My Kind Of Music

Well I was going to wait until I had more pictures to write another post, but after seeing this on Angie's blog I had to. Just reading through the list put me right back in high school. More than just remembering the song, I get flashbacks from what I was doing when that particular song was playing. Sometimes it's kinda cool, then other times not so much. Some things shouldn't be remembered...I guess my taste in music is all over the place, as it is now. I did notice that the ones I didn't like I remember very well. I probably don't like them because they were very overplayed. I get kinda annoyed with that. I did cheat on a few by downloading the song because I really remember the title and can't think of the song. So here it is, and please don't hold me accountable for my song choices.

Here's what you do:

A.) Go to musicoutfitters.com

B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year

C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline or italicize your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about)

Top 100 Hits of 2003/Top 100 Songs of 2003
1. Crazy In Love, Beyoncé Knowles featuring Jay-Z
2. Hey Ya!, Outkast
3. Here Without You, 3 Doors Down
4. Baby Boy, Beyoncé Knowles featuring Sean Paul
5. Miss Independent, Kelly Clarkson
6. Beautiful, Christina Aguilera
7. Rock Your Body, Justin Timberlake
8. Where Is The Love?, Black Eyed Peas featuring Justin Timberlake
9. When I'm Gone, 3 Doors Down
10. All I Have, Jennifer Lopez featuring LL Cool J
11. Shake Ya Tailfeather, Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
12. Unwell, Matchbox
13. Picture, Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
14. In Da Club, 50 Cent
15. I'm With You, Avril Lavigne
16. Bring Me To Life, Evanescence
17. Cry Me A River, Justin Timberlake
18. Can't Hold Us Down, Christina Aguilera featuring Lil' Kim
19. Harder To Breathe, Maroon 5
20. Why Don't You & I, Santana featuring Alex Band
21. Someday, Nickelback
22. Suga Suga Baby, Bush featuring Frankie J
23. Your Body Is A Wonderland, John Mayer
24. Are You Happy Now?, Michelle Branch
25. Landslide, Dixie Chicks
26. The Remedy (I Won't Worry), Jason Mraz
27. (There's Gotta Be) More To Life, Stacie Orrico
28. I Know What You Want, Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey featuring The Flipmode Squad
29. It's My Life, No Doubt
30. Clocks, Coldplay
31. Stacy's Mom,Fountains Of Wayne
32. All The Things She Said, t.A.T.u.
33. Bump Bump Bump, B2K & P. Diddy
34. Get Busy, Sean Paul
35. Rock Wit U (Awww Baby), Ashanti
36. If You're Not The One, Daniel Bedingfield
37. Headstrong, Trapt
38. Bright Lights, Matchbox 20
39. Fighter, Christina Aguilera
40. Perfect, Simple Plan
41. '03 Bonnie & Clyde, Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé Knowles
42. Mesmerize, Ja Rule featuring Ashanti
43. Intuition, Jewel
44. Ignition, R. Kelly
45. Drift Away, Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray
46. White Flag, Dido
47. Work It, Missy Elliott
48. Miss You, Aaliyah
49. Invisible, Clay Aiken
50. Senorita, Justin Timberlake
51. Addicted, Simple Plan
52. 21 Questions, 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg
53. My Love Is Like…, Wo Mya
54. Don't Mess With My Man, Nivea
55. Angel, Amanda Perez
56. She Hates Me, Puddle Of Mudd
57. I Want You, Thalia featuring Fat Joe
58. Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love), JC Chasez
59. Girls & Boys, Good Charlotte
60. So Far Away, Staind
61. Swing, Swing, All-American Rejects
62. Magic Stick, Lil' Kim featuring 50 Cent
63. Don't Wanna Try, Frankie
64. Sing For The Moment, Eminem
65. Hell Yeah, Ginuwine
66. Through The Rain, Mariah Carey
67. Breathe, Michelle Branch
68. Right Thurr, Chingy
69. Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous, Good Charlotte
70. Calling All, Angels Train
71. Gossip Folks, Missy Elliott featuring Ludacris
72. P.I.M.P., 50 Cent
73. Air Force Ones, Nelly
74. I'm Glad, Jennifer Lopez
75. Low, Kelly Clarkson
76. I Drove All Night, Celine Dion
77. Into You, Fabolous featuring Tamia
78. Stuck, Stacie Orrico
79. So Yesterday, Hilary Duff
80. No Letting Go, Wayne Wonder
81. Stand Up, Ludacris featuring Shawnna
82. Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton
83. Losing Grip, Avril Lavigne
84. Never Leave You, Lumidee
85. Why Can't I, Liz Phair
86. The Boys Of Summer, The Ataris
87. Bigger Than My Body, John Mayer
88. Get Low Lil', Jon & The Eastside Boyz
89. Running, No Doubt
90. Spin, Lifehouse
91. Something, Lasgo
92. Superman, Eminem
93. Pretty Baby, Vanessa Carlton
94. Come Into My World, Kylie Minogue
95. Me Against The Music, Britney Spears featuring Madonna
96. The Anthem, Good Charlotte
97. Deliverance, Bubba Sparxxx
98. Misunderstood, Bon Jovi
99. I'd Do Anything, Simple Plan
100. I Can Only Imagine, MercyMe

Long Overdue

Wow…I can honestly say that I have not had the energy in me to blog. Blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Ever since mid-August, around the time TS Fay was here, my life has been turned upside down. I know I really don’t have a reason to complain because we are still alive and still have a roof over our heads and food on the table (if we had a table…nevermind). It just seems like everything happened at once and my mind is still trying to catch up. First of all, we got through the storm fine. My area did not flood (but unfortunately some of our friends did) but we discovered after the storm, when we thought it was over, that water had been seeping in through the concrete blocks and slab of the 2 bedrooms on the East side of the house. So that weekend we tore out carpet in one bedroom and were able to steam clean the other. Fortunately the room we tore up the carpet in was where I wanted wood floors anyways so it wasn’t a total loss. We will just have to live with the beautiful Terrazzo for a while. On the very same day that we discovered the water damage I had a “meeting” at work about my hours. As some of you may know, I had been cleaning the boss’s house for 10 hours a week to keep me at 40 hours. Well since it was widely known that I didn’t like doing it, I was told I was no longer going to and my hours were now cut to 30 hours. I even had the weekend to think about if I still wanted to work there. Gee Thanks… At least I still have a job, and I now get Fridays off. I am definitely keeping my options open for anything else. We can live with me working less hours but that pretty much stops our debt snowball. We are back to the minimums on everything. This sucks.

Well, I don’t want to dwell on all that, but speaking of our debt snowball, I got to see Dave Ramsey live in Tampa on Saturday. I had to drive alone and meet my boss there, but that’s another long story, and I did have a good time. He is so fun to watch. I even got to stop by Knit and Knibble to check it out and left with some pretty Colinette Jitterbug in Summer Berries. I also stopped by Knit & Stitch on Friday and grabbed some Dream in Color Smooshy in Nightwatch. Yarn always makes me feel better! I didn’t do a whole lot of knitting over the weekend, but since the hubby was out of town on business, I got a ton done around the house. I actually want to go home now knowing I can relax because I am caught up on housework, at least for now. It’s amazing what a clean house can do to my mood. I have been in a funk for a while so it really helped. I can’t believe that I have been so weird lately. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open at Knit night on Thursday. Joe from SWTC came by our knit night and gave us samples and we had a mini fashion show in the middle of Starbucks. It was a blast and he is fun to hang out with. It seemed like as soon as he left I was ready for bed.

I do have knitting to show off even though I have avoided blogging. I didn’t knit very much, but I did knit all day when my office was closed for the storm. I was able to finish the first Pomatomus sock and I am almost done with the ribbing on the second.


I love how the sock came out. I don’t know if it is the yarn, the pattern (Cookie A. is a genius), or both, but it looks amazing. I couldn’t wait to get started on the second sock. I also got around to reattaching the yarn on the Dream Swatch. It has been a year almost to the day since Diana ate the bamboo needle out of it. I forgot how much I like the yarn. I am using Lorna’s Laces Sport in Jeans. There are pictures here. I went through my knitting bag and decided to narrow down my WIP. I frogged the Boobholder since it was really small. I love the Malabrigo and would rather have something that I can wear. I also decided to put the Sweater Bag aside because it is just too hot to have all that in my lap. I decided that a sweater would be a whole lot better, I know I am weird. I cast on for Central Park Hoodie in Caron Simply Soft in a soft grey color. It is Acrylic, but it feels ok and I needed a bargain sweater. I think it will be perfect for when the weather does get a little cooler, whenever that is. I am only a few inches into the ribbing so nothing interesting to show.

That’s all I have for now so here’s the view I had while I was paying bills yesterday:


Isn’t she sweet!

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!

Another Catch Up

Again, it has been far too long since I’ve posted. It seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. I want to knit but I feel like I am not thrilled with what I have. I finished the Monkey socks back on the 11^th and to no surprise, they are my favorite socks so far.


Monkey Socks
Yarn: White Willow Superwash in Alice's Garden
Needles: 3.5mm Bamboo dpn's
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Date Finished: 7/11/2008

They fit great, except for the extra long heel flap. I knit the flap how that pattern said but after trying them on the turn sits on the bottom of my foot. Since the flap is too long I only had to do 5 repeats on the foot. I also had a ton of yarn left over. Maybe I will have enough for some anklets, or a couple pairs of baby socks.

I also knit a baby hat the day after I finished them. It is for one of the several (and by several I mean like 6) babies on the way. This hat is out of some Moda-Dea Vision that I pocked up at AC Moore before they closed. I don’t usually knit with this stuff since it is part acrylic, but at half off it was good enough. Turns out I love the color. I loved it so much that I went back the day of closing and bought some more. I haven’t decided if I want to ad a pompom to the top. It is for a baby, and all babies have to be dressed in huge embarrassing pompoms once, right?


Baby Hat
Yarn: Moda-Dea Vision
Needles: 4.5mm KP Circulars
Pattern: Cotton and Wool Hats from Easy Baby Knits
Date Finished: 7/12/2008

So after that I cast on for the Socks of Kindness in Jojoland Melody and all was great until I noticed my KP circs were flaking metal off on the knitting and the tip was now rough. I was disappointed since I had just had one of my cables break, so I switched to the other circ I had in that size. Well that one was breaking at the join too and therefore snagging the yarn every round. I called KP and they sent me all the things that broke. I did get a few questions as to why I wanted 2 circs in the same size and I had only bought one but after I told them that my secret pal got it for me they just sent it out. While I waited I cast on for another Calorimetry in the Patons SWS that I had and finished it last Saturday. I don’t have pictures of the new sock or the Calorimetry though because it has been raining every afternoon.

I do have a picture of my new haircut. It has been two weeks now and I still love it! I thought it was a little bit too short at first, but I got used to it now. I was going to do color too, but I didn’t. Maybe in a couple of weeks when I go for a trim I will do it. So tomorrow is another Knit Night and I am excited. I love going to hang out with the girls talk all night.

The only other news I have is the newest member of the family. Meet Tipper:

He came home with the hubby on Monday. This is the picture from the SPCA but I will get some better ones soon. I thought that T didn’t want another cat, but he really just didn’t want a kitten. Tipper is 6 months old, younger than T wanted, but he is neutered and has all his shots. He is so playful and loving! It’s hard to finish this with him walking all over the keyboard trying to get me to pet him or trying to get the mouse on the screen. Sorry we didn’t want a kitten Angie!

Back in Action

I really didn’t forget about the blog…ok maybe I did. But I’m back now and I have a lot going on. This week has been crazier than most because this is what happens every time someone is out of the office. And on top of that, there is a showing at my boss’s upscale hugeish house, and since he is the one out of town, I have to finish getting the house ready for the showing. Ugh…I’m dealing

In other news, I an almost finished with the second Monkey sock. Wait, I never posted about finishing the first one, did I? Wow, I’m behind. Well I finished the first one the night before we went to the Stitch N Pitch game because I didn’t want to do a toe in the car. I cast on for the second sock at the game and it has been going smoothly. I can’t say enough about how much I love this yarn and pattern. They are easily going to be my favorite pair so far. I was tempted to go for another pair of monkey’s right away, but instead I am going to knit Socks of Kindness in some Jojoland Melody. It’s not superwash but I love the long color changes. Here is the first sock finished:


Now about the Stitch N Pitch game. It was a blast! I did not see any Ravelers, but we still enjoyed ourselves. No pictures of the game (except one quite blurry one) because we just relaxed and had a good time. The bags they gave out were substantially better this time around (no fun fur!), and thanks to some generous people in front of us, we scored 2 more bags. They had grabbed the last of the bags that were not given out, about six of them, and gave us a couple. I had the idea to check back for more bags, but they beat me to it. I split everything between me and Angie, since she was not able to make it again this year. Between all the bags there were six skeins of yarn, 4 of which were Araucania Ranco sock yarn.


In store for me this week is a much needed haircut, it’s been almost a year, and another knit night. I really am excited to get my hair cut tonight. I am going to a friend of a friend, who is awesome, and I want to cut it short. I thought it was short last time, but I want it shorter, and will possibly add some highlights. We’ll see how it goes tonight. I am kinda vague on what I want so hopefully she will know what will look good on me. Tomorrow night is our knit night and I am hoping that the girls we met up with last week are going. All of the sudden there are knitters in the area! I had a blast knitting with them for a little while last Friday.

Well that’s all I have for now. I will leave you with a picture of T lighting some fireworks from the 4^th of July. He was so happy to buy some fireworks for the first time since we moved here. You can’t get these kinds of fireworks back in California!

Monkey Love

Today has been a good mail day!! I got one of the yarns I traded for on Ravelry and I got my Zune case and armband. I really wanted to get that armband today before I go workout. I hate having to hold my Zune and I always drop it when I do. The yarn I got is Cherry Tree Hill in Life’s a Beach. I was so excited that someone wanted to trade that for my charcoal gray Alpaca Sox. I liked the alpaca yarn, but the color was not for me. And who am I kidding knitting alpaca socks in Florida? So I am very happy with my first trade on Ravelry. I also traded my Claudia’s Handpainted in Boot camp, but I haven’t received that yarn yet.

Last weekend was pretty good, as usual. I met up with Angie again, (what is it with us sneaking off every Saturday?) but this time it was to hand over a computer and grab lunch. We did have enough time to sit and knit while her son played in the mall and her hubby shopped. We even got to stop in AC Moore before heading off to the mall. I am glad we stopped in there. Since there are virtually no knitters/crafters in the Brevard County area, it is closing and they were having a big sale. Everything is still only 25% off but they had all the books 50% off. I got Easy Baby Knits for only $8. I will definitely be checking back to see how much they mark down everything.

The only think that I have been working on is the Monkey Sock. I can’t tell you how much I love this pattern. Now I realize why people knit it over and over again. I will definitely be knitting this again.


I have just turned the heel. I hope that I can finish this before Saturday. I don’t want to have to knit the toe at the game. I knit in public better when I don’t have to think too much about it. Oh yea, we got tickets to go to the Stitch N Pitch game on Saturday in Tampa. I am really happy we got to go again this year. It was a lot of fun last year. I even got the Ravelry name button but I don’t know if it will make it here in time. After the game the hubby and I are driving to his grandparents house for the night. He will be golfing on Sunday morning with his grandpa. His grandpa just amazes me…He is over 80 years old, just got both hips replaced, and has still never lost to T in golf. He got a 79 last week! This guy is never going to stop playing.

That’s all I have for now. I am going to try and get in a post before Saturday, but if not, Have A Good Weekend!

Weekend Recap

Don’t you love it when you get to chat with an old friend and catch up? It really brightened my day :-) That was nice since it was so gloomy and rainy outside. At least we are getting some much needed rain, and the power didn’t go out at work this time.

So I saw the Flickr Meme on Alyson’s blog and had to do it too. It was pretty fun to see all the pictures that came up. I like how all these pictures look together. And you can click on the picture to see where they all came from on Flickr.

1. First Name: Michele

2. Favorite Food: sushi

3. High School: Arlington High School (a lot of weird things came up...)

4. Favorite Color: Purple

5. Celebrity Crush: Heath Ledger (so sad...)

6. Favorite Drink: Strawberry Margarita

7. Dream Vacation: Italy

8. Favorite Dessert: Creme Brulee (Yum!)

9. What do I want to be when I grow up: a good mom (that kid's great)

10. What do I love most in life: My God (then of course my husband)

11. One word to describe me: contemplative (i guess, let me think about that)

12. My Flickr Name: McKnitter (it's mine and it was the only pic)

Last weekend was a blast for me. I met up with Angie for some much needed knitting time at a coffee shop (…mmm…German Chocolate Latte…) and then I was off to the spa to get a manicure. It was a lot of fun, but I don’t know about it being worth it without the gift certificate. I mean, it’s just polish and pampering. I would definitely go back, but I would do one of their packages that include a massage. They are pretty reasonable and the spa environment was really relaxing. Maybe someday soon…after that I met up with Angie again for a move with the hubby’s and the kid. We saw Kung Fu Panda, and it was pretty funny. I secretly love kids movies. After that we had a Mexican dinner, and the hubby and I stopped by a sporting goods store to look around. He decided to enter a triathlon in September. This is the same hubby who sits on the couch every night to watch TV. I have no problem with him entering, and he will probably do pretty well, but I do have a problem when he does what he always does. He will get an idea in his head and want to go buy all the stuff for it and then never mention it again. I usually let him talk and say we can go look and he changes his mind before any damage is done. This time wasn’t bad, he only got some running shoes. I am just glad he didn’t want to buy a bike, and probably a pool if I let him. I hope he sticks with it. It will be good for us to get some exercise. We even joined a gym to get started. It’s been too long since we have been to the gym.

I don’t have an update on the knitting but I have something even better. New Yarn!!


I got these from Discontinued Brand name Yarns and I love the colors! I wanted to get some solid or semi-solid yarn for lacy socks and I stumbled across the site on one of the Ravelry forums. They don’t have a huge selection but what they have is really cheap. I got both of these for $11 each + shipping. It took a while but it was worth it. Now the question is, should I put these away for later, or cast on 2 more pairs rightthissecond?

Socks, Bags, and Dragon Eggs

Wow, I have been in a fog lately… Last night at my bible study, I felt like I was about 10 minutes behind everyone else. I even went to bed right when I got home, at 9pm (which I never do unless I’m sick). I have been in such a fog, that I completely passed up my one-year blog anniversary. I had been blogging a whole year on May 10^th. Even thought I haven’t had much to say lately, I have had enough to say to last the whole year.

So when I had the presence of mind to knit this week, I knit on the Monkey socks and something new, but I’ll get to that.

I love how this is coming out. The yarn is gorgeous and the pattern brings out the best in it. I am in the 3^rd repeat, halfway through the leg. I think these will work pretty quickly.



The other thing I started is the Sweater Bag from Lion Brand. When Angie came back from Tennessee, she brought a ton of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick and gave me 9 skeins. 9 skeins is a ton! (Thanks Angie!!) I had this pattern in my queue in Ravelry for a while so I cast on and I am about halfway through the first repeat. It seems like a good amount has been completed but I have to do 4 repeats and a strap. I like working on it though because it’s fast, easy and you can see the cable pattern already. I don’t know what I am going to do when this thing is huge and it’s 90 outside (which it already is). For now, it’s ok.

Well, it’s almost the weekend again and we have a full weekend, again. We have a birthday party for my boss tomorrow night, I have a nail appt on Saturday, and a work party Saturday night. It will be fun for sure. I am especially excited about the nail appt. I won a gift certificate to a spa in Melbourne, and since I finally stopped biting my nails, I am getting a manicure, but not just any manicure. This one includes a hand/arm massage, some special lotion, and a wax dip. Too bad I can’t knit during it. (So if Angie or Traci want to hang out Saturday morningish, I will be in the area!)

That’s all for now, unless you noticed the eggs in the sidebar. Those are my dragons. I am totally geeky and thought the dragon eggs that Carin (from Lime&Violet) had on her blog were the coolest thing. So go click on mine to help them hatch. Please! And you can get your own here.

Is It Really June?

Happy first day of Hurricane Season! (not) Yes, today is the day. It hardly seems like it’s June already. Just last week it was the first of the year. This year I am a little worried about hurricane season. In the past 2 years we have been here, we have only rented, and had all hand-me-down furniture. Not much to worry about, or stress about it we had to leave. This year we have our home, and some belongings that we actually bought for ourselves. It’s not the stuff I am worried about really, all that can be replaced. It’s that now we are responsible, scary. I hope this season is quiet, but before it even started we already had a tropical storm. Hopefully this part of the year will pass as quickly as the past 6 months.

In other news, I *finally* finished the Never-Ending Anastasia Socks. I really love these socks, except how long they took to knit. I guess I was just sick of the yarn and I got bored with the pattern after half of the first sock. It’s a great pattern but it’s a little too repetitious for me. There isn’t much you can do with this yarn since it is so fuzzy though. I am just glad they are done.

Yarn: Zen String Lotus Toes BFL

Needles: 3.0mm Knit Picks Circulars

Pattern: Anastasia Socks

Pattern Designer: Pepperknit

Date Finished: 5/30/2008

Well, this weekend is almost over, but it has been good. We spent Saturday shopping for work tools for T. I can probably go without standing around in hardware stores for a while. At least we got to stop at Joann’s and Michael’s while we were in Melbourne. I wanted to exchange the Patons SWS I bought last week since I got totally different dye lots. I don’t know what I was thinking but I tried to exchange them at Joann’s before I realized that I didn’t buy them there. So we went to Michaels and I decided to get different color this time.

Today we decided to grab breakfast after church and headed over to Cracker Barrel (miss it mom?) where we waited forever. At least I had the new Monkey sock to work on. Breakfast was good, but they took a really long time to bring the food and when mine was ready they figured out that the server ordered the wrong thing for T. So the manager came by to tell us that T’s order would be up as soon as they could, and they there would be no charge for the meals. Wow, usually they only would comp his meal. That made our day! So now it’s back home to relax a little and get ready for work again tomorrow.

Long Weekend

Wow, it’s been a while. Since I last posted a lot has happened. Nothing particularly interesting, but stuff. Last weekend was T’s work party. The owners throw a huge yearly party for about 250+ people with food, drinks (yum, mai tai’s), Hula dancers, and celebs. Well not really celebs, but close enough. There was even a mermaid in the pool. Good times.

We had a great time, but not a good as some. We ended up driving T’s co-worker (and his puking wife) home since we lived nearby. Moving on…I got to hang out with Angie again on Saturday. Right after we picked up the money for the Mustang. Oh yea, we sold it FINALLY! I am so glad to have that gone! So Angie and I got to hang out at Panera for a couple hours while her boys went to see Speedracer. I’ll pass on that movie, thanks. We had a good time, and even got to run into Joann’s and Michaels after. I really wanted to pet the new Lion Brand Sock-Ease, but they didn’t have any yet. I did pick up some Patons SWS but I was a moron and didn’t look at the ball bands. I got two totally different dye lots.

So after we laid it all out I, figured put that there are a lot of events coming up. I wanted to try and make it to Stitch N’ Pitch this year in Tampa on June 21^st. We also wanted to try and throw an event together for Knit in Public Day on June 14^th (I know we’re slackers). Then there is blueberry picking in North Brevard, and of course SAFF is coming up, but we’ll see about that.

Now for an update on the Never-Ending Anastasia Sock:


I have turned the heel and am zipping through the leg, sort of. It is a little farther than this now since I took this on Saturday afternoon, but I have had other things on my mind too. Like This:


Yup, I frogged the Nutkins and switched them to Monkey’s. I liked the Nutkin Pattern, but on the foot it looked weird to me. It was all stretched and the purls between the pattern stitches looked like ladders. I really like how the monkey looks though. I loved the yarn and wanted to use it right away. Plus I really didn’t want to rip out the picot cast on.

So what are we doing for the long weekend? I am knitting a lot and cleaning a little less. T decided to mow the yard and when I stepped out to change the laundry this is what I saw:

This used to be the cat’s favorite tree to climb in. I know it was kinda dead, but I liked that tree. Shouldn’t landscaping be a mutual decision?? Ugh…

Blah

The weekend’s over, back to work…But I did have a good one. I got to spend Saturday shopping with Angie. We hit up the book store, Joann’s, Target and even got to spend some time knitting while her son played in the Burger King playplace (after I crawled through to point the way to the slide). We had a great day, It’s been a while since I got to shop all day.

I even was able to finish the cami on Sunday. It is a little snug, to say the least but I think it looks ok. I will probably only wear it over something though.

Since it is snug it is shorter than I wanted, even after adding an inch to the body. I only tied the gather in the front so it could be removable too.

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport

Needles: 4.0mm Knit Picks Circulars

Pattern: Ballet Camisole from MagKnits July 2006

Date Finished: 5/11/2008

Mods: Added 1 inch to the body and only tied the gather so it is removable.

Sorry if my heart isn’t in this post. I am kind of bummed about all the wildfires going on right now. The interstate is closed just about everyday and there are so many homes in danger. BTW, please keep Angie in your prayers, she is very close to one of the worst areas…

Broken Cars and Sick Dogs

Man I think we jumped right through Spring and into summer. We are going to be in the 90's until next week. I am glad I work in an office all day. Since the women there are somewhat older than me, they keep it super cold in there. I even bring a sweater most days.

I can't believe that the Integra is finally gone from the carport, well sort of. T finished gutting it and saved what he could to sell so he chopped up the rest. This is what the yard looked like on Saturday, but it was amazingly all cleaned up by the time he was done. Now the car is a couple of large pieces of scrap metal in a pile. He even sold the engine, but he still has to ship it. Not bad, I thought that thing would never leave. I never knew you could actually chop a car in such little pieces.

Saturday morning we took Diana to the vet again. She had more skin allergy type rashes so now we are trying her on a hypoallergenic food to see if that's what she is allergic to. Hopefully that will fix it because she looks like she is in pain when she gets those rashes. She is on all kinds of meds now too. We have ear drops and cleaner, ointment for the rash, steroids, and antibiotics. And look, She's officially part of the family. We had to go pick up her prescription from Publix and they couldn't find it until I thought maybe they put it under Diana's name. I never would have thought they would put it under her name at the people pharmacy.

I thought I was much farther on the Anastasia Sock than I am now that I tried it on. I thought I was about ready to start the heel but I need to add another 1 to 1 ½ inches. Sigh...At least the cami seems to be moving along.

I think I am going to try and get a knit night together this weekend, either on Friday night or Saturday morning. T will be gone all day Saturday golfing so I think I need to get out too :-)

May Flowers

How does that saying go... “April showers bring May flowers”? Well we didn't have much in the way of April showers but we did do some gardening. A friend of ours gave us a bunch of plants, whose names I have completely forgotten. I know that some of them are brumeliads, and we got two hibiscus bushes. I love the pink ones. I found that while I love the look of new plants, I don't really like the work of planting them. I would much rather sit in my chair with a sweet tea and some knitting and watch the hubby do it. He wasn't too thrilled with that idea so I pitched in. The yard doesn't look half bad, but it could use some grass.

While I have not been knitting a whole lot lately, I do manage to get in a little bit here and there. I have noticed that sometimes two days will go by without knitting a thing, but my hands do get a little shaky.

I have yet another update on the Cami and Anastasia Sock. I am not letting myself work on anything else until these two are done. They have taken long enough already.

The cami is past where you split for the arms and well into the lower back. If you click for a larger image you can see that my guage changes when I switch from knitting in the round to back and forth. I am not worried too much about it since any extra room will help in the chest area. I think that you won't be able to tell the difference once it is washed.

I haven't knit as much on the sock since it has turned into mostly car knitting. But still it grows ever so slowly.

The Never-Ending Sock:

As much as I despise this little sock now, will I like the finished pair? Or will I burn them...I think not. Burning them will only let them win.

So thats all I have for now. I had to make this quick since it's National Day of Prayer and we have a prayer service at my church. Do yourself a favor and say a little prayer today.

Have a good one!

What a Vacation!

Wow, this is the first time since my mom came and left that I have had a minute to sit and write a post. I will warn you, this is probably going to be long. We have been busy! My mom got in on the 10^th at 10pm, great flight huh. They decided to go check out the Space Center on Friday and we showed them around Brevard county on the weekend. It was a lot of fun since my mom used to live here. She recognized a lot of he area. On Monday we drove out to Savannah, GA to look around. Savannah is beautiful!

We ate at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady & Sons, on Monday night. We almost didn't get in though, just by chance they put 2 bar tables together and said they had an opening. The food was good, but the entertainment was better. Our poor server, Frances aka Gwen, worked for her money! She played along with our jokes and even called my mom's boss because she is such a big fan. Since Paula was not in town, she agreed to hold the sock for a picture.

On Tuesday, after staying in a nasty hotel in Garden City (Hotels.com had horrible customer service on these matters), we got on the bus for the Paula Deen tour. It was really interesting to learn how she got started. Did you know that she suffered from agoraphobia for 20 years? She even had her sons going around with a cooler selling the bag lunches for the Bag Lady. She really worked hard to get her business going with not much capital. The tour was great and I would highly recommend it, you get to see some great areas of Savannah. At the end of the tour we had lunch at Uncle Bubba's, Paula's brother. We had some awesome food there, and let me tell you, the oysters were great! He happened to be in the restaurant and was willing to meet all of us. First off, T asks him to do me a favor and he replies “I'm not taking my clothes off”. He must have thought we were crazy. I asked him to take some pictures with us and then asked him to hold the sock. We might have been ok after that but then my mom asked him to call her boss. After that he definitely must have thought we were crazy, but even after all that he was super nice to us.

We had a good time wandering around Savannah and left later that day. I have all the pictures here if you would like to see. The rest of the week was spent wandering around and eating, lots of eating. My favorite part had to be the air boat ride we went on. We were able to closer than I have ever been to some really big alligators. If it was not for the bars on the boat I would have freaked. We saw some turtles, a bald eagle (so beautiful!), and a really cool cypress swamp. We will be going on more air boat rides for sure. We even got to hold a baby alligator when we got back to the dock. Really fun...

I hardly got any knitting done since we were running around all week but we did spend some time at the beach so I knit a few rows there.

I did knit on the cami a bit too at knit night on Monday. I have now split for the arms. I should be done pretty soon here, but I know that I take forever to knit something. I saw how cute the little soakers turn out too so I think I make knit one after this. Something easy and quick.

I can't believe that it is almost the weekend. I think I need a vacation from my vacation! If you want to see all the vacation sets, they are on my Flickr page here.

Finally

After waiting so long for my mom (or someone) to come visit us she's here. We picked her up at 10:30 Thursday night and she stays until next Saturday when we will drop her off at 6:30am. She picked great flights huh? So the first few days have been busy sightseeing. We went to the Cocoa Beach Pier for some music and lobster, went to the flea market (at her request), and they went to the Space Center. It seems like the days go by much faster and we seem more tired since they got here. I haven't really had any time for knitting even. But I will have more time soon. We decided to drive to Savannah, GA on Monday. We are taking the Paula Deen Tour and eating at the Lady and Sons restaurant. I am very excited to see the area, it will be beautiful.

Maybe on the drive there I can finish the Cami...I really am not that far now. I am about 1 ½ inches from binding off for the arms.

Since I have had it rolled up in a ziplock it is kind if wrinkled. I am trying to not roll it up anymore so it doesn't get so wrinkled. Since it is so big now I have been knitting on my second Anastasia sock in the car. It has taken me forever to knit these socks.

I thought I was getting faster at knitting but these have taken more than a month. I will be glad when they are done.

Well now I have to get back to figuring out what to do with Diana while we are out of town. We didn't even think about where to take her since we will be gone for 2 days. This is the first time we have left since adopting her, and we usually leave Jessie here with a bunch of food. We thought about friends but since it is such short notice I think we will board her at her vets office down the street. Hopefully, if it's not too late now.