Oh Crap...

So I guess this storm is really coming for me. I have not been too worried about it since it was hitting land on the west coast and was likely to cross north of us but they changed the path today to cross right over my area. Now it isn’t a huge hurricane or anything but it can still do some damage. I really am only worried about the tornadoes that keep popping up along the coast and the risk of flooding. It has been raining non-stop since about 7:30 this morning. It still has a few hours before it gets to my area, but we have already had 5” of rain. I am glad we no longer live in Merritt Island, but we are still within a mile from the river. I got to stay home today (when the schools close, my office does too) but the hubby is out working. I am worried about him driving in the heavy rain and wind so I will pray he gets home safe.

In other news, we got to spend the weekend with T’s grandparents on the west coast. As usual I came home feeling like I inhaled a pack of cigarettes and had to febreeze everything that we took but we had a good time. By the way, spraying febreeze on yarn does get the smell out and doesn’t seem to harm the fabric. I wasn’t going to spend the whole weekend without anything to knit. I worked on the Pomatomus Sock over the weekend and am about to turn the heel today. I didn’t knit as much as I wanted to but I had a good reason. We decided to take Diana with us this time. Surprisingly she did great. Within minutes she was playing with the two poodle mixes and Chihuahua mix. The Chihuahua, Lucy, was only 9lbs the last time I saw her, but this time she weighed 13lbs! She looked like a little spotted sausage! I was so proud of her behaving so well. She didn’t even shred anything! We will definitely be taking her with us next time.

I have a couple of new skeins to show off today. The purple yarn is merino/cashmere/nylon sportweight blend that Alyson sent me. The color is Eleanor Rigby and it is gorgeous! It is such a pretty deep semi-solid purple. It even came with an amethyst and pearl zero marker, and boy it is soft. I could cuddle with this all day! The other skein is Crazy Monkey’s Monkey Toes Sock Yarn. The color is Clay Pit and it is superwash merino. I can’t believe that it was only $13 for 490yds! It is gorgeous! It was definitely an impulse buy but it was worth it!

Oh good, the hubby just called and said they sent everyone home early. Now I can stop worrying. When did I become such a worrier?

An Interview

I saw this around the blogs and thought it was cute. I sat down to ask the hubby the questions while he was sitting at the computer after work. I should have known that the he would never answer me seriously. There was a lot of eye rolling, and “come on hun, just answer”.

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Hubby: That you don’t make me anything.

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
Hubby: That you don’t knit me socks.
Me: Hun, you’re feet are huge. Would you even wear them? Ok, ok, maybe soon.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
Hubby: A Swatch
Me: Come on, I don’t even swatch most of the time. Seriously…
Hubby: Ok, the turtle.
Me: Do you even know his name? (stares blankly at me) It’s Sheldon.

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
Hubby: No. My hobbies cost more.
Me: Have I mentioned that I want a spinning wheel?

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
Hubby: Duh, I just said mine cost more.
Me: Give me a break, I’m just asking the questions.

Me: What are your hobbies?
Hubby: (rolls eyes) You know this…Cars, audio…

Me: If we compared money spent on hobbies, who would win?
Hubby: You
Me: You have bought cars before. And your stuff is really expensive. We will get to your hobbies soon.

Me: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
Hubby: No, I think it’s funny.

Me: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
Hubby: Worst weight?
Me: (laughs) You pay more attention than I thought, but no.

Me: Can you name another blog?
Hubby: Hmm…
Me: You can’t Google it, that’s cheating.
Hubby: Then no.

Me: Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go?
Hubby: No.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Hubby: Yes, to count stitches within an inch, and to gauge the size of the needle.
Me: Wow, close enough.

Me: Do you read my blog?
Hubby: Nope
Me: Do you even know the name of it?
Hubby: No. You don’t know the names of my car forums.
Me: Fair enough.

Me: Have you ever left a comment?
Hubby: How could I if I don’t read it?

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
Hubby: Yes, and dinner would be on the table.
Me: I cook dinner! And do you really think I would actually clean if I didn’t knit? Yea right.

Me: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
Hubby: No.

And for those of you that read to the end, I have a sneak peek at the boobholder in progress:

Bad Kitty

Today started off just like every other Monday until I discovered that my keys were nowhere to be found. Turns out the hubby had them in his car and he was on the way to an appointment in Melbourne. So I called the boss and let them know I wouldn’t be in. Seems like I would have a nice day off right? Wrong, I had plenty to do, and most of it I could work on from here. So I have been working off and on today (not too hard though) and I figured out that while it is really cute, it is quite hard to work with a cat walking back and forth across the screen and occasionally stepping on the keyboard to be pet. This little kitty in question (Tipper) is in big trouble right now. Yesterday morning I found my Zune (a little 8G one we bought in July) in the bottom of the water dish. Apparently he wanted to play with the headphones and knocked it off the counter. Needless to say it’s not turning on. That means that most of my music is gone too since I use my work computer to sync it and I erase most of the stuff after as not to make the computer slow. I’m not too pleased with him right now, but then he curls up and goes to sleep, and this is my view. How can I stay mad at him?

So before I got to work this morning, I finally finished the soaker. It only took me a day to finish it, but I lost the pattern a little over a week ago so it was set aside. I do like how this came out, but it seemed so fiddly. There are just so many parts to it. I don’t know if I will make any more, or if I do, I don’t think I will do all the I-cord detail.

Baby Hat and Soaker Set
Yarn: Moda Dea Vision in Karma
Needles: 5.0mm Knit Picks Circular
Pattern: Baby Hat from Easy Baby Knits and Snapdragon Soaker
Date Finished: 8/11/2008

I also started a pair of socks since the Kindness socks were frogged. This is my Pagewood Farms Sock yarn that I got at the Orlando Needleworks Show last year. Hmm...I wonder if there is another one this year? I will have to check on that. I decided to knit the Pomatomus Socks since the Monkeys were such a big hit. Cookie A is a genius! They look gorgeous in this yarn since the color variations are very subtle. And if you noticed, the sock is on a wooden sock blocker. These came from Chappy’s Fiber Arts & Crafts. They did not have a beagle in the shop so after emailing the store, they were nice enough to draw one up and even send me a proof. I love them, although I didn’t expect them to be as large as they are. They fit my socks, but they just look smaller in pictures. So now I better get back to work (yea right).

Lots of Good News

I know everyone is saying this, but can you believe that it’s August, and -gasp- less than 5 months until Christmas? Where has the year gone? I just realized that next month will be one year since we bought our house. We aren’t even finished painting yet. What have we done with our time? The only thing that has not been flying past us is our debt snowball. We have been working hard to pay off all debt except the house and thanks to a couple of bonuses (including a certain stimulus check) we think we can be debt free by the end of the year. That is huge for us! We have had debt since the day we decided to get married. We walked into the bank and got a loan to pay off, and therefore combine, our debt and have been there ever since. I have been getting so excited as the months pass. I am even more excited to be able to go see Dave Ramsey, the inspiration for all this, in September for his Total Money Makeover seminar. Sadly, the hubby just found out he will be out of town that day. He really wanted to see Dave too....

Anyways, I have lots of good news today. I decided to take a stab at Alyson’s contest and guess how many skeins she sent to The Loopy Ewe. I was the closest number so I won! I will be getting the prized skein of merino/cashmere/nylon sportweight yarn soon. Yay! Thanks Alyson! Congrats on the success of your shop!

As promised, I have another FO to show off. This is the Calorimetry, aka the Kitty Warmer:


Calorimetry II
Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Earth
Needles: 5.0mm Knit Picks Circular
Pattern: Calorimetry from Knitty Winter 2006
Date Finished: 7/19/2008

I only cast on 100 stitches this time and it turned out a bit snug. It still fits, but I would like it a bit looser. Like I really have a need for it in Florida anyway. So after casting off I threw it on Tipper and it fit/s him perfectly as a little kitty warmer. He didn’t mind having it on, but Jessie was not having it. When Tipper came home I was a bit worried that he would not feel at home. Jessie wanted nothing to do with him and he was terrified of Diana. He would hiss at her, and she would just bark more at him. Since then everyone has become friends. He wrestles and plays with Jessie (all night!) and is tolerating Diana. Diana did learn what a real cat is made of though, since Tipper is not declawed.

I have decided to frog the Kindness socks after only a few rows past the ribbing, even after all the trouble it took to cast on. I really didn’t like my gauge on them since the yarn is so thin. Since I have 4 balls, maybe I can make a shawl or something. I have never done lace before so that will be something new. Instead of those socks, I cast on for the Boobholder in some Malabrigo that came from SimpleChaos on Ravelry. I don’t know how you get 13 sts/in in worsted weight so I think I will have to adjust the pattern to fit. This is after ripping out and starting over once already. I really like the color, Azul Profundo, but of course I have no pics yet. Last night I decided I need another sock project that I can bring around with me so I tried to wind some Pagewood Farms sock yarn. Tried is the key word…I guess I shouldn’t have started winding at 9:30pm because I was really tired. I thought it was going to be quick but the yarn kept tangling. It was too small around for my swift so I had it around 2 candle jars but it was a mess. I had to wind from the other end by hand and keep untangling it. I was finally done over an hour later. Now I have 2 equal center pull balls for some Pomatomus Socks. I have not been having good luck with new patterns lately so we’ll see how this goes.

Thursday night is knit night again with the newly formed “Brevard’s Coffee Shop Knitters” group. We decided to start a Ravelry group since we were all sending messages to each other trying to get on the same page. It seems like this turned into a weekly thing too. I really like meeting up with the girls. It’s always fun and interesting. Hopefully I will have some socks cast on by then!