattern is Slippery Socks. I think they yarn might b to fuzzy for the pattern to show up. I am not very far but I may rip it back and knit a plain jane sock with this yarn.


This was the yarn that was in the purple eater sock I frogged recently. I like the yarn but I doesn’t seem to like me much…

So that’s all I have going on right now (well not all I have but all that I feel like working on). I decided not to do any Christmas knitting this year. It is only my 2^nd Christmas knitting and I don’t think I am fast enough to finish projects in time and with all the extra stuff we are trying to do this month it really wasn’t possible. So I got off the hook and got to enjoy my knitting this month! I have the night off tonight too so I will be cleaning and knitting to Christmas carols. I love this time of year :-)

-Michele-

This Stinks

For the first time ever, I ordered some destash yarn. I got it from someone on Ravelry and I was so excited I couldn’t wait. The thought of buying perfectly good yarn at prices lower than new was something new for me. I got the yarn yesterday and while it is gorgeous something is a little off. It smells…not particularly bad, but it definitely has a smell to it. Almost like there was perfume sprayed on it. If it was a scent that I liked I might not have minded too much. I almost went and bought the other skein of AmiAmi that she lad listed but something told me to wait. Now the yarn is just fine but the smell made me rethink buying the second skein. Last night I sprayed it with febreeze and let it dry (I have done this with yarn before with nothing bad happening) and it still smells. I set it away from my stash (as not to contaminate the rest) and am going to let it air out. What else can I do?

So I finally have a FO for you. The Striped Socks are finally done and they MATCH! Here they are in all their glory:

Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes

Needles: 3.0mm Knit Picks Circulars

Pattern: Basic Sock Pattern (Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles)

Pattern Designer: Cat Bordhi

Date Finished: 12/11/2007

I love them. I don’t know if I will eventually give them away, but for now they are mine. All mine! I haven’t cast on any new socks yet so I need to get on that. I will cast on at work tonight.

I got to pick up our Christmas cards yesterday. They turned out great. I used the picture of Diana with Santa for the card. I love that it was so easy and cheap to do. All I need to do now is address them and stamp them with these cute knitted stamps I found:

Ha, those are too cute. So I found out today that we might be getting another dog temporarily. Someone that the hubby works with had a Beagle that he couldn’t keep. Now T isn’t the only one in his office that works with the Beagle Rescue so we weren’t the only ones pissed when he gave the dog to the SPCA. The Beagle Rescue really wanted him. So they are going to go get him and might have already found him a home in New York. While he is waiting to go to New York he needs a foster home. He shouldn’t be woth us very long at all, they just need to get him out of the SPCA shelter. Poor guy, his whole world is getting turned upside down right now.

So it will be more chaos at my house for a while. I’m just glad that my time working at the store is almost over. Then things will calm down for us. I can’t wait…

-Michele-

Only 13 Days Left...

It seems like I have had no time for blogging lately…

Finally I had a somewhat normal weekend. I worked all day Saturday but the hubby and I were home on Sunday, together. It felt weird after all this time of us not being home at the same time. So to use the valuable time we had together, I met up with Angie. No, I’m not that mean, he came too :-) We both needed to get out for a while. It was nice to sit and chat for a while. I stopped by AC Moore too and got some craft stuff for my little sister and I on Thursday. Sunday night the hubby and I made it out to Merritt Island for a show called “The Living Christmas Tree.” They had a floor to ceiling fiber optic tree on the wall with people in each level singing Christmas carols and other songs. There was even a 7-year-old girl that sang the anthem. Wow could she sing…it was great.

Sunday before we left for the show I finally got the hubby to finish my new swift. Now I don’t have to use my feet to unwind yarn anymore. :-) I got the pattern for the swift here. It cost a whole lot less to make it than I would have spent if I bought one from a craft store. The wood for 2 of them was only a little over $10. Nice huh? Now all I need is a ball winder. For now I am perfectly content winding by hand.

I am almost finished woth the second Striped Sock.I have one more repeat to go then I start the toe. I have decided that the next sock will be Slippery Socks. Can you believe that the designer is a teenager?? She is so talented. I also decided to frog the Purple Eater Sock. I don’t know why but they were twisted at the toe. I have not touched it in months because it has been bugging me. So they are getting frogged and are becoming Sippery Socks.

I got started on the Baby Hat for my cousin and I really like how its turning out. It is slow going though since it is in fingering weight yarn. I am using Louet Gems Fingering in Crabapple Blossom. It’s the same yarn as the bootie but I don’t know if I will be making another bootie. I hope to have this hat finished by Christmas but it’s ok if it’s not. She is not due until March.

So it’s back to work in the mall tonight for me. At least I work across the way from barnies so I can grab coffee. They have a great Pumpkin Spice Latte.

-Michele-

Winter Is Here, Kind Of

**As I read the last post I realized that I sounded like a jerk. It’s not that I don’t like knitting for other people, I just don’t like being asked to knit for money. I love to knit gifts, almost all the things I knit get given away. Just wanted to clear that up…**

It’s finally starting to feel like the holidays around here. Even though its still 80 in December, we had the Christmas music playing all week. It’s actually starting to feel a bit cooler today. We even got to take Diana to see Santa in the mall. When I heard that there was a “Bring your dog to see Santa day” we had to go get her. She was so happy to be around all the other dogs and people. I am using the picture to make our Christmas cards. We still haven't put up any Christmas lights on the house. I have the feeling that we won't get them up since we are both working all the time now. It's ok, I have my tree up.

I am feeling so blah today. I am really tired and achy. I hope I’m not getting sick. I haven’t touched my knitting in days because I have been working on getting a mailout done for work. I was addressing, stamping and stuffing 900 letters. Not fun…I will be working tonight so I should get some knitting in.

The only thing that I managed to finish in the last couple days was the first bootie. I don’t like it. It seems small. I decided to knit a hat out of the rest of the yarn and if I have enough I will knit the bigger size booties. If the yarn is close I will frog the first bootie too.

I felt like such a fraud last night. I was shopping at the mall and found a gorgeous hand knit sweater. It wasn’t too thick to wear in our 80 winter (is will get cooler soon) and it was on sale. I bought it, what a shame. It’s even made of acrylic. I know…but it would have taken me forever to knit that, not to mention that I have never knit a sweater before. It was cheaper than if I had bought all the yarn to make it and was a beautiful color so I caved. And I call myself a knitter…

BTW, Did you see they the new Knitty and MagKnits are up??

-Michele-

What Are Your Handknits Worth?

Well I didn’t get as much done as I thought I would. It was surprisingly really busy at the store this weekend. I am starting to not like working there. I knew that I wouldn’t see the hubby a whole lot but now it’s starting to get to me. I will be better when I am done dog sitting and am back home. So I didn’t finish the baby booties but I did get to work on the Striped Sock.


I am done with the gusset decreases and am working to finish this soon. I got another offer on the Sock. Seems handknit socks are hard to come by. A friends wants to buy them but I didn’t giver her an answer. After all this time I am kinda attached to them. Besides what price would I sell them for? How much is my time really worth? Probably more than she’s willing to pay for a pair of socks. I have had multiple offers to knit things for other people too. I never know just how to answer the usual “Ooh can you knit (blank) for me? I’ll pay you and buy the yarn!” I don’t want to commit my time since I get bored easily and don’t finish things. What if I took too long? Somehow I think I would get bored if it turned into “work”. Yea, I’m not ready to capitalize on the hobby yet.

I got another amazing package from my now revealed secret Pal. Her name is Melissa. I am so happy that she got me as a Pal, she was too good to me! This package had some beautiful roving from Smoky Mountain Fibers (so soft!!), a handknit ornament for my tree, the River Ripple Socks pattern from her LYS, some yummy chocolate, soap, candles and sticky notes. She really does know me pretty well. All 3 of the packages were much appreciated. I can’t wait to start spinning that fiber. Thanks Melissa!! It has been fun!

I really have to get going. I have to find the last few things to throw in my SP Package. I was so busy that it’s going out a few days late. I hope she won’t mind!

-Michele-

No Time To Post!

Well this is definitely going to be a quickie post. I have just a few minutes before I head over to my friends house for her Cookie Lee party. Pretty stuff!! It will be a lot of fun.

I have a few progress pictures to show you:


I have finished the heel and am now on the gusset decreases. I love this part of the sock because the rest is all down hill. I should have this finished up in no time. I haven’t put too much thought into what sock I will knit after this so I guess I better get down to it.


I also casted on for the Saartje’s Booties at work last night. It was so low that I almost got the whole thing done. I hope to have both done by the end of the weekend. These are going to be for my cousin Renee’s baby that is due in March. I am using Lout Gems Fingering in Crabapple Blossom. I love this color!!

So that’s all for now. I have been oogling this for my next big project, after Ballet Cami is done. I won a skein of Merino Oro in a contest a while back.

-Michele-

And We're Back

PS. Make sure to drop by Alyson’s blog for her destah to save Bitty sale. She needs the funds to help her poor little dog who had surgery. She has some great stuff and awesome prices.

Wow, I thought that after 4 days off I could get back to work as usual. Not the way it happened. I was trying to post yesterday but it was crazy. I am staying at my boss’s house again to watch the dogs since they are out of town so I have been running back and forth from my house to theirs. We live a little farther now that we moved. I don’t really sleep all that well at their house either (their dog is old and LOUD) so I haven’t been feeling great. Despite all that and the extra job I managed to cast on for Ballet Cami.

I just finished the ribbing and am about to start the body. I think I will knit a few rows before I start the decreasing to give it a little longer length. The last thing I need is a top that shows a little skin :-) I have been knitting like crazy lately and it has a lot to do with the new job. Aside from the day after Thanksgiving it has been dead! That’s good for me I guess. The last time I worked I knit the heel flap for the second striped sock and read a bunch in my book. It’s nice to have all that time to knit and read but the time does pass really slowly. It’s ok, I keep telling myself it’s just till Christmas.

So about the Striped Sock…I figured out that it’s pretty hard to take a picture of a sock when I have not knit the gusset. Can you believe that both the sock and cami pictures were on the same table? The light does weird things sometimes. So it’s back to work tonight so I should get pretty far with the knitting. We’ll see how busy it gets.

-Michele-

Happy Turkey Day!

Well this will just be a quickie post to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. We will be heading to a friends house for the afternoon. Mostly all of our family is in California so we will not get to see them this year. It’s ok because we have plenty of new family here :-)

I remembered to get a picture of the second Striped sock this time. I hope to be at least to the heel by Monday. I won’t be posting on Friday since I will be working. The hubby and I know someone who sets up a store in the mall from now until Christmas and she needed some more workers so we jumped to help. We will be working evenings and weekends. The hours kinda suck but its ok, it’s only until Christmas and it will bring some extra cash. So I will be stuck at the mall the day after Thanksgiving…

So bye until Monday! Have a good weekend!

-Michele-

New Yarn!

So Angie and I made it to the Orlando Needleworks Show on Saturday. Even though both of us haven’t been feeling 100% lately we had a blast. I was not going to miss it just because I couldn’t breathe the night before. My sister has lived with severe asthma her whole life but I was told that I had slight asthma. But that was a long time ago and I haven’t used an inhaler in like 5 years. So there I was, the night before the Needleworks Show gasping for breath, well it wasn’t that bad but I was definitely not comfortable. I ended up being fine but I really was not going to let that stop me from going. The Show was pretty good (compared to the last one we went to…) and it had quite a few booths. We oogled and squeed over yarn. I swear we were separated at birth or something. Every time I grabbed a skein she was looking at the same one. We did buy a bunch considering we’re almost always broke. I got a skein of Pagewood Farms Hand Dyed Sock Yarn in Bird of Paradise and some pretty fall looking Roving from…(dang I don’t have the name with me, but I’ll get it!) we even made it over to Sip N Knit to sop some more. I got a skein of Araucania Ranco Multi Sock Yarn in the blue-purple color. Both of the yarns are gorgeous!!! I can’t wait to spin up the roving too. I thought I lost my drop spindle but I found it after tearing apart my knitting areas. We did not make it to IKEA but we did drive by the exit. That whole area was packed! There was no way we were making it in there.

I finished the Striped Sock on Friday but didn’t get to post about it yet. The toe came out great. This was the first time I grafted a toe in fingering weight yarn. I started the 2^nd sock right away but I haven’t got very far into it.

I finally finished Fetching over the weekend. I don’t know why it took me so long. I knit the first one back in February and never thought twice about the 2nd one. Since it is getting cooler here I had the urge to just finish them. I was surprised that it only took me a day to knit it. The first one took me a couple of days. Maybe I am just getting better at this?

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 4.5mm Bamboo Dpn’s

Pattern: Fetching (Knitty Summer 2006)

Pattern Designer: Cheryl Niamath

Date Finished: 11/18/2007

Now that I have been finishing things up around here I can cast on for Ballet Cami. Maybe this week? We’ll see…

-Michele-

Happy IKEA Day!

Today was the grand opening of IKEA and it should be a holiday. Or we should have had the day off at least :-) It is a definitely a big deal to us. I was so excited when I first heard about it. Now I want to go really really bad. Hey maybe I will get to pop in there when I am in Orlando on Saturday? I don’t have any idea if we will even be close to it but what does that matter? Did you know that they have free childcare and cheap meals? Crazy…


I am going to drone on again about the Striped Sock. I was not home until late the past 2 nights so I have only knit about an inch. But as you can see I am ready for the toe. I am dying to have this thing finished!! I have already had someone stake a claim on them. My mom emailed me that if they're are too small (like the Horcrux Socks) she will take them off my hands. How sweet of her! I haven’t decided if they fit me yet. I can get them on but they are a bit snug…

In other news…I think I am going to throw my Zune against a wall. Well it’s not the Zune’s fault, it’s the makers’. Yes its all Microsoft’s fault…Ha that capitalized all on its own…do you think its because I am typing in Word? This is all a conspiracy. Anyways, today they released an update for the Zune software so I did what it told me and I downloaded it. Little did I know that it would completely screw up my entire library. All of my songs are posted now on the wrong albums. Carrie Underwood is listed on Timbalands album and so on. I logged on to Zune’s website to see if there is tech support or something and I came across the tech support forum filled with annoyed customers and a little tutorial on how to fix the problem (that they knew about yesterday but did not fix or at least remove the update!!) but I couldn’t figure it out. I even uninstalled the whole thing and reloaded it but the stupid CD looks for updates before installing. Conspiracy!! At least I did not have my actual Zune hooked up to the computer when all this went down so it is safe for now. I hope they fix this quick!! All I need is another thing to not work around here…ugh

-Michele-

I'm All Over The Place

I did not have one thing planned for this weekend. I wanted to knit, finish unpacking the last few boxes, clean house and all that. Well let’s just say I was BORED. Saturday I did get that last box unpacked in the living room. We cleaned up our room too and got a new fan (this time with a light) and it looks good. Now only the guest bedroom and office are a wreck. I will get to them. After we moved our furniture ended up shifting around and now it seems like I don’t have enough to go around. I badly need a medicine cabinet/cupboard in the master bath and maybe a dresser for our room. We got rid of the big ugly thing we had but we never actually had a bedroom set so now we have our stuff in the old drawers stacked on an old coffee table. Sounds worse than it looks but it works for now. I don’t have any furniture besides a bed in the guest room so I’ll probably be looking for a dresser in there too. The office…well lets just say that it’s a catch all for the stuff that doesn’t have a home yet. It is the office/craft room/storage closet. I really need to organize in there but I have been waiting until we pick up a desk that came from my old office. At least the living room and our room look decent right now. I’m sure that was more than you needed to know about our house right now.

So after all that I wanted to get out on Sunday. I talked the hubby into going to the Volusia County Fair. It was nice. We got to eat, see the exhibits, eat some more, see the animals (no sheep or other fiber animals though), eat and see a concert. Did I mention we ate? The food was awesome of course. We had the typical fair type food, hot dogs and corn dogs, popcorn, lemonade and a turkey leg for the hubby. We even finished it off with a funnel cake. I don’t have any pictures so you will have to imagine how good it was, although I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that. Man I love the fair. I hope I walked off at least half of those calories while we were there.

I did get a bunch done on the Striped Sock on the way. I am about an inch away from starting the toe. My goal for having it done by the weekend was not met, but that’s ok. It makes it seem like my foot is huge but it is only slightly huge. I wear a size 9-10 shoe so the foot seems to take forever! I have tried it on so far and I like how it looks.





I got to finish up the gauge swatch for the Ballet Cami this weekend too. I washed it and dried it to see how much the gauge changed. I got gauge after it was dried but the gauge listed was after drying too so I think I’m good. I think I will cast on as soon as the First Striped Sock is done. The one on the left is before washing and the right is after.












I will leave you with a video from Diana’s walk this morning. This is sort of a test to see how the video looks. It’s kinda blurry because I recorded it on my phone while we were walking. Diana is so sidetracked while she is walking. I swear her nose never leaves the floor. Now I understand why you can’t let a beagle off the leash. Geez…this post was all over the place!



-Michele-

I'm a Loopy Groupie!

I finally got to the order that puts me into the Loopy Groupies. I was excited to receive the package because I knew it would have something special but I didn’t know how special!! I ordered one skein of Louet Gems in Shamrock for Saartje booties. Sheri also sent me a large Loopy tote bag and two skeins of Lorna's Laces in Motherlode. That yarn is gorgeous!! I don’t know why I never noticed it before. Sheri really outdid herself on this one. Wow. It was nice to get all the goodies.

I went to meet my Little Sister today but there was a big misunderstanding. She was at an elementary school in Satellite Beach and for some reason BBBS thought I wanted to go to that school. Its about an hour away from my work so I couldn’t go there. So they are searching for another Little for me. I wonder if she was as disappointed as me. I really wanted to meet her!

I’m still trudging along on the Striped sock. I am almost halfway through the foot now. At least the ribbing on the top of the foot is keeping it interesting. I want to have it done by this weekend but that’s asking a lot of me. We’ll see.

Well its time for me to head home for the day. I don’t think I will be answering any emails this weekend. I think our laptop is biting the dust. It won’t turn on right now. We have only had it 2 years…how long do laptops last? I really don’t want to have to buy another one so soon but it doesn’t look good… :-(

Have a good weekend, and happy knitting!

-Michele-

Good News!

I have a Little!! I got the call today that Big Brothers Big Sisters found me a Little Sister. Her name is Alexis and she is in 2^nd grade. I am excited and nervous to meet her. I get to meet her on Friday and since we will be meeting during her lunch/recess time I can bring my lunch too and we can go out and play after we work on school stuff.

I just remembered today that my real estate license is expiring in March 2008. I was trying to sign up for my post license course that I have to complete but the only class openings were not going to work for me time wise and they are in Orlando and Kissimmee. Those are both pretty far for me since the class is from 6-10pm on a Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday for two weekends in a row. I was getting really worried that I would not get my class done in time. I checked one other school that my boss used for her license and they have an online course that I can complete at home. That’s 45 hours that I won’t have to sit in a classroom. I was amazed, and it’s like $60 cheaper. That’s awesome!! So I’m all signed up and ready to go.

I worked some more on the Striped Sock. I hope to have it done by the end of the week. I hope I don’t end up wearing 1 ½ socks to the Needleworks show.

If you noticed, there was something new in that picture. I was trying to be good so I cast on a swatch for the Ballet Cami. I'm even going to wash it :-) The yarn was leftover Shine Sport from Sheldon. So far I like how soft the yarn is. The swatch is still small but it looks like it will drape nicely. I plan on making the Cami sort of big. I want a snug top but not really snug like the pattern suggests. I don’t think me wearing a top with negative ease will help anyone. I am going to make it longer too. I want it hip length. Is this a lot to hope for in my first top?

I am glad I didn't sign up for NaBloPoMo because I seem to be having a hard time making this thing interesting lately.

-Michele-

Race For The Finish

Angie and I really need to get this knit night thingy together. We met up again on Saturday and enjoyed 4 precious uninterrupted hours with coffee and knitting. I know it has been 2 weekends in a row but it was awesome. If we get the night set up I will have something to look forward to. And we are always so indecisive, having a set time and place will fix that. I have to say that this is the quickest I have ever received yarn from Knit Picks. We were able to open it and oogle it on Saturday. It came in less than a week! That has to be a record or something. So now I have the yarn for the Ballet Camisole in my possession but I have not cast on. I am being
loyal to my Striped Sock in order to have it finished. The yarn is beautiful and it is calling my name…I even got the Knit Picks Options tips and cable that I am dying to try…I really need to finish at least one sock before I jump in on that. Geez, I am already making excuses for myself.

BTW, did you see that the new MagKnits is out? There are some really cute patterns like this. and this.

I did get a lot done on the Striped Sock over the weekend. It seems like top down socks go faster that toe up. Hmmm…well I am past the heel now and racing toward finish line. I think they will be a bit snug but ok. I am slowly but surely talking myself out of sticking to a pattern. I need to stray a little to get them to fit better. I think my ankles are huge or something.

I did manage to snag a quick picture as proof that Diana and Jessie are getting along now. They both decided that they wanted to lie on the couch and sleep. Right as I was taking this Diana decided to come see what I was doing. They like to pretend that they don’t like each other but they do…


Wow, today seemed way more boring than most Mondays…Was it because of the time change? Blame the boring post on it too :-)

-Michele-

Contest

Just a quickie post to let you all know about a contest that Cass is having over at Shut Up, I'm Counting.

Be sure to mention that you saw it here for another entry!!

Stupid People

County workers suck. I am sorry if you happen to work for Brevard County but everyone I’ve dealt with just sucks. We have to hook up to the sewer at my office by the end of October (I know that was yesterday) and we have to get permits to do that. I called the County and got the septic permit. They told me to go to the City of Cocoa for the Building permit. I set this up and even got the City to rush it for us so we can start today. I showed up at the County (which is not very close to my office) to pick up permit #1 and rushed over to the City to get permit #2. The City, at 4:30pm, decided that they will not give it to me because we are county jurisdiction. I told them I was just there and they told me to come here and they said tough. Does anyone know how to do their job?? So there I am at 4:30 the day before we start work with no permit. I hate dealing with them…

Now that I have dumped all that on you I can go on. Since the City is right near my LYS, I popped in to get some needles to go in my Pal’s 2^nd package. Time is against me on that too, but it will get out by Saturday. She is getting some gorgeous yarn (that I almost kept for myself), stitch markers, needles, and a notebook. The Yarn is from White Willow’s shop and is called Sugar Berry.

I have been working a lot on the Striped Sock too. I am almost to the heel flap now. It may be a little tight; I have to learn to adjust my size because apparently I knit really tight. I like it though and I am determined to have them finished by Nov 17^th. Well at least one…would I look weird wearing one hand knit sock to the Needleworks Show?



I finally got a new purse this week. It has been a couple years. A friend of mine was in New York last week and had a list of people, including me, to find purses for. Can you believe they have Coach for $30?? It is a really, really good knock off. I love it. It makes me feel all rich and stuff…while I buy cheap yarn because I am broke…Ha

I hope everyone had a good night trick or treating last night. We had fun, we sat at the neighbors house and handed out candy. We did not have many kids at all. I was surprised because I always see kids in our neighborhood. Weird…We did see some …interesting…costumes and some really cute ones. One kid that came up with his parents couldn’t have been older that 1 ½. He really didn’t get what to do. Pick up candy, put it in bucket…He looked like he was having fun though. I can’t wait until we have kids and we can dress them up all cute!! Yea right...I have a hard enough of a time with the dog! Kids are going to have to wait.

-Michele-

Weekend Knitting

So far so good…Diana hasn’t eaten anything else yet. edit: I Spoke too soon. Now she ate a box of tea light candles and my tube of conditioner that was almost gone. I guess we need to finish unpacking so there aren’t boxes of stuff lying around that she can get into. :-(

I got to meet up with Angie again on Saturday. I had to replace the needles that Diana ate and I had to get Angie the money for our joint order on Knit Picks (to get the free shipping) we had just placed. Good excuse to sit for a couple hours and knit, right? Angie was able to find a babysitter for J so we were able to stay a while. It was nice to just grab some lunch and chat. Angie said it pretty well today, its not all the time that we are able to get together because we live so far. It seems like we’re trying to get a knit night together though. We figured out that the Panera in The Avenues is pretty much half way for both of us. There is an AC Moore there too for when we need cheap yarn, and you know we need good cheap yarn since we are now in the “Broke Ass Knitters Club.” Angie is starting the Ravelry group after we were joking about being broke all the time. Ha.

I cast on for another sock on Saturday morning. I tried to cast on with 2 circulars but it wasn't working out for me so I tried magic loop with the 32" circular that my pal got me. Much easier, especially that trying to show Angie the problem I was having fixed it. I never did figure out what I was doing wrong but it works now. Since I was trying something new I didn't want to use one of my favorite yarns so I used some I got a while ago. It was from when I first wanted to knit socks. I was in a craft store and saw the yarn, Lion Brand Magic Stripes I think. It was really weird because I knew Angie had socks on the needles with the same yarn but when we compared them they are the same colorway and the exact same pattern too. It really was funny to compare them. Apparently I have to finish mine by November 17th for the Orlando Needleworks Show so we can wear matching hand knit socks. I know, we're geeks. As Lime & Violet would say...I'm waving my geek flag. Ha. I have been listening to a lot of L&V lately since I got my Zune. I downloaded a bunch of old episodes and have been catching up.

I have to get back to knitting on those socks!!

-Michele-

Random Thursday

Today was definitely a long day for me. I was running errands for work for a while. One of the things I did today was my interview for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I decided to volunteer there. I will be paired up with a child and I will spend an hour a week at their school helping them with school work and just being a friend. I am really excited to get started but I have to wait 4-6 weeks for my background check. Why does it have to take this long? Of course if it was my child I would want it to take every bit of 4-6 weeks. So sometime in the near future I will be paired up with my “little”

I have learned that dogs will eat anything. Last night while relaxing and knitting the hubby noticed that Diana was really quiet. Not barking at the cat or jumping on us, but quiet. I looked at my feet where she was and she was finishing off the bamboo knitting needle she was eating. She ate two of my needles, stolen right out of the bag by my feet. She couldn’t just eat two of the same size though. She ate on of each size that I needed for the Scrappy Hat and the Dream Swatch Scarf. She ate one of them she ate right out of my Dream Swatch. She shredded the end of it trying to get it out. I didn’t think she could actually consume the wood but all I found was the tip. At least I know that not floating around inside of her. I will have to remember not to leave my knitting out now. I had to unravel a few rows back on the Dream Swatch to save it but it is ok.

I am getting ready to mail off my most recent FO. On the drive to Islamorada I cast on for Calorimetry and finished it up before we got back. It was a quick knit and turned out great. I really thought about keeping it until I tried it on for the picture. I could not wait to get that thing off my head. It is cooling off here but not enough for that. I don’t think it will ever be cool enough for a wool head wrap in FL. It will find a good home with a friend of mine in MA.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 5.0mm straights

Pattern: Calorimetry (Knitty Winter 2006)

Pattern Designer: Kathryn Schoendorf

Date Finished: 10/21/2007

Hopefully I will be casting on for a Ballet Camisole soon. Angie and I are both knitting it. We are ordering our yarn this weekend and will have it soon, hopefully. We are ordering Shine Sport from Knit Picks and we all know how long their shipping takes. Until then, I will probably cast on for a pair of socks. Probably with circular needles.

Its about time to go home for me. Got to go see what the dog got into now :-)

-Michele-

Getting Back In The Groove

Why does it always seem like when you get back from a vacation things are crazier than when you left them? It seems like I am barley keeping afloat these days. It’s nothing extremely important but its all the little things that I never seem to have time for. I have piles of stuff to do.

Even though the stuff is all still here, we were able to forget it all while on vacation. I was perfect. Great weather, relaxing, and knitting…We stayed in a little cottage on the beach in Islamorada. Every morning and every evening we sat in the chairs on the beach enjoying the views and the breeze. We went with some friends as the “babysitters” since they were there for a wedding. Even the baby loved the breeze. He was so mellow in those times sitting on the beach. We had fun, ate too much food, relaxed by the pool. We even got to eat dinner on the beach at the Lorelei. It was everything a vacation is supposed to be. Except that we didn’t get out on the water. One of our friends did bring a boat but we were not there the days they did go fishing. Oh well, we said that we have to plan another mini vacation and drive all the way to Key West. We thought about driving there the last day we stayed but everyone told us that it wasn’t a good time because of Fantasy Fest. It would have taken us forever to get there and it would have been packed.

I worked on the Scrappy Hat while there. Since we were baby sitting I had to have something that I could stop mid-row and tend to the little one. He is not crawling yet and is really an easy baby compared to most so it was nice. Knitting on the beach is so relaxing. It would have been more relaxing if it weren’t for the coconuts we heard dropping around us off the trees. You have to be careful where you sit. We brought a bunch back to plant in the yard. If you plant the coconuts they will sprout and grow into coconut palms. Back to the knitting…The Scrappy hat is about 17 inches now. Just about big enough to fit around my head. Just a little farther and I can sew it all up. I did manage to finish the Horcrux socks before I left but did not get a chance to post about them. They look great and will get shipped off soon.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needles: 5.0mm Dpns

Pattern: Horcrux Socks (worsted weight)

Pattern Designer: Susan Lawrence

Date Finished: 10/17/2007

I will have another FO tomorrow. I casted on for it on the drive South and finished it before we got home. Pretty nice huh. I will have details and pictures tomorrow.

As if I didn’t have too much going on already, we decided to add to it. Meet Diana. She is the newest addition to the family. She is a 2yr old Beagle that we rescued from Ziggy Beagle Rescue in Palm Bay, FL. She is a sweetheart! She is already making her self at home with us. Turns out that she is afraid of cats and Jessie is afraid of dogs. It definitely was funny when they first saw each other and Diana almost went through the screen door to get away from the cat and Jessie was hissing and puffed up. They are getting better now. Jessie has to be the boss and pick on Diana and Diana likes to tease Jessie to make her hiss. She sneaks up on her on the couch. It really is funny. They will be friends soon though. It definitely has been an improvement from when they first met!

Well I guess this post couldn’t get any longer. If you want to see all the pictures from the trip you can see the set here.

-Michele-

A Weekend Outdoors

Over the weekend I found out that I could walk 5K without passing out. Ha, really it wasn’t bad at all. Makes me want to walk more…

My company participated in the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk this year. Angie even made it out and walked with us. It was a good time but I think there were more strollers than people there. We tried to raise a bunch of money and considering all the things going on in everyone’s personal lives right now, we did really well. I even got a T-shirt Angie did really well considering that I told her two days before the walk. You see, I have been distracted lately =). And it really did make me want to walk more. We will be participating in the walk again next year so hopefully we will be more prepared.

After the walk we had the great idea (as did everyone else that walked) to head over to Panera for lunch. It was a sea of pink…We managed to grab a few tables anyways and we all had a good time. After the crowds cleared Angie and I sat for a while to knit and talk. Her son is really well behaved. He of course wanted to be the center of attention but come on, he’s 3. He didn’t terrorize the place or anything, only stared at the people in the booth behind us. Maybe he was trying to play peek-a-boo with them.

Sunday was full of yard work. We had turned into the people that don’t mow their lawn so I bugged the hubby to go out with me and work on it. He mowed both the front and back and I pulled weeds. It looks a whole lot better now, at least until Wednesday when it will be a foot tall again. I did manage to squeeze in some knitting time. I am almost done with the second Horcrux Sock.

I will definitely be done with this by the time we leave for vacation. Yup, we leave on Thursday for Islamorada. It will be a blast. It doesn’t hurt that I will have about 5 hours of knitting time on the drive. Hopefully I can get a bunch done. I haven’t decided what I am bringing yet though.

I am trying to get back to posting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so I will have one more post before we leave. Hopefully it will have a FO!

-Michele-

She Did It Again

My pal outdid herself, again! I got my 2^nd package from my Secret Pal and it is awesome!! This has been an exciting few weeks for me. It seems like every time I post I have a new package to share. This package left me speechless, for about 2 seconds, and then I (talking a million miles a minute) told the hubby all about Yarn Pirate and why it is soo cool. He was not impressed. That’s right, I said Yarn Pirate. Did I mention my pal is the best?


My package not only had a skein of Yarn Pirate in the Calamity colorway, but also had Wendy’s Loopy Laces pattern, some beautiful stitch markers from Blumes Accessories, Some yummy smelling candles and a goody bag from her kids. Seeing as it was my birthday they got me a goody bag for my party. Sweet =)

I can’t wait to try out some of the cool yarn I have acquired lately but you probably won’t see them for a while. You see I am pretty new to sock knitting. I am only on my 2nd and 3rd pairs now and only one have really fit me. I am still getting the hang of sizing so I don’t want to use the really cool yarns until I am better at it. I still may frog the Jaywalker sock because it won’t fit over my big foot. I will get better at it soon and then I will try the cool yarns.

I am turning the heel on the Horcrux sock now and I should be on the foot by tonight. I put the instep stitches on waste yarn like the pattern said but I really don’t think that was necessary. That just means that I will have the extra step of picking all those stitches back up later. Probably shouldn’t have done that…It’s ok, as I have stated, I’m still learning. Next will be circulars for my socks. As soon as these are done I am casting on another pair. I didn’t forget about the Purple Eater sock though, I am just not thrilled with it.

Time to go now and finish my heel and watch Grey’s tonight.

-Michele-

Birthday Prizes

Well, I went and chopped off all my hair but it turned out great. It seems so short to me but it really isn’t that short. It is just past my shoulders now and I am loving the length. It is a big difference from before though.


I donated a little over 10 inches. Looking at the ponytail in my hand after cutting it was hard. Especially we had to do the color before the rest of the cut was finished. I got red highlights that really look natural. They sort of match the natural highlights I have. I played with the colors a bit to make the highlights stand out in this picture though.

Overall, I love it. We got to celebrate this weekend too. On Saturday I went out with the hubby and a friend of mine for a couple of drinks and dinner. We had a great time. I love that he really doesn’t like shellfish because he got the surf n turf and gave me the lobster tail. Yum! I will always accept that. He has no idea…

I finally got to work on the Horcrux Socks. I thought I wouldn’t get to knit all month. It has just been one thing after another right now. It’s hard to get anything done on a daily basis. I will have some days off coming up to catch up and relax. And I get to take a day off for my birthday (which was yesterday). I haven’t decided when that will be but it will be soon. I am about to start turning the heel now though. Hopefully then it will finish up pretty quickly.

Yesterday the hubby surprised me with a birthday present. I didn’t think he was going to get me anything since we went out for a nice dinner and I got a house too :-) He got me a Zune! It is so cool. I am already spending all my time customizing it. Now I can have all my music and podcasts on it. It can also keep pictures to show off my projects to anyone who may want to see them. Thanks Hun!!

That’s all for now. It’s been so busy lately that it’s hard to sit down and blog about it all. I sit here and think, “Where do I begin?” I’ll keep trying to get knitting done and keep trying to entertain you guys in the process. Heh, no need to tell me how entertaining I am, I know. (yeah right)

-Michele-