Happy Halloween!

I know, I know....this post is a wee bit late. This evening was quite busy.

Kaity went as a witch.




I was rather surprised to see that she wanted to go as a witch. Normally she picks out something Princessy. Next year I'm going to make her costume. It's so much easier to customize to her size. I should have my sewing machine set up by that time.

Here's her pumpkin.




We used a glow stick because it was way to windy to try to keep a candle lit. When I asked why the pic was blurry I was told "Doesn't that look cool!" Who am I to argue.

I finished the Cabled Baby blankie tonight.




I kept it on the smaller side so it can be used in a car seat or stroller. I'll give it a bath tomorrow and probably ship it out here in the next week or so. The blanket unblocked is coming out about 25" wide x 28" long. I'll remeasure after it's been blocked tomorrow. I used almost 2 skeins of Cascade 220 superwash. I love this yarn and would use it again.

Well I'm outta here. I need to hop on over to Ravelry and try to find a dog sweater pattern for Zeus. I may just have to wing it since he's small and skinny.

Monday Updates

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting here lately. So much for Socktoberfest, all I've managed to do is knit one pair of socks the whole month.

I did finish up the sleeves on Bree's Kimono.




Look at all those pieces. Now I need to block it and seam all the pieces together. Oh joyous fun! I'll do that some time this week, unless the "Seaming Fairy" comes to visit and takes care of it for me.

I also worked on the Cabled Baby Blanket.




Everyone all at the same time "Ooooooh, aaaaaaah". The photos aren't overwhelmingly fascinating but the blanket is coming along nicely and is pretty cute! I need to get it finished, so this will be what I'm knitting on until it's finished. That makes for boring blogging so I probably won't post much until it's finished. I don't think it's going to take long if I'm knitting on it exclusively.

I've also decided to join The Sock Stash Elimination Campaign. While organizing all my stash, I decided that my sock yarn stash was getting a little crazy. Before I seen this out on Nell's blog, I'd already decided that my sock yarn stash needs to be culled down a little bit. The link helped me commit.

Check this neat little thing out.




And another shot.




My mom sent this to me quite some time ago. Its a small swift of some kind. She had gotten it from a lady that she was taking care of. The only thing it says is that it's made in Sweden. I wanted to show you all but it ended up being put away and I forgot about it. Shawn found it in a box this weekend.

I'm off to find some breakfast so I'll be ready to hop on the bike when Kaity leaves for school. I'm trying to squeeze in exercise time any chance I get.

Happy Knitting!

Forest Canopy, She is a Blockin'

This is photos of The Forest Canopy Shawl that I finished while we were staying in TLF.

I think it came out great. There was one small error that I found when I blocked the shawl.

There it is on the right side column of yarn overs....one yarn over went AWOL. Don't ask me how in the world I ended up missing a yarn over. It appears as if it got lost some how. Either way it's the only mistake and I love, love, love the shawl. It's so warm even though it is so holey.

I've been fairly busy these past few days. I'll have more updates and hopefully some good shots of the shawl by the end of the weekend.

On payday I'm finally going to order some of the worsted weight Malabrigo that everyone's been telling me I must try. I getting this color to make a scarf and hat for myself. I'm making the Koolhaas out of Interweave Knits Holiday 07 issue, pg 32.....though I know most of you have the mag and know exactly what I'm talking about. Who else out there total drools over Jared's designs (ok and a wee bit over Jared too)? I haven't decided on a scarf yet.  I may just go with a simple ribbing. Shoot I may go with something cabley. I'm craving cables and green yarn.

Blogged with Flock

A Knitters Meetup and the Loot

***Warning: long post with lots of pictures!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a fellow knitter, Debbie who also lives here in Montana. Oh it was so wonderful to sit down and discuss knitting with another knitter. Sorry no pics, I was so excited to be meeting up with Debbie that I forgot the camera....bad bad blogger!

We met up at Barnes & Noble since Shawn would probably kill me if I came home with more yarn, not because I'd be coming home with more yarn but because it's getting close to Christmas time so the extra money needs to be set aside these next few paydays for Christmas shopping. I did come home with a few things though.




I picked up the Holiday 07 issue of Interweave Knits. There are several super cute things I would love to make out of there, specially that Ski Sweater....Yum! I even love the colors they used. I think I may be able to sub it with a Knit Picks yarn.....must do more research. I need to try my hand at a smaller colorwork knitting project before I dive into a sweater. I also picked up another Debbie Bliss baby book. Who can resist all those cute photos? The other thing is a book mark for me. I've vowed to start reading every night before I go to bed. It's been months since I picked up a book that wasn't full of knitting patterns.

I have the back and two front pieces done on the Baby Kimono for Bree.

I have the sleeves started but still have several inches and a lot of increases to do before I'm done. It shouldn't take long.

So I am knitting, but I haven't started a new pair of socks yet. I'm still bouncing back and forth between some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock and my Smooshy sock. Plus I really need to finish up a few projects before I start another one. The biggest project to finish is the Cabled Baby blanket.

Bree has a new place to play.

We had bounced around the idea of getting a big baby gate so that Bree could have the living room to play in. The gate was going to cost well over $100....ouch! We came across this play yard. We were sold after seeing the price ($49 with free shipping) and the reviews which were mostly excellent.

This play yard gives her tons of room plus it's much safer for her to play here because it is 100% baby proof. There is no way I could get my living room completely baby proof. The bonus is that Bree loves her new spot and will sit in there with her toys and play for quite some time.

The yarn room is set up.

Shot #1:

Drawers one and two are being used for my sock yarn. The third drawer is holding all my worsted weight wool and the fourth drawer is holding my single balls of yarn and my lace weight yarn.

Shot #2:

I now have plenty of room for my yarn. Up above the books is where my swift and ball winder sit. The shelf under the books is all my cotton yarns. I need to run out to Michaels so I can browse through their baskets. I want to get one to hold all the dishcloth cotton. Next to the shelf I have a small 4 drawer bin that use to sit next to my chair. That may move out to sit next to my chair when I get the last of the boxes unpacked. Next to that is a 6 drawer bin that holds my color cards, acrylic yarns, etc.

Well I'm outta here for now. It's almost time for Bree to get up and I have a few things to get done.

No Knitting, but a Question!

Somehow I managed to not knit one single stitch Sunday. Admittedly it was mostly due to the fact Bree was not feeling quite like herself and was a tad clingy. I don't know about you all but there is no way that I could knit with my 15 month old daughter sitting in my lap. She seems to be doing fine now but I'm still going to make an appointment with the doc. She's almost out of Prevacid plus I want to meet the pediatrician.

My only knitting content to this post is that I set up the yarn closet today....Yippy! So I have full access to my yarn and books. Woohoo Baby!

I'm blogging because I have a question to ask you all. It's non-knitting related. I'll get to the question in a second, I need to give a little background first.

So anyway, I was standing in the kitchen, listening to my iPod Mini, while getting the roast ready for the crockpot, dancing....badly I might add....I can't dance! Period! See I feel close enough to you all to admit that I can't dance. I got to thinking about the music I listen to and thought I'd ask you all this, Do you listen to just one type of music, ie Country, Oldies, R&B, Heavy Metal, etc or do you have an eclectic taste in music?

Yes, I have an iPod Mini....I have that exact green Mini in the link. The damn thing is like the energizer bunny, it keeps going and going. I've had it for around 3 years now and it's still going strong. Shoot it's a collectors item now. I'm holding out for the new iPod Nano (in Red) but haven't upgraded because the Mini is still working great. *sigh* If only I was a little less sensible.

My iPod has over 400 songs on it right now. Now most people who've looked at my playlist think I'm absolutely crazy.....which is fine with me! Who am I to quibble with someone over my craziness. I know I'm crazy, wait do crazy people know and admit they are crazy?...something to ponder.

I have Elvis, AC/DC, Metallic, Rascal Flatts, Dolly Pardon, The Temptations, Steve Miller Band, Ozzy and so on and so on. I also set my iPod to shuffle and let it go so I'll be listening to heavy metal one minute and country the next. Am I the only one who does this?

I have to ask, does anyone else smile when they hear "Don't Worry Be Happy"? I get completely relaxed and the stress just melts away when I listen to Enya. She has such a beautiful voice.

There are songs that bring back memories. Anytime I hear oldies I think of my dad and the complaints that were emitted from mine and my siblings mouths every time we rode in the car with dad....he always changed the channel! Classic country like Conway Twitty and George Jones make me think of my grandparent. My Grandpa loved The Corvette Song by George Jones.

I'm a child of the 80's so I have flashbacks of my childhood every time I here songs by The Bangles, Bon Jovi, Quiet Riot, Madonna, Whitesnake, etc. Ah, the memories of childhood. Though I think I'd rather forget about the clothes I wore. Ack, what was I thinking! Plus I think that all the hairspray I put in my hair may have made the hole in the ozone bigger.

"Have a lovely day", says the crazy person sitting behind the computer at 1:30am listening to Everyday by Buddy Holly after listening to Maria Maria by Santana, when she should be in bed sleeping.....6:15 am is going to be here real soon!

New Knitting Pattern

I somewhat blocked and took photos of the Granite Dishcloth.




I think they came out fine. If you want the pattern it's in the free pattern section here on the blog.

I finished the updated Playground Mitten last night watching Transformers...yes, Shawn bought the Target exclusive transforming DVD case.

Right now the mitt is being blocked. I think I solved the curling issue. It occurred to me that even with a looser bind off that stockinette will probably still curl. I changed that small portion of the mitt to k1, p1 ribbing for a few rows before the bind off and voila no curling. Ain't I smart one!

October's installment of the Booty Club by Yarn Pirate.....Killer Bees and yes it really is that bright in person.....I love it!

I'm sure that it's safe to post this. I've seen posts all over blogland now. I've yet to figure out how to put up a spoiler alert. If someone knows how to do it could you please pass on the knowledge to me....pretty please!

This time around we received size US1 and US2 needles....they are pink! They say that they are 24" circs but they are much longer then that. I think the cable is 24" not including the needle length. I'll be able to Magic Loop with them.

If everything goes right I should be able to block my Forest Canopy Shawl on Monday. The poor things been done for weeks but I haven't had the time or resources to block it. So hopefully I'll have some updated pics by the end of the week. No promises because the weather changes frequently. Like today, we had sun this morning and it's been gorgeous up until about 10 minutes ago when it started getting overcast.

Once again I'm off to go feed the masses. I've given up on talking them out of eating, so I'm off to cook them chicken. Happy Knitting Everyone!

Bad Mittens, No Biscuit!

Yesterday I finished up the first Playground Mitten but it's not playing nice so the second one has been put into timeout.




When I bound off the 12 stitches on the palm I think it was done to tightly because it's curling. I need to fix that. Plus I think the little flap covering the hole is to short and it doesn't lay flat....need to fix that too. I also need to knit about 2-3 more rounds in the thumb. The thumb actually fits snuggly but I want to leave a tad bit of wiggle room. Other then that the mitten came out great. Opinions on how to fix the palm and flap are always welcome....throw them my way if you want.

So while the mitten was sitting in timeout, I went back to the Baby Kimono.




I finished up the back last night and should be able to cast on the front pieces later this afternoon after I get a few boxes unpacked. The two front pieces are worked together at the same time and I'm going to work the sleeves that way too. For some reason the pattern has the front pieces being worked together but not the sleeves. It's a typical sleeve pattern that gives you the pattern then tells you to make two. Guess that was too much work to throw in those few extra words. So I'm taking the initiative and making them both at the same time. No point in having mismatched sleeves.

I'm still undecided on what sock pattern I'm going to knit next. I'm feeling like cables right now so chances are it will be a cabled sock out of SKS. I'll probably use my DIC smooshy sock that I got from Sheri a few weeks back. The Twisted Flower sock that I started before the move is going to be ripped. I'll reknit it later. It's sat on the needles for two long, plus it was a tad snug. I need to figure out a way around that because it looked like crud when I tried knitting it on the next needle size up. I may have to use a different yarn, something a tad thicker then the Louet Gems and use the Gems for something else.

I also worked on the Cabled baby blanket but I didn't take a pic because there's not that much change from the last pic other then several more rows of pattern. I finally hit the end of the first ball of Cascade 220 superwash. I thought that thing was going to last forever. Out of the first ball of yarn I managed to get the 15 rows of garter stitch border and 11 pattern repeats for a grand total of about 12 inches of baby blanket. The blanket, unblocked is about 25 inches wide. I threw a swatch in with Bree's clothes yesterday when I was doing the laundry and it washed and dried beautifully. I dry all of Bree's stuff on low.

I'm outta here for now. For some reason the kids seem to think they need lunch. There's no school for Kaity for today and tomorrow so she's home too. Guess I'd better go feed them!

An FO and a New Project....

....walks into a bar. I couldn't pass that one up. I wrote the title and it just popped into my head.

I have an FO to report....woohoo!



Last night I finished up the Butternut Rib socks. Super comfy, less boring the plain stockinette socks, and a much better fit. I do believe this is my new Simple Socks pattern. The stripes don't match up but hey what do ya expect, this is hand paint yarn not self striping. I really like them and I love the merino/tencel blend yarn. It's so soft and the colors that Georgia used were gorgeous together. I haven't found a colorway of hers that I haven't liked.

This morning I started the Playground Mittens for Kaity.




I'm testing out the pattern with the leftover Lion Brand Lion Wool I bought at Wally World. I want to see if Kaity will like them before I make her more. These should be a quick knit. I knit the cuff and did the increases for the thumb gusset in less then an hour. This includes stopping to scratch Zeus' head and drink my coffee....both are important morning rituals and must not be skipped!

This afternoon will be fun filled and packed with adventure. I still have some unpacking to do. The adventure comes in because you never know what you're going to find when you open a box. I found some of my knives packed in with the silverware the other day. Damn near cut my finger too. *sigh*

Knitting Happy!

Why am I knitting happy, some of you may ask. Well it's because of this.




I replaced my beat up glider with this fabulously comfy, solid oak beauty....please excuse the mess, we're still majorly disorganized in all the rooms sept the bedrooms and the kitchen. Getting this baby was like moving from a Dodge Neon straight to a Lexus. My previous glider was a Wally world special that had seen it's fair share of abuse, namely baby spit up. It was destined to die an early death.

So since I had the camera out I thought I'd show you all what I've been up to.

First up, is a baby kimono made with Caron's new Simply Soft Baby.




It's really soft and nice to work with. It's isn't splitty like the regular Simply Soft. I like the Simply Soft but it drives me nuts at times to knit or crochet with because it has a tendency to be splitty. The kimono pattern is only found on the ball band right now or I'd link it. It's similar to a lot of the other baby kimonos out there.

Next up, the Butternut Rib socks.

They are progressing nicely. I should have these finished by next weekend.

Hopefully sometime next week I'll be able to head out to Barnes and Noble to pick up the Holiday 07 issue of Interweave Knits. There are several things that I want to make out of there. I'd love to make the Ski Sweater for myself. I even love the colors that they used. I love the Koolhaus hat too. Plus the sock patterns....definately worth the price of the mag. I know we'll go out because Transformers comes out on DVD the 16th. There's no way Shawn's not going to run out to buy that one.

Another good thing. I'm going to get a chance to meet up with a fellow Montana knit blogger. I'm really looking forward to it.

Well I'm outta here. I need to go sit in my glider and knit for a bit. Now that I have to get up at 6am bed time comes a lot earlier then midnight.

Yarn, Moving Rants and Socks

Wow, what a combo in that title. How mad would you all be if you opened a box and seen this:




Yup, the stuff was just thrown in. There was no paper stuffed in the box to prevent shifting or the box from crushing in. This box is full of software, video games, and movies. Most of the stuff isn't that big of a deal but the idiots put my Nintendo games in there without securing them. The games are cartridges and can easily be damaged if packed incorrectly. We haven't come across any broken stuff in boxes yet but we haven't unpacked everything yet.

We've found chunks of wood missing out of dressers and desks and the couch has a big cut in it from someones razer blade. This is the reason why I have crappy furniture. I long for the day of retirement so I can start replacing the beat up furniture with nice stuff. Unfortunately I'll have to do it one room at a time but I'm looking forward to it.

To top it all off my washer was messed up in shipment. The front panel was smacked and the circuit card was damaged. Thankfully I have the extended warranty through Sears so it's 100% covered, which is a good thing because between parts and labor it's going to cost over $400.....ouch!

To sooth over the madness of the poorly packed box...yarn!!

I got the boxes filled with Pink and Purple Cascade 220 wool. Kaity has already laid claim to the purple for a sweater. I'm thinking about making her this sweater.

Today we broke down and purchase Sirius satellite radio for our car. The radio stations in this area aren't all that great. I've found one country station I like but I have to have something to listen to besides country.

Here's a shot of the Butternut socks.

I think they are striping pretty close. They are off a little but hey what do you expect. I didn't write down where in the color repeat that I started the first sock so I had to guess. I only had to rip out the cuff once. I'm about 10 rows from starting the heel flap.

Proof I've Been Knitting

I finished up the first Butternut Rib sock.




I'll cast on the second one some time tomorrow. This sock is comfy and stretchy. It just might become my new simple sock pattern.

I've also been knitting on the cabled baby blanket.




It's mostly been knit in the car. This ball of yarn seems to be going on and on forever....the never ending ball of yarn. I've managed to get about 9.5 inches of blanket knit so far. I'm guessing I'm may make it to about 11-12 inches before I have to add on another ball.

We're settling into the house just fine. We've managed to make a good dent in all the boxes. I have most of the stuff in the kitchen again and both the girls rooms are almost finished. That leaves the living room, exercise room, and the master bedroom.

The New Digs

Warning: A very long, very picture intense post. Dial-up users beware!

Thought you all might like to see pics of the new place. Our place is less then 5 years old. We are only the 3rd set of tenants....woohoo! It's a two story house with a one car garage. They were even nice enough to put an electric garage door opener on the garage door.

Lets start the tour downstairs.

The front door (door on the left hand side of the pic):

There's a lovely little cubby that's perfect for the dogs food and water dishes. Next to the front door is a big friggin' closet. Not counting the closets in the bedrooms we have a total of three big closets.

The hallway shot.

This is the view you get standing in the front door entry way. The door in the middle left side of the hallway leads to the powder room. Turn your head to the right and you will see:

The living room:

This is going to be the exercise room.

The dining room, which is connected to the living room:

We'll probably put Kaity's desk here. It will be the perfect place for her to do her homework without distractions.

Here's a little glimpse of the powder room downstairs.

Nuf said. I'm figuring you all won't want to see more photos of the bathroom.

The pathetic, pitiful excuse of a kitchen.

I hate it but hey you can't have everything. We have a garage and tons of storage, thus the crappy kitchen. Something in the place had to stink.

Look behind you, that's the Utility room.

Directly in front is where the washer and dryer go. To the right is this awesome laundry folding area and to the left is a cubby to slide the freezer into. Lucky for us we have an upright so we should be able to leave the water cooler there.

Now go out the door which is located on the far left side of the room and you will find the....

Garage:

It's big enough for us to fit the Buick in. In front of the car is a alcove with shelves for Shawn to store all his tools and such.

The family room.

We'll be using this for the dining room. To the left is the door into the backyard. I'll show the backyard some other time. It's another disappointment but it's livable.

The Arctic/Rec Room which is across from the family room.

We're going to be using this for our living room. It's gynormous! The drawback is that I need to get a baby gate to block the archway which is like 68 inches wide. See that door on the far wall, it's my new....

Yarn Closet!!!!!

It's another one of the big friggin' closets. I'm going to have to give up some of the shelves for the family games and such but the rest of it is mine, mine, all mine. Lots and lots of yarn space.

Now lets travel up the stairs.

There is another big friggin' closet up here on the second floor. I'll spare you the shot of the closet.

Shot of one of the smaller bedrooms.

Kaity and Bree's rooms are for the most part the same. Bree's is a little smaller. I'll spare you all another similar shot of the other room.

The girls bathroom.

I was so happy to see that there were two bathrooms upstairs.

The Master Bedroom.

Turn your head to the right and you'll see....

The master bathroom.

The sink is separate from the tub and toilet....kinda like a hotel.

Another shot of the master bedroom.

It's plenty roomy enough for everything. It's a lot bigger then the room we had in Idaho.

And back down the stairs we go.

Yeah I know, just what you all wanted to see when heading down the stairs, a shot of the dogs butt. Speaking of dogs, they love the stairs and travel up and down them every chance they get. If Shadow keeps this up she may just lose those extra 13 pounds.

Thanks for stickin' with me through the end. I know it was a long post but we have a big friggin' house now. Plus this post is also for the family members who read my blog.

Next up, getting all our stuff put into all the empty space and getting pics and such on the wall. Shoot, guess it's time to make a trip to Pier 1 here soon. I think I need to find me some house plants too. I need to offset all these plain white walls without having to paint. I hate painting and the military makes you paint the walls white again before you move out of the house.

Hope you all enjoyed the tour!

Updates & Yarn

I couldn't resist the lure of the baby blanket. Sorry no pics, the camera's at the house and I'm at TLF. I had the yarn and it was killing me not to cast on so cast on I did. I have the border and 4 pattern repeats on. I think I'll need to put on about 28 repeats so I still have a lot to go. The pattern is super easy so I've been taking it in the car with me. Once it gets a little bigger I'll leave it at home.

The border on the baby blanket is garter stitch and 15 rows of garter stitch gets really boring. There is no way I could make a 60 or so inch long scarf in garter stitch. I do like the Cascade 220 superwash. As far as price goes it's about $3 more per 220 yards to go with Cascade over Knit Picks but the color choices for Cascades superwash is way better then you can get with Knit Picks. I've also seen a lot of complaints about KPs Swish which is why I chose to go with Cascade.

I have some Swish in my stash that I'm going to knit up a bunch of swatches and test them out side by side with the Cascade superwash. I'm going to have some left over from this blanket. I want to see how they both fair. I'll post a full report here on the blog. It probably won't be for a few weeks though.

While we were out and about today, I stopped at Michaels to get a few skeins of Paton's SWS.

I'll probably use it to make a scarf for Kaity. I picked up 3 skeins, 330 yds. The color is Natural Geranium.

I also picked up a skein of Cottontots.

The pic is a wee bit washed out. The color is Wonder Dreams. I'll either use it to make a bib(s) or I'll make another bunny tether blanket, like the one I made awhile back for my nephew.

I helped a couple of Ravelry members destash. I have some Cascade 220 Wool coming to me. I got 6 skeins of purple (#7808) and 3 skeins of pink (#7805) which are destined to become sweaters for both my girls and probably some hats and mittens. It doesn't bother me to hand wash stuff.