Which One?

So I finally got the Knit Picks Bag yesterday. They are completely identical. In my head I was still hoping that there was a reason that the Total Tote was so much more than the make up bag. Nope, no reason at all. After looking them over carefully, I really do like the make-up bag better. It’s probably because it is black and I always lean towards black. Com on, it goes with everything. I like that the Total Tote is suede but I can’t justify paying $20 more for suede. So the Total Tote is getting shipped back tomorrow. Now the question is, should I get store credit and go shopping or be a good girl and take the refund?

I hate being a complainer but I’ve got something on my mind. My job description is receptionist/assistant to the broker of my real estate company but I agreed to some time helping his wife out as part of my 40 a week of work. She has a mortgage business and a 6 month old and is a bit overwhelmed. So I go over to her house for about 3 hours 3 days a week. She told me that I would be helping her file, organize, make calls etc. Well the few times that I have been there I have cleaned most of the time. They have a 3000 sqft house and it is a pain to vacuum and mop and that has been at the top of my list every time I visit. I vacuum, mop, dust, clean bathrooms, iron, etc. I really hate cleaning too. I don’t mind pitching in but I don’t even vacuum my house 3 times a week! I don’t want to say anything because they are paying me for my time and they have done so much for us but I feel taken advantage of. I didn’t apply to be a housekeeper and think maybe they should hire one. Plus being there Monday, Wednesday and Friday and having an office meeting on Tuesday morning is really cutting into my work time. What do you think?

I haven’t had too much time for knitting these past couple of days but I got a few rows in on the Anastasia Sock. I really like how that pattern shows up with the yarn. Maybe I will actually finish the pair this time. I really want to get these done and get this yarn out of my stash!!

Tonight is Knit Night again at All Strung Out. I’m not sure if I am going yet. We’ll see! Hey Angie, when are we gonna get our knit night together, huh? Maybe when you feel better we'll talk about it again.

-Michele-

Not Feeling The Love

I’m telling you the world just doesn’t like me right now…I made my way back to IKEA on Saturday to pick up our kitchen table that was out of stock the last time we were there and it was still out of stock. I wish that I could order it by phone then go pick it up but no, I have to keep checking in store. It is a little bit of a drive for me so I’m not happy about it. At least the hubby was in a cleaning sort of mood on Sunday. We got the guest bedroom all organized and clean and we are almost done with the office. When that’s done all I need to do is finish painting and I think we will be finally moved in!

I sort of have a new WIP. I am casting on for Anastasia Socks with the Zen String Purple Eater. This is the 3^rd pattern I am trying with this yarn. So far the patterns just haven’t been working out. This yarn just doesn’t like me. This is even the 3^rd time starting the Anastasia Sock since last week. The first time I dropped a stitch in the middle of a yarn over and I couldn't sort out the mess and this last time I got about 10 rows into the pattern and realized that I was supposed to knit on all odd rows…Rip! At least I didn’t have to rip it all the way out, just back to the toe and start over. I am determined to get this yarn knit before I start any other new socks now! Oh and for the Slippery Socks? Nice pattern but - Rip! It doesn’t show up very well on this yarn, too fuzzy.

And on to another complaint about Knit Picks. Well it’s not really about them but it involves them. I saw that Total Tote on their site and I was so excited about using the it to be my knitting bag/purse so I ordered it. After ordering it I searched around Ravelry on the Knit Picks Lovers thread and came across a post about the Total Tote. Well, I come to find out that JoAnn’s sells the exact same bag for $15 cheaper…bummer. Then I kept reading and saw “If you want to see it before you order it, check Walgreens. It’s their makeup bag.” I did check out Walgreens and there it was, priced at half of what I paid, and they had it in black (KP only had brown). So I bought the black one and I am going to wait until the order arrives to see which I like better. I have a feeling that the cheaper one will win me over. At least Knit Picks takes returns.

Oh and I did make it out to the Knit Night at All Strung Out last week. It was a blast. I am probably going to go this week too. Everyone was so nice and funny too!

-Michele-

Shoot Me, Please

Wow, dog sitting is really kicking my ass. I was up from 3am to 5am last night while the older dog Bailey (she is at least 13yrs old…) panted, licked herself, and walked around with her nails on the wood floors. I can usually sleep through that stuff but I bugged me last night. So at about 6:30 I gave up and got my day started. Not bad though because I am usually up at about 7am. I let them out and saw how pretty the sunrise looked on the canal. I don’t ever get to see this because the sun is already up by 7am and my house doesn’t have a great view of it like this house does. Pretty huh?


I wanted this post to go up two days ago but my camera was completely dead and I had no idea where the charger was. Now that I found it I could get some pictures of my first FO of 2008. I *finally* finished the Sweet Baby Hat for my cousin. I finished in on Sunday afternoon but I will wait to send it off until I get a couple other things for her. I just love the cute little ties! I tied it on my cat’s head when I finished but she really didn’t like that.

So now I’m off to fine some fabric to make a baby blanket to go with the hat. I may even stop by the knit night at All Stung Out in Cocoa Beach. I am all alone tonight so why not?

-Michele-

A New Year, A New Start

**If you want to skip all the New Years reflections stuff there is knitting content at the end :-)**

Everyone always has profound things to say about New Years. I like to think of the New Year as a new start to get it right this time. When I look back there are always things that I might have done differently if I got the chance. For this year I don’t want to make resolutions. It seems like when you label it a resolution you are one step closer to failing. I always say that I want to get in shape or be a better person in some way. So this year I want to set some realistic goals for myself that are not just because of the New Year and will be ongoing beyond 2008. So here are my goals:

1. As always, try to eat healthier and shed a few pounds. I am contemplating joining Weight Watchers Online. I have joined before and like the points system. I will incorporate my morning walk with Diana and try to get out more.
2. The hubby and I are going to continue the process of becoming debt free with FPU. We finished the class in November and have been trying to get everything except our house paid off. We have paid off a couple of things but I don’t want to get discouraged because the last couple things take a while to pay off. Dave Ramsey is really motivating so I have been downloading his podcasts and listening to them whenever I need some encouragement.
3. I need to get organized; the clutter is driving me crazy. Since we moved we haven’t been able to get everything in its place yet. We still have some painting to finish too. I really want to get the house and my desk at work organized. The work part won’t be too hard since my office is moving again. We are closing the business and moving our real estate “team” to another company nearby. It’s just to cut out the overhead costs for the owners.
4. I would like to spend more quality date time with the hubby. Now that we have been married a couple years the baby conversation has popped up. We are going to wait a little while more but I want to enjoy the time we have as a couple while we wait since I know how hard it is to get out with a baby. Usually we just hang out at home together (and there’s nothing wrong with that) but I want to get out more.
5. Lastly, I need to focus. I have a bad problem of getting distracted while I am working on something. If I really focus it gets done so much faster. I procrastinate a lot too so the combo really leaves me stressing about little things that definitely don’t need to be stressed about.

Wow, that turned out long but I needed to get it out, mostly for me. If I have it documented somewhere I can’t let myself off the hook. They’re pretty common goals but they are what I need in my life right now.

I haven’t been knitting as much as want lately but my wrist has been hurting a lot. I cleaned one of our rentals out last weekend for some extra cash and I think I may have hurt it then. It definitely feels better by now but it really limited my knitting for a couple of days. Plus the past couple of days have been COLD. The heater in my house needs to be fixed but it hasn’t been high on my list since we live in Florida. So we have no heat right now but we just bundle up. I couldn’t believe that I was too cold to knit. I would rather have my hands under the blanket so no knitting for the past two days.


When I did get knitting in I worked on the Baby hat some more. I keep telling myself I need to finish it soon. Hats usually take me no time to knit. I don’t think I will be starting any hats in fingering weight again. Geez…

So now that it is 2008 I realized that I have been knitting for a little over a year and crocheting a little longer than that but I definitely prefer knitting over crocheting. I never documented the first projects like I do now but I managed to get pictures of most of them. So out of all the knitting I have to say that I don't really have a favorite project. I have learned that I love to knit socks though. I always have to have a pair on the needles now.


Well that’s all I have for now. I will be spending the next week dog sitting again so I will have lots of time to knit. We’ll see how that goes…

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year!!

-Michele-

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-