New Year, New Leaf

I'm going to try to get back to blogging. I know I've said that before so we'll see if I can make it stick. I have several knitting projects on the needles. I did finally give up on a few. They've been on the needles for so long I knew they were never going to be finished.

I have a goal to get some of my projects finished up. I have the hue shift afghan that needs to be finished. It won't take me long if I just sit down and knit on it. It was tucked into it's bag and forgotten about. Bree's skirt is languishing on the needles. I need to get it finished before the kid grows out of it. Finally I need to finish the Morvarch shawl I started for my mom.

I have some KAL's I'm going to being joining up with so there will be some casting on soon. In Feb I'm joining the Constantinople Shawl KAL. It's a shawl with some lace. I'm looking forward to this knit. I love making shawls.

The next KAL is going to be a Supernatural themed shawl. The Fight the Fairies KAL starts in March. I'm super excited for this one because it involves beads. Lots and lots of beads. Yeah!! I've been wanting to start another beaded shawl for awhile now. I love knitting with beads. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas has past and now it's time to relax before the start of the New Year. Shawn has a new permanent, full time job with benefits that he's very happy in so I think the whole letting you go from your job crap actually worked in his favor. It gave him the push to find something new since obviously we can't survive on just military retirement and VA alone. Well we could but there would be any extra fun money. Plus Shawn home with me every day is enough to drive me insane. He was off for a few weeks between his temp job and the start of his permanent job and I was ready to kill him by the time he started working again. I need my quiet time. It was nice for the first week but got really old quick.

I've been knitting a bit. I started a new pair of socks for my self.

The pattern is Crazy Castiel Socks and the yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Glimmer in the Fiji color way. The yarn reminds me of Castiel's grace. We're big Supernatural fans in our house so anything related is loved. Seriously how can you not love the show with all its eye candy and the storyline is pretty damn good too. I'm probably going to have to make another pair for Kaity. She's a diehard Supernatural fangirl. We picked up this bracelet for her for Christmas and she was petting it and smiling. I swear she looked like Gullom from Lord of the Rings my preciousssss. I really liked this ladys work so I think I'm going to order a custom key chain for myself.

I made a couple of Mug Hug mug cozies for my sister and I.

I adjusted the pattern to make it for the disposable take out cups you get from your local coffee shop instead of a standard coffee cup. With my trusty Dutch Brothers Cocomo I got to work on making a sweater worthy of my keeping my cup cozy. Theses only take a small amount of sock yarn scraps and thats something I have plenty of. I'll be making more for my mom and sister in law too.

I also picked up some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed.

This will soon become Fiddlehead Cardigan provided I don't change my mind between now and then. The color way is Flagstone Heather.

I also did some shopping on The Loopy Ewe.

I picked up some fat quarter fabric packs that were marked down and a table runner kit along with one of the Christmas Kits and some yummy self striping sock yarn from Biscotti and Cie. I'm starting to get back in to sewing again so I've been slowly building up my fabric stash again. I really want this kit and this kit and this kit and this kit.

Happy Crafting!

Updates and Stuff

I'm still struggling with my RA. The doctor added an anti-inflammatory back to my list of meds and that's helped a lot. I haven't had to take the prednisone as much. It's something that I've for the most part learned how to live with but I don't like it and there are days when I flat out hate it and I'm ashamed to admit it but I've had my fair share of pity parties. You live, you learn and you deal. It's all about coping. When I can't knit I curl up in my chair with my iPad and throw myself into a good book. I'm just thankful that I have libraries with eBook lending and Amazon Unlimited has really came in handy for me. I read more then 2-3 books a month. Actually I go through 2-3 in a week and on really bad RA days I can read 2-3 books in a day.

Things have been crazy here. Shawn finally figured out some of his issues with heartburn and indigestion all tie in with gluten so we've been trying to cut gluten out of his diet completely. Let me just say that its damn difficult. There is gluten in crap you'd never thing about it being in.....sheesh. Thanksgiving dinner is going to be a bit of a bitch but I'll get it all figured out.

Shawn was let go from his job earlier this month. After almost 2 years the HR Director called him into the office and said "it's just not working out". The flippin joys of working in "at will" state....ugh! Of course Shawn being Shawn he dusted his ass off and found a job within a matter of hours. Its a temp job that will end before June but he has a couple of final interviews lined up for a permanent job. We'll be OK. What the "nice" lady who let him go doesn't understand is we're use to being kicked in the nuts....we're a flipping military family. Most military have to deal with the proverbial kick to the nuts at least once in their career. We had more then one so we're well versed in the what can go wrong will go wrong. Few things we've learned, Stressing and worrying doesn't change things just makes you miserable, never spend more then what you make, have a healthy savings account and at least one free credit card for emergencies, and laugh. Laughing is one of the most important things. You always always need to find the humor in things. We're laughing because I guess the person who let him go has been getting a lot of flak for firing him and the ones left behind are scrabbling to pick up and figure out the crap that he has been handling for almost 2 years. Wished I was a fly on the wall to watch them struggle....gottta be a funny sight.

Now on to knitting.

I did knit Bree her Ducky she's been pestering me about.

The yarn is Knit Picks Swish DK and the pattern is Baby Duckling. She's been sleeping with it every night. It's become her favorite thing to carry around. She thinks the duck needs some grapes so I may humor her. It's all because of a group of videos on YouTube. I'm not sure why the kids think it's hilarious but I laughed so hard when I watched her and my nephew watch the videos. They made the funniest faces and laughed so much. They are her favorite YouTube videos, thus the request for a ducky of her own.

I just couldn't resist casting on a skirt for Bree.

I fell in love with this skirt pattern the moment I saw it. The pattern is Balletto and the yarn that I'm using is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal sock yarn. I am however regretting picking the pattern because of what has turned into never ending ruffles from hell. I'm never going to finish the ruffles. I'm surprised I'm not having nightmares about ruffles.


Finished my Porch Swing Cardi.

I can't begin to say how much I love love love this cardi. It's so comfy and warm. I've already worn it several times this winter. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy and the color is Chinatown Apple. There were 3 distinct shades of this yarn so I ended up swapping out the yarn with each row I knit. A bit of a pain in the butt but I think its turning out rather nicely. This cardi has very minimal finishing. It's pretty much seamless. There just a little grafting under each arm and thats it.

Kaity's on a scarf kick so I knit her an April Scarf.

The pattern is pretty simple so I worked on it while watching TV. I'm using a skien of Knit Picks Chroma Fingering weight in the Lollipop color way. It's been in my stash for some time now and Kaity adores the color.

I'm making another Ripple Afghan.

What good Boise State Broncos fan doesn't have a blue and orange blanket on their couch! JoAnn had the yarn on sale so I nabbed it up and got to work on it while watching the game. One more game to go against Utah State next weekend. We win that one and we're going to the host the championship game and could be looking at a New Years Day bowl game. Gonna be watching and yelling at my tv next Saturday. Wished I could afford game tickets. Le Sigh....maybe next year.

I have another cardi and some fingerless mitts for myself and a few small things for my mom. I'm going to start kicking in to gear on the Christmas knitting. My only project is making some Christmas ornaments and lots and lots of Candy Cane Ponies. I also have a few sewing projects I'll be swapping with my knitting to give my hands a break. The tiny joints are what are giving me fits. I've had to many days where my hands and feet hurt.

Till next time Happy Crafting!

Living With RA or What I Call The You're Body's Kicking Your Ass Daily

I hate having Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I try not to whine about it but there are days when all I want to do is whine because it's not fair. I didn't always have this so I remember what things were like for me before RA became part of my life. I sure as hell didn't ask for this and I wouldn't wish this on even my worst enemy. Not that I have any or anything. 

It's a miserable damn disease that causes your body to kick it's own ass. Imagine waking up every morning feeling like someone smashed all your joints while you slept. If you're really lucky in an hour of being up and moving the pain lessens and you can go about your day. If you're unlucky you're joints feel like they're on fire and it hurts so bad to move that you curl up in bed and sleep because you're so exhausted from the flare and in so much pain it's the only thing you can do to keep from crying like a baby. Most of us look fine from the outside. Unless the damage is long term and severe you don't see a lot of outward effects of this disease. I'm luckier then some because mine was caught early and doesn't seem to be as aggressive. 

Life was going great for me until a little over a year ago when my meds stopped working. Sadly I learned the hard way that people with RA have to change their meds every few years because their body gets use to the meds and they stop working. For two wonderful years Enbrel was my miracle drug. It worked so well I forgot about life and pain before it. It had very few bad days and mostly they were do to signification changes in pressure normally like when thunderstorms rolled in. I'm now on medication number 3. Enbrel worked great for 2 years and I tried 6 months of Humira to make my insurance company happy. Lets just say that was a miserable 6 months filled with Prednisone, a lot of weight gain, and pain. Lots of pain and signification weight gain do not go well with each other.  I can't begin to relate just how much I hate low dose Prednisone twice a day. It doesn't hurt my stomach but it it causes weight gain and drowsiness for me.

During this last year I've had a lot of ups and downs. Living with me had to be a nightmare for Shawn and the girls at times. There were days it took everything I had to just to get out of my PJs. I haven't done a lot of knitting either. I blew off friends because I just couldn't muster up enough care to even tell people what was going on with me. When I had good days it was awesome but it just made it even harder to deal with the bad days specially when the bad outweighed the good. Depression and anxiety took over my life for over a year. I was able to push it off for days at a time.

I'm doing better now. I'm still not 100% but I'm trying Cimzia now and hoping this one works for me.  The doctor wants to see me in another 12 weeks to give the meds the chance to do it's thing. If not I'm going to be moved to a different type of biologic med since this is my 3rd anti-TNF. I want to knit more again. I really miss being able to knit every day. I had to finally admit defeat a few months back and slow down because the long knitting sessions were causing my problems.

I'll probably be blogging more about my RA and sewing. I'm getting back into sewing since it hurts my hands and other joints a lot less. 

So if you were one of those friends that I ignore I would love to offer you a heartfelt apology. I should have made more of an effort to stay in contact. If you have RA or have someone you love that RA and want to talk let me know.

Sick Kid, Rainy Weather, and A Little Bit of Knitting

Kaity has some kind of flu bug so I've been up since 2:30am sitting here with her. Here's hoping she doesn't pass it on to anyone else in the house. At least Shawn was able to sit up with her for part of the night so I could get some sleep. I got about 5 hours of sleep so I may be able to make it through the day. At least I don't have to cook dinner tonight.

I finished my moms fingerless mitts.



The pattern is Beth's Fingerless Gloves. I'm definitely going to have to make a pair for myself. I still haven't tired of knitting stuff with beads. It's definitely one of my favorite things to do.

I'm making decent progress on my Rainbow Hue Shift Afghan.




The first picture is Section 1 completed and the second picture is the start of Section 3. I'd definitely make another one of these. Kaity's actually requested one of her own.

I started a pair of socks for my mom.



The pattern is WonderWings and the yarn is JulieSpins MCN355. I love love love working with this yarn. I really like this designers patterns. This isn't the first pattern I've used from this designer and it definitely won't be the last.

My cardi is moving along slowly.



I haven't gotten very far on my Porch Swing Cardi. I'm sure I'll pick it back up soon. I just had to put it aside after ripping out over 15 inches of work. It would have drove me nuts to keep looking at the color difference so the only real option I had was to rip and start over.

Dishcloth.



I'm doing the dishcloth KAL again to give me a small project to knit on. This is Aprils mid moth KAL.

Right now we're under a cold snap. We woke up to frozen water in the dogs water dish outside which made me doubly happy to have not planted tomatoes. I almost picked up a few tomatoes the other day. Next week we're suppose to warm back up into the 70s so I'm thinking the garden will be planted next weekend.

Till next time....Happy Crafting!

Being Busy Is a Great Excuse

Well I'm going with it being a good excuse. That's my story and I'm sticking too it. There are days when I feel like things are never going to slow down here. It seems like it's just one thing after another. I had every intention of blogging more frequently. Believe it or not I really miss it. One of my biggest problems besides being busy was because my computer was buried in an office with a lot of boxes that I just couldn't find the willpower to force myself to clean them out and being back there made me feel guilty because the boxes were still sitting there. It's so much easier to avoid things then to deal with them. The office has been cleaned up and I have a shiny new MacBook Air so I no longer have to sit in the office. The office still has issues with being messy. It's seems to be the catch all for the junk in the house that isn't setting on my kitchen bar.

The girls and I spent almost 2 months down in California with my parents last summer. It felt really good to be home. We took the girls camping in the Sierra National Forest for almost 2 weeks. I learned that Bree is the biggest dirt magnet in the world.

 I swear the kid found every speck of dirt in the forest. It's definitely a face only a mother can love. She looked like this pretty much the whole time. We'd no sooner clean her up then she'd find more dirt with her cousin and partner in crime.

Both girls caught their first fish and we found out that Kaity is a friggin fish whisperer. The kid caught almost as many fish as her Papa did.



Between my dad and Kaity we had rainbow trout while camping and managed to take some home too.

The girls also got to see the beach for the first time and boy did they have fun.



The girls helped their Papa dig a big whole while my mom and I went looking for shells. I can't tell you how great it felt to dig my toes in the sand and feel the water wash over my feet.



I've really really missed walking on the beach. I spent a good amount of time with my eyes closed listening to the waves crash in on the beach. Crazy me I actually took a recording with my phone to get the ocean wave sounds. It was a great day.

I was able to get a deal on 3 day park hopper tickets to Disneyland through the military base. They had a special going on for military members and their dependants.



It's expensive but my parents shared the costs with us and we spend 3 days and 2 nights down in Anaheim running around Disneyland.

On our way home we stopped off at my Granny and aunts house to visit for a few days and the girls got to ride on my aunts horse.





My aunt walked them around on it. You'd swear they won the lottery they were so happy. They had a blast.

The only thing that would have made this past summer better is if Shawn was there with us. We're hoping to make a trip down to Cali and another trip to Disneyland summer 2015.

Since Woolgirl closed her doors I've found myself with more time to knit stuff for myself. Right now I'm working on some requests from my mom.

Fingerless mitts for mom.



The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Bling and the color way is Ruby Slippers. I'm using some white beads I picked up from Hobby Lobby.

I started a sweater for myself by I've had to frog it because of the yarn pooling. I'm now rotating through 3 different skeins and things are looking much better. Hopefully my next post I'll have some more progress.

Bree is counting down the days till football season.....132 days till Boise State plays their first game.





So to get in the spirt of things I made her a Boise State colored bracelet and scarf. I hate fun fur but she loves them so it was worth the hassle. She's ready for the season to start and has been promised her very first game this year so I have to get tickets ordered for one of the home games. We're probably gonna hit the one in Oct when they play Fresno State. Would love to see them stomp Fresno this year. Plus it's one of the few home games they have that ESPN isn't forcing a late kickoff. 8:30pm kickoff is way too late for the poor kid.

So hopefully I'll be blogging a little more now. We'll see. Till next time.

Happy Crafting!

Poor Neglected Blog

I've been neglecting the blog for quite some time now and I haven't really tried to get back into the habit of blogging.

Things have been busy here for all of us. The kids are almost out of school and my mom is coming up next week to help us get our household goods unpacked. We're taking off the beginning of June for a 5-6 week trip down to my parents house in So Cal. Shawn unfortunately has to stay behind and work but at least he loves the new job and the people he works for and with are great.

We're buying my sisters house so at least we won't have to change our mail address again. It's hard to believe that we'll be seeing our stuff in a little over a week....woohoo!!

I have been knitting. I've managed to keep myself busy even with my stash in storage and my spinning wheel in pieces packed in a box.

Knit myself another sweater using Miss Babs Yummy sport weight yarn.

The pattern is Gnarled Oak Cardi and the color is Vlad's. I found the buttons at JoAnn's. The one here in Boise has a much better selection of buttons then the one in Montana. Of course it's like twice the size of the one in Montana.

I used the left over yarn from my cardi to make a shawl.



The pattern is Crescent. It was a quick easy knit and used up the last skein of Miss Babs Yummy sport I had left.

I made a pair of socks for myself.



The pattern is Nancy's Sock and the yarn is Socks That Rock medium weight and the colorway is Peridot and Periwinkle.

A pair of socks for Kaity using some yarn I picked up from Michaels.



The yarn is Loops and Thread Luxury sock. It's a merino/cashmere/nylon blend. It's pretty affordable. I've never used it before so we'll see how well it wears for the kids socks.

My Simple Skyp socks.



Knit using Socks That Rock lightweight in the County Clare colorway. I really loved the way they were pooling so I worked and afterthought heel.

I knit a Trousseau shawl using yarn I frogged from a pair of knee highs that weren't coming out the way I wanted them too.



I think the shawl looks better then the socks were looking anyway. This one may be rehomed to my mom. I'm not a shawl wearer but I do love them.

This isn't everything I've knit but it's a good recap of all the big things. I've also done a handful of test knits for Woolgirl too.

Thanks to my sis I'm now hooked on several new shows, The Glades, Castle, Warehouse 13, and Supernatural. As if I really needed new shows to watch. Since I haven't upgraded to a dvr that can record more then 2 shows at once I have to rely on XBMC on my android Xios keeps me from missing shows. Gotta love what my sis deems lovingly as Hacker TV.

Till next time.

Happy Crafting!