Yarn & Cute Baby

I made my very first purchase with BMFA this afternoon.  My order was not super sized, though I could have put 4-5 skeins in my cart, I only bought one skein.....but I'm sure there will be more in my future.   This time I decided to go with Tide Pool.
Now on to the cute baby part of the post.  This is what I saw this morning when I opened Bree's door.

The girl is slippin' out of her jammies again.....this isn't the first time.  :~)




Baby in Jail.  I just love the look.


 

Another Monday

So far so good this seems like it's going to be a pretty good Monday.  I've had my coffee and shower...yes I had the coffee before the shower.  You all don't want me to fall and smack my head due to being half asleep in the shower, now would you.....must have priorities.  :~)
So now that I have my coffee buzz going and I no longer stink I can update you all on my progress and such.
First off, my CTH socks.  Here's  what I managed to accomplish last night.  The gusset is complete.  :~)




When you all seen it last (the 28th if I'm not mistaken) it only had about 4 inches on the cuff.  So I've managed to make some pretty good progress on it over the weekend.  I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of this coming weekend.  I have about 6 inches total left on the sock.... 4 more inches of foot and then about 2 inches for the toe.  :~)  I'm in the homestretch now.

I think I'll be working on my moms gift this afternoon.  Kaity will be at school, Bree will be napping, Shawn will be at work and all will be quiet in my world.  I'm also hoping to have this one finished soon.  My goal on this one is to have it finished by the end of next week so that gives me 10 good days of knitting on this, barring no unforeseen problems.  You know how it goes, something always comes up.  :~)

My mini freak out is over.  Shawn calmed me down....he always does.  I also had some great advise from some good friend....Thanks.    :~)  So now I'm not freaking out over money and moving and everything else under the sun.  I'll be posting as soon as we find out where we are going.

I ordered a few balls of Trekking sock yarn from Astrid's.  I've heard so many great things about her store that I figured I'd order some yarn.  I did email her earlier this year with some questions and she was so much fun to talk to.  I had mentioned that I would be ordering from her after I recovered from my daughters b-day and she sent Kaity an ecard....how sweet is that.  So I have some Trekking coming in....haven't used Trekking yet.  :~)

I also won a contest out on Jennie's blog.  WooHoo, I won....It's not normal for me to win anything.  :~)  It was fun.  We had to guess what the brand and color of the yarn she was using.  I won a ball of the Trekking Ombre 100.  I'll post a pic when I get it in.

I think Sheri was also going to try to have the Loopy Sock Club shipment out this week or next.....weeeeee!  I sooooo can't wait to see what she has picked out for this installment. **Trish is giggling like a little school girl**

So I have yarn coming in, I'm not freaking out, and I'm managing to get some knitting time in.  All is well in my world.  :~)

Wrister & Socks

Last night actually finished the first wrister and cast on for the second one.  I put a few rows on the second wrister and then swapped over to my CTH socks.  My goal was to get the wrister finished and get the heel flap finished on the second sock.  I came so close to that goal.  I've got about 6 rows left on the heel flap.  :~)   I'll finish up the heel flap, turn, and get the gusset started this afternoon.

Now that I know the basic concept of how to make fingerless mitts later this year I'm going to work on some using some of my Cider Moon yarn.  I'll just wing it and make up my own pattern as I go.  With good enough notes I'll be able to make a second one that looks the same as the first.  The Cider Moon Glacier will make some fab warm mitts for this winter.  :~)

I'm reserving Monday afternoon to work on my moms gift.  I need concentration and quiet which is something I don't get on the weekends when everyone is home all day long.  :~)
If all goes well I'll have another FO to report on here by next weekend....maybe more then one.  :~)

Freak Out Moment

Shawn and I were discussing the impending move and I asked about when we should leave.  We both decided on 1 Aug. 
Shortly after this conversation I started having one of my mini freak out moments.  It dawned on me that 1 Aug is 3 months from now, that's only 6 paydays.
So I've got 6 paydays to get enough money put aside for extra moving expenses, a tow hitch for our car, all animal shots up to date, clothes for the girls, etc, etc, etc.  The list could go on and on and on. 
So the stuff I thought I was going to get this payday will now be on hold indefinitely, to includes Mothers Day (this month), My B-Day (June) and any other thing/holiday that isn't absolutely necessary.  I have a tiny bit of money tucked away but it's going to be saved for an "OMG I can not live with out this at all" item.  :~)   
Oh boy, isn't moving fun.  Of course we still don't know where we are going but we will find out some time between now and the 15th of May.

Sock With A Mind

I was on a sock roll tonight so I figured I'd just keep going with it.  So after finishing up Kaity's socks I started working on my CTH socks.  Here's what the second sock looks like next to the first sock.




The second sock started pooling a lot more and didn't stripe like the first one did.  No biggie, I wasn't expecting them to match up considering the varigatedness of the yarn.  I also have a sneaking suspicion that it started pooling the way it did because the ribbing is different then the first sock.  What I don't get is that it is now starting to strip just like the first sock did.  You can see the stripe forming down there next to the needles.  I'm beginning to think this sock has a mind of its own.   I did nothing to alter the stitches to get it to stripe it just started doing it on its own.  This will probably be the pair that jumps out of the drawer and drinks my rum in the middle of the night.  :~)
They are both twisted rib at the top but the first one is wrong because I was wrapping the yarn wrong.  Which is I think part of the reason the sock started pooling more.  You can see the ribbing better if you click on the pic to get the full picture size.   I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was now wrapping correctly so therefore the ribbing was actually going to twist right when I cast on for this sock.  There's 4 inches of sock....there's no way I'm ripping it out.  Plus I don't care that the ribbing looks different.  I'm the only one that sees the top of my socks.  :~)  The twisted rib will be twisted from here on out.
So these socks are definitely fraternal, but I love them.  I'll love them even more when I get them finished because that means I can start another pair for myself....WooHoo!  I have about two inches to go and I can start the heel.  Yippy!

Oh and as a follow up to my Banana Bread post earlier, the recipe worked out good.  It did indeed taste as yummy as it looked.

Another FO

WooHoo!  Another FO.  I finished up Kaity's socks earlier.  One ended up being a tad bit bigger which I think it due to the fact that I knit the first sock on metal needles and the second sock had to be knit on my Sox Stix.  It didn't really change the fit of the sock on Kaity's foot and she didn't care.  She snagged them as soon as I was done weaving in the ends, stuck her feet in them, declared them comfy and went off to bed with them still on her feet. Well I'm off to find another WIP to work on.  :~)

Banana Bread

OK, I felt the need to show proof that actually cooked the Banana Bread like I said I was going to.  :~)
I couldn't find my handy dandy tried and true recipe so I settled on a new one.  This one used brown sugar and I'm pretty sure my regular recipe had regular sugar.  I bout laughed when I read that this new recipe wanted me to put the mixture into a 9x13 baking pan.....OK guys that's a cake size dish.  If you bake it in a cake dish, like a cake then wouldn't you figure it would be Banana Cake?  I used my four mini loaf pans.  They are easier to deal with and four mini loaves are easier to store since I can freeze some or give it away when I make big batches.....which isn't often.  :~)

Before:





After:




OK....Betty Crocker moment is over now.  Time to go have some bread and knit a few rounds on something.  I'm gunning for an FO  of of my WIP lits by the end of the weekend.

Hopefully this recipe is as good as my other one.

** For those who've already read this post it's been edited because I can't spell or type.  :~) 

Knitting Updates!

Hold on to your hats, Trish actually has some knitting to talk about that she can show pictures of.  :~)
Bree decided to stay up again tonight but she was nice enough to play in her play saucer thingy.....go click on the link to see what I'm talking about....lol.  Since Bree was up I didn't have all my concentration for anything other then basic knitting, since every few seconds I here "Ma Ma" which I then look up to see what she wants and get an eye full of baby grins....which of course make her not going to bed seem a little bit better.  Nothing makes things better then a baby grin.  I think her problem is a mix of cutting more teeth and a growth spurt.  Darn kid needs to grow.
So here's what I accomplished on Kaity's second sock.



They are matching up pretty nicely.  I'm soooo close to finishing these.  I've almost got an FO.   I could knock these out with a few good knitting hours. 

I think I may get all Betty Crocker-y later today.  Shawn and Kaity have been on a banana kick here lately.  This time there were a few bananas that didn't manage to get eaten before they became over ripe.  So tomorrow afternoon those bananas are going to turn into 3 baby loafs of banana bread.  Yum.  I haven't made banana bread in forever.  Knitting and Baking in the afternoon, busy day for me. 
Course this may be the last time you here me talk about baking for a while.  I'm not big on cooking and baking.  I get the notion to bake stuff every now and then, but it isn't often.  Mostly cookies with Kaity and the occasional cake, muffins, or cupcakes....nothing too fancy.  I do love making bread in my bread machine....nooooo it has nothing to do with the fact the bread machine does all the work.  ;~) 

Knitting & Movies

I decided to watch a movie and knit today since I was up late with Bree....who decided that she didn't need to go to bed till 1 am. 
The next move on my list was The Guardian since Shawn wants to watch The Break Up.  He has until the end of this weekend then I'm watching and sending it back to Netflix.   
I'll argue with anyone who tries to tell me that serving in the Coast Guard isn't really being in the military.  Just because they don't have guns and bombs doesn't mean that they aren't a valid branch of the US Military.  I think they deserve to be recognized but a lot of people never give them a thought unless they need help from the Coast Guard.   The ones I give major props to are the members serving in Alaska who risk their lives to help fisherman in trouble out on the Bering Seas. 
Sorry bout that.....I'm getting off my soapbox now.  :~)  It's just one of the things that aggravates me to know end, when I here someone say that the Coast Gaurd isn't part of the "Real Military".
I'm a sucker for military movies.  Don't ask why but I love the movie Navy Seals.  I've watched Band of Brothers several times now.  I'm not sure what draws me to the movie but I love it. 
I'm also sucker for Kevin Costner then throw in Ashton Kutcher and oh boy you've gotta movie I'm going to rent.  Lucky for me it turned out to be an great movie.  I started with my Moms gift and after many mistakes and 2 rounds of progress in one hour I gave up and put it away.  :~)  I swapped to plain stockinette socks and all was well in my movie watching and knitting worlds.

Long Night

You know what they say "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions", well I could borrow a little from this saying tonight.  No I'm not going to make my family eat ramen so I can buy yarn.  I'm sticking to the no yarn before payday thing....lol.    :~)
It was my intention to knit on my moms b-day gift which has now been turned into a combo b-day/Mother's day gift.  Lets see if I can make Mothers Day.

Instead I'm sitting here with a baby on my lap babbling to all of you.  :~)  Bree in her infinite 9 month old wisdom has decided that tonight she doesn't need to sleep.  So we are happily....when I say "we" I really mean "Bree"....sitting here surfing the internet spending pretend money on the internet.  Shoot I just spent about $150 of my pretend money at BMFA.  I'm sure I could do even more damage by visiting the Loopy Ewe and shoot while I'm at it, might as well spend some at Scout's Swag.  Then there are various etsy sellers with some major drool worthy yarn to buy.  Why stop at just one.   :~)

Another New Swatch

I finished another swatch last night.  This one was a cable swatch.  I still have two other cable swatches to work on.  Cabling is not one of my favoritist knitterly things to do.  To put it plainly, knitting cables just plain sucks....at least for me it does.  Maybe I need to learn to knit without cable needles or maybe I need to find the right cable needle...."The One"!  Wonder if it's kinda like finding your soul mate.....you here birds sings, fireworks are going off in the sky and the world is right just for those precious moments.  I swear I haven't been nipping at the whiskey bottle....I don't even like whiskey!  Of course "I do love me rum" **says in a piratey type voice**....haven't had any in months and months and months.....darn babies and nursing.  Oh Boy, I can't wait till Bree is weaned....then I can have me rum.  Ok now I'm making myself sound like a lush.....lol.  You never want something badly till you can't have it at all.  :~)
Anyway, back to knitting content: You can see the new swatch here.

Ouch the Pain!

Oh Ouch my poor heart.  Sheri posted more yarn today and I missed out.  It's in between paydays for me so no yarn.  I can't justify making the family eat Ramen till we get paid.  :~)   Of course I had to torture myself by looking at the yarn.....lol.  Maybe next time.
She's got the lace weight up.  Squeee!

Side Note: I took down the Snap Shots.  With the way my site is set up the links on both sides just make it a pain to navigate.  :~)

New Blog Addition

Alright.  I've added Snap Shots to my blog.  This will pop up a small box whenever you hold your mouse over a link.  Drop me a comment and let me know what you think of it.

New Swatch

Here's the swatch I finished up last night.  It's the baby cable ribbing which I've also seen in Sensational Knitted Socks.  It's a super cute pattern and I think I may use this one for socks for Kaity.  It think that would be super cute.

Front:


Back

Tuesday

Dang, another day without a snappy title.  I'm losing my touch.  :~)
Last night I took a break and worked on another swatch for The Walker Treasury Project.  Its already been blocked so all I need to do now is get a lovely picture of it and post about it, which I'll do later today. 
So to sum it up last night, I finished one swatch and started another one.  This new one I started is a cable pattern using Shine worsted weight from Knit Picks.  OMG, this stuff is soooooooo soft.  I could see baby stuff being made out of this stuff.  The only drawback is that each ball only has 75 yards on it so at $2.49 it would start to add up.  Then again if you were making kids garments you wouldn't need a lot anyway.  I think it would be around $15 to make a sundress for Bree.  I haven't knit the Cotlin up yet but it is soft to the touch, not as soft as the Shine but definitely not like touching dishcloth cotton.

OMG, I forgot to share this with you all the other day.  I was out cruising ebay just to see what I could see, when I came across some Sweet Georgia sock yarn.  Now finding the yarn isn't much of surprise.  You'd expect to see it on ebay now.  What I didn't expect to see was one skein going for $53.99, two more skeins going for $42 a piece and one other skein that's only going for a measly $32.   Even at those selling prices there is no way in the world I'd sell my yarn even if I had some.  I'd keep it pet it and then knit it into socks.  :~)
I gave up long ago on the thought of ever getting any of the Sweet Georgia yarn.  I decided I was way to lazy to start calling yarn shops in hopes of them still having some in stock just to have to fight other people to get the yarn.  I'm just not going to fight over yarn....not worth the headache.  So I will wait till Felicia comes back from her well deserved vacation and enjoy some of the other brands of yarn that are out there.   But it's fun to see what others will pay for it out on ebay.  Is there a black market for discontinued yarn out there some where?  Some place other then ebay?  You see its goofy questions like that that keep me up at night thinking instead of sleeping.  :~)
I think I may take the plunge this payday and get two skeins of Socks That Rock.  Now I need to decide which two colors to get and decide on the lightweight or medium weight yarn.  Decisions, Decisions.

I think this afternoon I will attempt to get some more of my moms b-day gift knitted up.  I'm so close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this one.  I didn't work on it last night because I needed to concentrate and I just couldn't seem to.  :~)

Yarn Overload

For all of you who maybe on a knit from your stash thing....you may want to turn away now.  I ended up with all my yarn orders delivered today.

First up is the yarn I ordered from Cider Moon's shop.  I saw this yarn and it just screamed Spongebob.  Kaity is completely in love with this yarn, which could be mostly do to the fact that she is a major Spongebob fan.  They even threw in some samples of yarn in other colorways.....who wouldn't love sample yarns....squee!



Next up is my order from Knit Picks.  I bought some of the Cotlin for some sundresses for Bree.  The dark purple and bright pink are the Cotlin for Bree and the other two skeins are the shine worsted weight.  They are both soft and I think the Cotlin is going to knit up really nicely.  Of course I won't find out till I get some other projects finished.  Aaaahhhhh, I so want to cast on right now.  :~)



Finally is my order from The Loopy Ewe.  This is that skein of Fleece Artist in the Dragonfly colorway that just wouldn't leave my cart.  OMG....This...Stuff...Is...Gorgeous!!!!  The picture doesn't even come close to doing this skein justice. 



OK....I need to go wipe the drool off my chin and swap out my laundry again.  Darn that housework....it just sucks up so much time.  :~)

Monday Monday

Some extra sleep did help out a bit.  I'm still a little achy and run down but it's not as bad as yesterday so I can live with it.  :~)
Today is laundry but other then that I'm pretty much going to relax.  In between loads I'll probably sit back and relax while knitting and catching some TV time.  Dinners easy tonight....Grilled Chicken so that's Shawn's department unless the weather gets too nasty to grill out. 
Last night I worked on my moms b-day gift.....woohoo I got another 5% done.  About another 25% to go and I can send it off to my mom.  :~)

Note to self: Call sister and pester her.  Haven't talked to her in a few days so it's time to call.  :~)

Blah Sunday

Not to much to report on the knitting front.  I worked on my mom's b-day gift last night and have it about 70% done....almost there.  :~)  So obviously since I worked on my moms b-day gift I can't post pictures.
I did finish up some squares for Colleen's "Spare a Square".  If you all want go check out Colleen's blog and pester her for more info on the squares.....she'll be glad to give it to you.  So if you have any extra washable yarn that you don't know what to do with, use it to make up a cute dishcloth pattern and contact Colleen.  :~)
I think I'll be working on my mom's gift again tonight.  I didn't knit on anything this afternoon.  I opted to take a nap while Bree was napping.  I woke up feeling crappy this morning.  I think I may be trying to come down with something....I hope not. 

Yippy Skippy WooHoo!

I received my Monkey Sock Swap box today.....Squeeeeee!  I loved everything.  If you all want to see what I got in my loverly box head over to my post on the Swap Blog.  I'm too darn lazy to post all of the pictures again.  I now have 3 pairs of hand knit socks.  If I get my butt to knitting I can get that other sock finished for myself and I'll have 4 pair.  :~)

This will probably be my last swap till after I move.  It's a bummer since getting boxes in the mail is fun but I really need to concentrate on getting my house cleaned out and ready for the move.  I don't want to get stuck doing it all at the last minute.  It's fun to get goodies in the mail and it's really nice to get something that's been handmade by someone else.....to be on the receiving end of all the gift giving is so nice.  I'll just have to settle for boxes of goodies that I've purchased for myself.  :~)

On another note, I paid for my Loopy Ewe sock club.....Double Squeeee!  I can't wait till that comes in too.  :~)

Well I'm off to enjoy quite knitting time since Bree is down for a nap. 

Back of Escalator Swatch

For anyone interested, here's what the back of the Escalator Pattern swatch looks like.  Sorry for the crap photo....no natural light at the moment since the sun went down.  :~)

Ain't It Purdy?

Here's the latest in my never ending adventure into swatching for The Walker Treasury Project. 

I've already posted it out to the WTP blog.   This pattern was fun to knit but with 24 rows in a pattern repeat you have to pay attention to the row you are working on.

Well I'm off to get the kiddos in bed so I can have some quiet time.  :~)

Friday

Sorry, couldn't come up with a snappy title.  :~)

First up, yarn.

This is the yarn I ordered from Discontinued Yarn.  I bought it to make a sundress for Kaity and maybe something for Bree.  There is enough to make something for both girls.  I'll figure out exactly what I'm going to use it for later.  :~)

Next up, I seen this out on Wendy's blog and Sheri's  blog today and figured I'd join in too.  So here's what my fridge looks like.

The fridge has been cleaned up so it's not as bad as it use to be.  We made Kaity clean up some of her drawings a few weeks ago.  She had the whole fridge covered in her drawings.  :~)

My Monkey Swap Pal received her box and she loved everything.  I was a little nervous and worried that she wouldn't like what she got but she loved it all.....Yippy!

Yarn Weakness!

The best laid plans of mice and men....

I have a weakness, could it be a weakness...hmmmmm, let me think....yup it's a weakness.  It's called the sock yarn weakness.  :~)

I had planned to not make any more purchases from the Loopy Ewe for the time being.  You know.....moving, saving money, etc, etc, etc.  Well I passed up on the new stuff but couldn't help snagging a skein of Fleece Artist that showed up.  I thought the Fleece Artist was sold out but when I checked I noticed that there was one called Dragonfly.  Of it was soooooo pretty I could not pass it up....it has pink, purples, blues, and greens, it's pretty.  Actually I put it in my shopping cart, closed the web browser and walked away.  I was trying to resist.  :~)  When I came back to the computer later....no it was more then 5 minutes later I have a little more control then that.....lol.....it was still in my cart.  I decided the skein was meant for me and made my way to checkout.  :~)   I can't find a good pic of it right now.  I'll take a picture next week when I get the skein.  :~)

Oh man am I in trouble if I ever get around to buying some Socks That Rock.  I can't seem to decide on one or two colorways to buy which is why I haven't bought any yet.  For some reason I think Shawn would probably get a tad bit upset if I bought every colorway out on BMFA's site.  :~)  Plus I don't want to eat beans and taters for a month because I spent the grocery money.  At least my weakness isn't that bad.  :~)  I haven't found a colorway of Socks That Rock that I haven't liked and they just keep adding more colors.  :~)

Updates, Babbling and Such

Just wanted to let everyone know that I didn't blow away yesterday.  The wind blew through here really bad until between midnight & 1 am.  At least the windows didn't rattle all night.  Today is gorgeous and sunny if not very warm.  It's only about 36 but we have high hopes to hit 52 and the sun is shinning nice and bright.
Last night I frogged several UFO's and rewound the yarn.  I'll be starting them again but for now they were just in the way.  I frogged the baby hat because I need to start it over again making it a wee bit bigged.  I frogged the 7 rows I had on the Civil War Shawl.  I'll make that one later but right now life is just in the way.  I'll probably start that one again after we move and get settled in.  I also frogged Baby Peanuts blanket....who is now Baby Blake.  :~)  I wasn't quite happy with the gauge so I will try again on needles one size bigger.  I'll be starting that one again here in the next week or so.  But that blanket is going to be a super fast knit and I may have enough yarn to make a hat and dare I say it.....Booties.  I'll be looking for a cute double point pattern.  I'm  not really thrilled with making the two needle ones though the pattern my mom had me attempt made a really cute bootie.
Did I tell you all that we are now suppose to here about our assignment selection on 27 April.  *sigh*  The military can never make up their minds what they want to do.  :~)  So it looks like we won't have to wait until mid-May to find out now.  Lets hope what they are saying is true. 

Windy Wednesday

Oh boy, today the wind has been ripping through here so bad the windows have been rattling and the rain sounds like little BB's hitting when it smacks the windows.  It's still blowing really bad and it looks like there is no end in site.
I mailed off my Monkey Sock Swap Pals box so hopefully she will get it by Sat.  Priority Mail normally moves pretty quick.  I also found out that my box is in the mail to me....Goody goody.  I can't wait for it to come in.  :~)  I love goodie boxes.  Rebecca is taking sign ups for round two of the Monkey Sock Swap if anyone is interested you can go out to the site to find out more info.
Last night I put a few rows on another swatch for the Walker Treasury Project and put a few more rounds on my CTH plain jane socks.
This morning I managed to get the cuff finished on Kaity's second stripe sock and this afternoon I knit, then frogged, then knit, then frogged, then knit and finally frogged on my mom's b-day gift.  I finally gave up till later tonight when I have more peace and quiet.  I'm going to concentrate on turning this one into an FO and getting the second sock finished for my sis.  Shawn has to kick butt on homework tonight so things will be quiet here in the house.  :~)
My sis called to let me know that she got the Raspberry Monkey sock I sent her in the mail and that it's a little snug going on but it feels great on her foot so I'm just going to make the other one for her.  The twisted rib cuff is what's snug when she puts it on but the rest is great.  I like the twisted rib but the 2x2 rib is stretcher.  I may try knitting the twisted rib on needles one size bigger and then swap back to the normal needle size with sock number two.
I missed Sheri's sneak up of sock yarn today.  Well I didn't miss it but I also couldn't buy any so that's kinda like missing it.  She had some Chewy Spaghetti and Yarn Love that I would have liked plus I can alway go for more Apple Laine.  I could have so easily bought like $70 worth of sock yarn, but I didn't.  :~)  Maybe next time.  There's always a next time.  Plus I have my first installment of the Loopy Ewe sock club that will be going out here in the next few weeks.  Goodie Goodie!
Well I'm off to go get the kiddos in bed, find a snack, and see if I can keep my sanity and not frog the darn gift knit for a fourth time today. 

Is It Tuesday?

My calendar says it's Tuesday but my whole day is feeling more like a Monday.  Yesterday was great, I finished the Monkey socks and set myself free.   So I guess it really didn't feel like a Monday to me.
I contemplated knitting this afternoon but decided to clean instead....Yucky, but necessary.  I let a few things slip while trying to get these socks done so I figured I'd go ahead and spend today cleaning.   Not that I really wanted to but better to catch it all now before it gets bad.  :~)
Bree has decided to throw a wrench into that plan.  She's decided, in her infinite 9 month old wisdom, that she does not need to take a nap today.  I did manage to get the living room straighted up, dusted, and the vacuum ran through out the whole house and yes I remembered to turn the vacuum on before I started.  :~)
Well I'm off to attempt cleaning the kitchen.  If all goes well Bree will sit in her highchair and play so I can get the kitchen straightened up. 

I'm Monkey Free!

I finished up the Monkey socks. 

All they need is a bath and blocking and I can send out the box Wednesday.  WooHoo!  I'm back to bouncing between knitting projects.  Now I need to decide what project I'm going to pick back up.  Probably my moms b-day gift.  I'm such a bad daughter.....her b-day was almost a month ago.  Actually I was kicking butt on it but then I ran out of yarn....stupid pattern errors *sigh*.  So I was held up for like a week waiting for the yarn to get here.  Then it was attack of the Monkey socks.  I know I know, there go the excuses again.  :~)  I'll get it finished so my Mama can have her present and you all can see what I knitted for her.  :~)
Well I'm off to set my coffee pot and catch some sleep.  Tomorrow is an early morning.  Kaity has to be at the dentist by 9:20 am so I need to get up earlier then normal. 

Patterns, Patterns Everywhere

I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled knitting to show you all the cutie patterns I picked up last week.


The two Plymouth patterns were purchase from The Naked Sheep....great little place to find patterns.  They offer free shipping in the US on all orders, which is awesome in my book, I love the free shipping.  :~) 
The sundress pattern is for Kaity and the cardi pattern is for Bree.  Plus we just found out a few weeks ago that my cousin and hubby are expecting their first little one toward the end of the year....squee, two babies to knit for.  Damn I need to save up some money for more yarn.  Oh more yarn purchases.....Expand your stash, I'm stickin' with it.  Anyone use any of the Debbie Bliss yarns?  I know they are a tad pricey but are they worth the extra money?

These patterns were bought from an ebay seller Oregon Trail Yarn.
 

This isn't my first purchase from her.  Go check her out.  She's an excellent seller and she has some great items at good prices.  I bought that little jumper patter on the end for Bree, which is 1T-4T so it'll be good for a bit.  The hoodie sweater in the middle will be good for both the girls because it runs from 2T clear through ages 10-12.  Then the pattern on the left hand side is for my hubby.  Yup I'm going to make my man a sweater.  Since I have a ring on my finger I don't have to worry about the sweater curse.  :~)   It's just a simple Henley but it has Shawn written all over it.  He doesn't quite get the $20-30 socks but he rolls with it.  I thought I'd make a sweater for him to show him how much I appreciate the fact that he puts up with my obsession.  He's been hinting about wanting a sweater so I'd better make him one.  :~)
I should be seeing the yarn I purchased for some of these things here this week too.   I bought the yarn for the sundress from Discontinued Name Brand Yarns.  I think I've seen them selling stuff out on ebay too but can't remember the seller name they go by.   They said my order shipped UPS so I should be seeing that soon.  The yarn was $1.99 a ball there instead of $4.99....can't beat that.  Plus they gave me a pattern free with each color of yarn I bought so I have 2 other patterns I wanted coming in.  :~)  I also bought some of the Cotlin yarn from Knit Picks.  I'm going to see how it feels and if it works and feels good I'm going to use it to make the little Jumper for Bree.  I'll share everything when it comes in. 
Well I'm outta here ya'll!  I'm back to my regularly scheduled knitting.

Monkey Socks

Yippy, sock number two has a heel and gusset.  It's all down hill from here.  A few more inches to go on the foot and it will be the start of the toe.  I'm looking forward to getting my swap pals box in the mail.  I think she's really going to like these socks. 
Today is laundry day...fun, fun!  So this afternoon I'll be working on laundry and knitting on my Monkey socks.
Still no word on assignment orders yet.  Shawn's been checking the system at least 2-3 times a day.  A little obsessive but we want to know where we're going so we can start doing a little more planning.  Plus after 8 years on this base we are both a little anxious to go somewhere else.  We are really hoping for Montana.  One of our friends said he's been to Malmstrom AFB and it's beautiful up there.  To think I might see green and trees one of these days instead of dust and tumbleweeds.   :~)

Privacy

Ok, I know this may sound crazy but I feel like my privacy has been violated in a way.  I say it's crazy because this is a blog and anyone who wants to can read and browse through it.   But it's my little section of the net to bitch, gripe, and complain about whatever I want.  Not to mention share my knitting and my life with all my friends who I would never have met if I hadn't started this blog.   I Love You All!  Even my lurkers, I know you're there even if you don't comment a lot and I appreciate that you all stick around through complaining and crazy rants.   It's great to be surrounded by people who get you and understand what you are going through, babies who won't sleep, yarn addictions, stalking yarn shops, bad days, knitting projects gone bad, etc.
Why do I feel my privacy has been violated.  Well where do I start.
A well meaning person decided to give my blog address to someone in my family.  Now this person has apologized for this.  It's partially my fault because I should have told this person that I didn't want my whole friggin' family reading my blog.  If you have crazy, annoy, irritating people in your family you will probably understand where I'm coming from, hell you may see where I'm coming from anyway.  Family have my phone number and email address, the blog was mine.....well it was anyway.  I'm going to say myself and the person who shared my address are both 50/50 to blame.....share and share alike.   There's always enough blame to go around.
So now I have my blog where I've always felt free to say what I wanted and do what I like and now I no longer feel that I can do that.  I feel like some of my freedom has been taken away.  How can I be free when I have a bunch of family members looking on at everything I do?  Because I know it won't stop at the one person, it will spread and before I know it everyone in my family will be annoying me through my blog.  If I wanted that I would have created a stupid MySpace account.  :~) 
I see my blog as a creative outlet.  Shakespeare I am not, but it gives me a way to get through the great things and the frustrating things in my life.  Do you all think I'm crazy?  Do I have basis for feeling like my privacy has been violated?  Maybe I am crazy, after almost 29 years in my family it's a wonder I'm not insane.  :~)   Not to say my family is bad, they are the typical annoying, but loving family and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. 
Shit see there I go already lying because I never know which family member is reading this.

Note:  I just finished re-reading this post and am proud of myself for keeping the cussing down to a minimum.  I came up with a few creative ones tonight.  :~)   I think I may be able to make a few of the crew chiefs blush with my creativeness and they are a hard group to embarrass. 
For those of you who don't know military stuff all that well, a crew chief is another name for a jet mechanic.  The crew chiefs keep our jets flight right which in turn helps keep the pilots safe.  They are a very rowdy bunch of people......crew chiefs are their own breed of people.  You'd have to know one to know what I'm talking about.  :~)  Needless to say they are interesting and to think my sis is seriously involved with one....he's a great guy though.  :~)

Loopy Order

My order from the Loopy Ewe came in today. 

I bought a skein of Cider Moon in the Go Go colorway....Love their yarn, it's gorgeous and squishy.  I also bought a skein of Fleece Artist in the Marine colorway.  This is my first Fleece Artist order.  I love the feel of this yarn.  I also bought one of the new Pocket Pals that Sheri is carrying.  They are handmade.  I'm going to use it to store my most used DPs. 


Finally there I bought the Zephyr stitch markers. The sayings on them are soooooo me.  Knitters Anonymous and Yarn Anonymous.....lol. 

Monkey Update

I managed to get a good amount of knitting done on the Monkey socks.  I need to put one more repeat of the 11 rounds of the pattern....11 rounds till the heel flap.  Hopefully....**Knock on Wood**.....I'll have the socks finished before the end of the weekend.  :~)  Oh that would be so nice.  I want the box out to my pal and I want to get back to my other projects.  My poor mama hasn't gotten her b-day present yet so I need to get that finished for her.  The sooner I get done with the socks the sooner I can get back to knitting her present.  :~)
I'll probably post progress pics some time tomorrow night.  I'm to lazy to do it tonight.
Well I'm off to bed to go snag my 6 or so hours of sleep.  :~)

My Vesper Sock Yarn

Talk about having a good day.  My Vesper sock yarn from Knitterly Things came in today.  I'm lovin' it.  Very pretty colors.  The first one (pink, green and white) is Astro and the second (several colors of pink and black) is Strange Little Mama.

Well I'm off to go watch Flicka, gotta love Tim McGraw.....gorgeous! I'll be knitting on my Monkey socks.  :~)

Monkey #1 is Done

Yippy!  WooHoo! Yeah!  Goodie!

Ok, with that said I can now post about the Monkey sock, who I managed not to kill.  I did threaten it with a pair of scissors.....don't believe me, my hubby will vouch for me.  :~) 
There is one small problem, the last pattern repeat was messed up.  I missed the last several rows, due to having to rip the stupid toe out.  Of course I don't see that I missed the last few repeats until after I get the toe grafted.  I study the sock, pass the sock to hubby and had him examine it, and asked for opinion.  His opinion: It looks good leave it if you can match the other sock to look the same.  You know what I think he may be right so that's what I'm going to do.  Hopefully my swap pal will like them even if they are missing a few rounds.  :~)

Well I'm off to get the other sock on the needles and a few rounds done before I head to bed.

Baby Hat Revisited

OK.....I'm back to the baby hat issue, which for me has been solved.  I wanted to make a hat that would fit a slightly older baby, say 6-9 months.  I found this post on the Yarn Harlots blog that really helped me put everything in perspective.  So going off my gauge of 8 sts per inch and my little midgets 17" head I need to cast on about 136 stitches instead of the 92 stitches I'm working with now.  The 92 stitch hat will fit a head about 11.5" around.  I think that's about preemie size.  So I'll be ripping it out and trying again with more CO stitches.  I'm going to wing the pattern.  If it turns out good I'll post the pattern out here for anyone else who may want to use it.
Well I'm off to feed the masses and all that other wonderful jazz.

Yarn Substitution

A while back I purchased some books off of ebay.  One of them was a Debbie Bliss book called "New Baby Knits".  This book was published like 16 years or so ago.  It's not out of print, you can buy it at here.

My problem is that the yarn that is used through out the book is made by Hayfield and I can't for the life of me find info on the yarn.  I guess this was before Debbie Bliss got her own line of yarns.  The other Debbie Bliss book I purchased uses her yarns which I can find info on and very easily sub. 

I've googled till I'm blue in the face and have found like next to nothing about this yarn.  Does anyone have this yarn or no anything about it?  All I want is the friggin' yardage and gauge so I can sub it with something else.  Shoot I'll be happy with yardage.
Here's the Hayfield yarns used in the book:

1. Grampian DK, 50g ball



2. Grampian Aran 100g ball



3. Pure Wool Classics 4-ply, 50g ball



4. Pure Wool Classics DK, 50g ball



5. Silky Cotton DK, 50g ball



6. Brig Aran, 100g ball



7. Raw Cotton Classics 4-ply, 50g

Am I making this harder on myself then need be?  Should I just buy the yarn I think is closest to the yarn used and start knitting.  I just want to make sure I'm going to have enough yarn with out having 7 extra skeins.

Baby Hat

I decided to take a break from the stupid Monkey socks I'd love to kill.  Tonight I knit on a baby hat.  This hat is for the Loopy Ewe Quarter 2 Challenge.  I'm using the Online sock yarn that Sheri sent to me for the challenge....I posted a pic of it with the Louet Gems I ordered.

Now my problem is, I'm not sure if it's big enough.  I have zero experience making baby hats.  This hat is about 5" wide unstretched and it will stretch out to about 7.5".  These measurements are straight across the hat not the actual circumference.  Anyone have an opinion on if the hat will be good.

I guess I should test it on my little midgets fat head.  Bree's head has always been on the big side so if it fits her I should be good to go.  Chance are I can get more them one hat out of this ball of yarn.  I may keep this small one and then cast on more stitches for the next one.  I'm not going to be heartbroken if I have to sent it to the frog pond.  I'd rather knit a hat that is usable then one that's going to be way to small.

Shane Bernier's Wish

Isabelle posted about this and I'm passing it on.  You can read the full story here.

Shane Bernier is a 7 year old boy who's cancer has come out of remission.  Shane's wish is to set a world record for the most birthday cards received.

It doesn't take much, you can even print one of the cards they have for download on the site.  You could also have your kids make the card, for those of you who have kids that like to draw, color etc.  My daughter is making the card that we are sending.  The postage for a card is cheap.   So if  you can, please send Shane a B-day card.

For Slauditory

This post is for Slauditory, who left a comment on the Walker Treasure Project about the swatch I did.  Here are pics of the front and back of the swatch.  Slauditory commented that this pattern would look good in a scarf for "Manly" guys and I'd have to agree.  I think I'd probably use a Seed Stitch border....I like seed stitch, which is why I can't for the life of me understand why I used Garter Stitch.  Who knows with me!

Click on the pic to see a bigger picture and see the details better.

What do you all think?  Would this look great for a scarf for a guy? 


Front of Swatch:




Back of Swatch:

Yarn, Socks, and Aggravation!

On the sock knitting front, I'm completely aggravated with the Monkey socks for my swap partner that I'm currently working on.  I had the stupid thing almost done last night and ended up having to rip the whole toe out.  I then had problems picking up the stitches and lost the last pattern repeat.  The socks went flying while Shawn ignored me and continued to watch TV.....he's a smart man to keep quiet when I get mad.....lol.  Although I am proud of myself, no new cuss words.  :~)  About 10 minutes later I picked up the sock fixed the pattern repeat and put it away for the night.  I'm still mad at it right now but I'll work on it later tonight.  It won't take much for me to get it finished up tonight.  That will make it 4 days to make a sock.....that is a personal best.

My first box from the Loopy Ewe came in this morning.....Yippy!  That's the one with the Louet Gems in it.  Oh boy "I Heart Louet Gems"!  It is squishy and soooooo soft.  No wonder Cookie A. uses it to make her socks.  I will be buying more.  Sheri also sent me a skein of yarn to make a baby hat for the Loopy Ewe Q2 Challenge.  I have some great yarns in my stash for wristers but don't really have anything that would be appropriate for a baby hat so I asked Sheri if she could throw something in.  The yarn Sheri sent me is perfect.  Now all I need to do is figure out a pattern or make one up.


I do have to admit that I couldn't pass up the Cider Moon and Fleece Artist that Sheri added so I bought Cider Moon in the Go Go colorway (sold out) and Fleece Artist in the Marine colorway.  So I should see that box by the weekend....hopefully.  :~)  Plus I just got the confirmation stating my Vesper sock yarn from Knitterly Things has shipped today.....YIPPY!!!!!   I can't wait to get that in. 

Now onto the moving front.  We are pretty much guaranteed to get one of the first two bases on our list.  Our top two are Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, MT or F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, WY.  We were told we will have orders in hand by 15 May so we could find out any time between now and 15 May where we are going.  The person Shawn talked to said to check the database from time to time to see if we've been assigned a base. 

Either base is going to be a fairly easy move for us because both bases are about 8 hours away.  No 8-10 hour days in the car with the kids, dogs, and cat for days on end.  :~)  Talk about a major relief there.  Although Shawn was bummed that we would only be getting one day of travel pay....no super nice hotel rooms for $50 a night.  When we came up here we stayed in some really nice hotels for $50-$60 a night while everyone else was paying closer to $100 a night.  The only place we had to pay $80 was in Mitchell, SD which unless it's grown since we went through doesn't have a whole lot to of anything.  Hell we were charged $80 and we couldn't even drink the friggin' water.....don't you think that would be deserving of a discount....lol. 

The discount really comes in handy to be traveling on military orders.  Most hotels have a military discount or have a government rate for those who are traveling on orders.  You won't believe the places that have military discounts, you just have to ask for it.  :~)  I guess you can consider that a nice little perk for being in the military.  Although I'm not sure if that would be worth signing away 4-6 years of your life over to Uncle Sam.....lol.

We're going to start cleaning out the crap in our house starting this weekend.  I don't want to take junk with me when we leave here and we are only allowed around 8,000-9,000 pounds if I remember correctly.  If we go over our weight allowance we have to pay so much per pound which is no biggie if you only go over like a few hundred pounds.

Damn I was long winded today.....sorry all.  :~)

Moving & Socks

It's official now, we will find out what base we are going to be moving to by 15 May.  We will be moving to our new base in Aug, Sept, or Oct.  We are going to push for an early release so we can be set up in our new place before Kaity starts school.  I don't want to move her to a new school after school has started if I don't have to.  So be prepared to see my do the happy dance or cry my crazy self silly here in the next month.  Keep your fingers crossed and send a little good vibes my way. 
On to other news.....must have a little knitting content....lol.  I put the poor Monkey sock back to rights last night.  She once again has a heel and gusset.  This time there are no ladders on the bottom of the foot.  I think the next time I use Fearless Fibers, I'll use the bamboo DPs.  I think the weight of the metal is making it harder to keep the ladders out.
If you want to see what it looks like, go look at the picture I posted yesterday.  It looks exactly the same.  Couldn't see wasting my time to post  a pic.....alright, alright I'm lazy.  :~)

Ah the Depression is Gone

My stalking of Knitterly Things paid off.  I was able to snag 2 skeins that I've been wanting.  I got Strange Little Mama and Astro.  Nothing better then a quick shopping trip.  The yarn sold out in nothing flat.  Less then an hour latter there was no more yarn.  :~)
OK seriously, I didn't buy the yarn out of some strange sock frogging depression.  I've been planning this buy for the past few days when I seen that Julia was going to be doing a shop update today.  :~)   This was a well thought out, calculated shopping expedition. 

Sock Depression

Well the socks were going great and they did have a heel and gusset.  Now all they have is a heel.  I was getting some mega ladders on the foot of the sock and I just didn't feel comfortable leaving them there so to the frog pond they went for a nice little dip.  Never worry, I'll have them back to their former goodness by the end of the night. 
That being said, I'm off to go sooth my wounds by stalking KnitterlyThings in hopes of scoring a skein or two of Vesper sock yarn.  Stuff is darn hard to get a hold of and I want some.  :~)

Yesterdays Progress

This is what day 2 produced.....she's got a heel and gusset.  Now all I need to do is put about 3 more inches on the foot, put on a toe on and start the second one.  Between this afternoon and tonight I may be able to finish up the foot and maybe start the toe.  Today's a busy day for me.....laundry.  Still haven't found that maid/cook yet. 
Shawn informed me today that we should here about were we are moving to some time next month.  I think they are really going to push to get us moved.....when I say "they" I'm talking about the military powers that be....they are a fickle power at times too.  I swear there are about 100 people in charge and not of them know what the other is doing which makes for headaches.  Of course this is what they say now, they'll probably change their minds at least a half dozen times before we find out.  :~)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Hope everyones day is going great.  Just wanted to post a pic of my two favorite girls and show the progress I made on my Monkey Swap socks.  If I keep this up there will be no problem making my deadline of the box being out in the mail by 16 Apr 07.

Yesterday I also placed an order for some Louet Gems fingering weight yarn from The Loopy Ewe. I just couldn't hold out anymore....lol.  I have 6 skeins total coming, in 2 different colors.  I picked up Bright Red and Caribbean.  I think I'll do the Gothic Spire socks in the Bright Red and do a cabled sock from SKS in the Caribbean.  If I love this yarn as much as everyone says I will, you all know I'll be buying more.  :~)

Mail, Socks and Such

My wonderful mailman was kind enough to bring me my box from Knit Picks....WooHoo!  So you all can probably guess what I'll be knitting on constantly....yup you guessed it Monkey socks.  I've been holding out on the Monkey socks for my Knit Picks DPN's.  The only ones I had that are pointy are 8" long and that's too long for sock knitting, at least for me.

Last night I finished up the first plain jane socks for myself.  It fits great.  Doesn't Skitz make a lovely background for sock pictures?  This would make for an interesting entry into Sheri's photo gallery "Socks On Trees (and such).  I think this one would fall into the and such part....lol.  Now that I have my needles in these socks will have to sit to the side for now.  I need to get the Monkey socks done first.

Well I'm off to go get Bree down for a nap, get something to eat, finish the laundry, squeeze in some knitting time, perform surgery on Hello Kitty's foot, etc, etc, etc.  My list would go on and on.  A mom's work is never done.  :~)  Of course if you ask Kaity the only think important is to get her Hello Kitty sewed up.  The poor Kitty has a 2 inch hole in one of her feet.  This is the Hello Kitty Build-A-Bear stuffed animal that Kaity and Shawn made a special trip to Boise for.  She bought it with her B-day money my parents sent her.

And now I leave you with a cutie pic of Firefighter Bree.  Kaity had a Daisy Scout field trip to the fire station here on base and she brought an extra hat home for her sis.  Doesn't she look so serious?  :~)

Blog Problems

It came to my attention that my blog was messed up when viewed in IE 7, oops I mean certain browsers.  ;)
I played the process of elimination game and wouldn't you know it, the problem child was of course the last thing I removed from my blog.  The problem was my Work in Progress tracker in my sidebar.  Apparently IE 7, I mean certain browsers didn't like the code that I had put in.
I'm glad I'm a Mac user.  :)
If anyone running their blog on Typepad wants the code for the WIP tracker, leave me a comment letting me know you want it and I'll send it to you in email. 
If anyone else has a problem with the blog drop me a comment or an email and I'll see if I can't get it fixed.  :~)

It's Done!

Yeah Baby!  Stick a fork in it, this blog is done!  Well I'm not done posting out here but after an afternoon of working with it, I think I have everything I want back on my new blog. 
The links in the side bars don't open into new windows but that's not a biggie.  I may be able to figure that one out later.  I just don't feel like hunting down html code right now.  :~)
So far I like it.  It definately takes some getting us to when you swap over specially after using Blogger which is super user friendly.  I have to pay for this blog but I think it's going to be worth it.  Last night I tried out this one and Wordpress and decided on Typepad.  For me to get more functionality with Wordpress I would need to host it which is going to cost twice as much per month then what I'll pay for Typepad.   So far I'm liking it.   
I'll still keep my blogger account for all my KAL's because that's what most go through.....it's free and super user friendly.  :~)   I'll be keeping my personal blog on this site!

So what does everyone think of the new blog?

Welcome

Welcome everyone to my new blog.  Over the next few weeks I'll be working on spicing it up and making it look nice.

100 Books

I seen this out at Tiennie's site and thought I'd go ahead and see how many books on the list I've read. I didn't cross any out because there isn't many books that I wouldn't read or at least try to read.

So here we go:

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Finally Escaping!

Before I get into my news: "Isn't this the cutest damn baby in the whole wide world"? I know I'm bias because she's my kid but damn she's so cute. :~)

WooHoo! Shawn has graced me with some good news today. We are finally getting outta here. We've been stuck on this base since April 1999. We're not sure when or where we are moving as of right now. The only thing I can say for sure is that by this time next year I should not be in Idaho.

We're shooting for either Albuquerque, NM or Great Falls, MT. They also have an opening at Vandenburg which is in Lompoc, CA but I'm not willing to move back to Cali. It would put a strain on our already strained finances and I would be forced to cut my yarn stash money....Aaaah nope not going there, must fuel the addiction.
Sorry Mama, I know you'd like us to go there but we are going to shoot for New Mexico. 12 hours is better then 18. :~)