Some Knittin' Goin' On

Dear UPS,

Please, please, please don't fail me today. My daughter is counting on you to bring her a special package. In the past you have been untrustworthy to me. Telling me you were going to bring me my goods and then letting me know that the goods were delayed and I'd have to wait another day or too. This should not be done to a person when it's late at night and a person is feeling down because they didn't get their package fix. Please don't let me down today! I beg you because if you do I will be sending a very disappointed 8 year old to you so you can hear her cry.

Thank You,

Luvs2knit Family

Kaity is excited because UPS tracking is showing that her American Girl doll is here and out for delivery. Yes it was a splurge and a very special treat for Kaity. Yes yes yes I know that they are expensive and no we are not crazy for buying her the doll. I wouldn't scoff at you for buying a skein of Qiviut now would I.

For the past two weeks we've heard nothing but "is my doll here yet?", "I can't wait to see Chrissa!", "mom can you check the tracking to see if Chrissa is here yet?" "I can't wait till Chrissa is here so I can play at my friends house with her doll too! It's about to drive me insane. I swear on all that is holy if UPS changes the status to show that the package will be delivered on another day I'm going to scream so loud they will hear me in China!

The weather is still warmer then normal around here. I swear that it was only in the 60's and 70's Fahrenheit last year. I know it was a lot cooler in 2007 when we got here because we had to go buy warmer clothing because our stuff was still in storage. We've been hitting in to the 90's....that's just wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm getting back in a regular routine now that
Kaity is in school. I'm starting to adjust to the fact that we are moving to Germany though we are pushing for the date to be moved to May 2010. We still have to be medically cleared but that will take some time yet and according to a lot of people we've talked to my arthritis could cancel our orders. We should know more within the next month or so.

I
have managed to finish a few things and of course start up a few more.
I just finished up another test knit for Woolgirl and am working on one for Madelinetosh.Here's a little teaser of what I'm working on.

It's a smallish project so it'll probably be done fairly quickly.

This is a test knit for Woolgirl.

I think this was from one of the Peanuts kits. The yarn is Curious Creek Fibers Serengeti and the colorway is called Happiness is. I loved all the cables and twists in this pattern. I really liked working with the yarn too.

First up are the Rapunzel's Braid Socks (ravelry).

I love love love these socks. They fit beautifully and the yarn (Zen Yarn
Garden Serenity sock) is so soft and squishy. I think I have one more
skein of Serenity sock in my stash so it's time to go buy some more.

The rainbow stripe Opal socks are finished.

I knit these with some Opal Brasil, #5001 from my stash. This is my basic
toe up pattern that I know by heart. No need for a paper pattern which
makes for perfect on the go socks.

Merletto Mitts (ravelry) for my mom.

I finally finished them. They are a quick knit (when I actually work on
them). It took me less then two days of knitting to make both mitts. It
took me so long because I kept getting side tracked by other projects.

I've started & finished a sweater for Bree.

The pattern is Cookie Sweater (ravelry) from Miss Bea's Rainy
Day and the yarn is Dream in Color Classy, Visual Purple. Bree loves it
and is very proud of her new sweater.

Now to wait for it to cool down enough for her to wear it.

The Pearl-barred Scallop Scarf (ravelry)(non ravelry) is finished.

Well I'm done knitting it but lazy me I have yet to block it. That's on the
agenda for tomorrow. I hope to have it in the mail to the new owner by
the beginning of next week. I want to find some goodies to put in the
box. I have an idea of what I want so I'll pick it up this weekend.

New socks for Kaity.

She's worn these sock for the last 2 nights and I suspect she'll wear them again tonight. Worsted weight socks are such a quick knit. Kaity requested some new worsted
weight socks to wear to bed so I dug out the scraps of Cascade 220 and started knitting. These are a basic toe up sock with a heel flap. Nothing fancy and a fairly quick knit since I used worsted weight wool. I planning on knitting her several pair out of whatever worsted weight yarn I can dig out of my stash. I really should knit these with some superwash yarn to make it easier on me when they need to be washed. Guess I'd better go digging through my stash.

I'm moving right along on moms Whispering Pines Shawl (ravelry)(non ravelry).

I can't wait to get this blocked out. I'm just about through with Section G.

The most absolute gorgeous color of sock yarn from Madelinetosh.

I picked this up from Woolgirl. The colorway is called Tart and I'd love
love love to have this dyed up in Tosh Worsted for a sweater. Might have to save up some money and see if Amy will custom dye the yarn for me.

JulieSpins MCN sock yarn.

I picked this up from a Ravelry destasher. The color is Dark Peony and the yarn is completely petable. Now to find the perfect pattern for this yarn.

Self striping sock yarn from Fireweed Dyeworks.

I'm still on my self striping sock yarn kick. I'll probably wind this up and knit it for my next "on the go" sock project. The dyer was great to deal with and shipped the yarn out quickly. She even dropped me an email to let me know that she had shipped it.

I picked up a couple of skeins of Tosh Merino to try.

I picked these up from Madelinetosh's etsy shop. I'm planning a cowl and hat, maybe some fingerless mitts too. The colorway
is called Ophelia and this yarn is so delightfully soft. I could totally imagine a cardigan made out of this yarn.

I pre-ordered a skein of yarn from Frog Creek Fibers awhile back....I think it was right before Sock Summit.

I received it in the mail last week and absolutely fell in love. The color is even prettier in person. The colorway is called Raspberries and chocolate.

A Spin-It Kit from Yarn Pirates etsy shop.

This kit has 4 ozs of Shetland wool dyed in 4 different colors, 1oz of each color. I have no idea how or what I'm going to spin this for but I thought it was a cool idea and isn't roving like sock yarn...you can never have enough?

My Sept shipment from the Artwalk Fiber Club came in last week. You can see it here. The fiber is so soft.

I received my Angel package from a swap that had gone wrong.

My TLE swap partner flaked out on me at the last moment but my wonderful angels more then made up for the flaking. They spoiled me rotten and even threw in some goodies for the girls. The cool thing is the skein of Trekking I received is the same color and dyelot as the skein I bought a long time ago. What are the odds of that happening? So now I have two matching skeins. I do believe this yarn is destined to become knee highs for me.

I did cave on the no more buying yarn before we move rule I had started. In my defense I only purchase one skein of yarn and it was to help meet the free shipping from The Loopy Ewe. I picked up the small clutch that matches my peacock Laguna bag that Shawn and the girls got me for Christmas. I picked up a few patterns I've been wanting and a skein of String Theory Caper. It should be here tomorrow.

Well that sums up my post for now.

Happy Crafting!

We Are Moving!

We just found out that we're moving again. I guess the military is making up for the 9 years they didn't move us when we were in Idaho. Well I should take that back, Shawn went to Korea two years after we got to Idaho and came back and we spent another 6 years there before moving up here. So I spent 9 years in Idaho Shawn only got 8 years. We've been here exactly two years and anyone who knows how the Air Force works will know that our orders are not stateside. We'll be leaving for Mannheim Germany in Jan 2010....maybe a few months later then that if Shawn can get it pushed back. It's an Army Garrison which has an Air Force detachment on it because of AFN (American Forces Network) which Shawn's job will be to keep the system maintained and running correctly.

The decisions to make, what to take, what to store, what to sell, have been running through my mind since we found out. The only thing I know for sure is we're taking the kids, the yarn, and the dogs. Well only one of the dogs. We're not sure what we're going to do about Shadow. She's getting up there in age and having problems with her hips and stairs. I love her dearly and I don't know if I want to put her through that long move on a plane and then having to go up and down stairs several times a day because the housing over there is apartment type housing with several levels and no yards. I just need to find someone reliable who will love her and take care of her.

I spent the first two days completely in shock and freaked out. I'm not a person who handles change very well and when my routines are messed up it drives me crazy. It's worrying about the unknown that tends to get me upset. Now that things have sunk in and I've found out a few things I'm feeling better about this move and am actually looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the non air conditioned apartment living but I can live with it. Basically I'm looking at it as a 3 year long vacation to Europe that Uncle Sam is paying for. Shawn's job will be a lot easier and waaaaaay less stressful. He'll have more time to spend with us as a family which means more time to get of the base and do stuff. It's an opportunity of a lifetime for all of us to see the world and other cultures. I am part German after all so why not check out where part of my family came from. Plus if we get really homesick we can go to Ramstein AB which has a Chili's. They also opened up a Macaroni Grill not that long ago. I bout fell out of my chair laughing when I seen that there was a Chili's over there. It's one of Bree's favorite places to eat.

The good news is after some research we found that our computers, printers, tv, Wii, Sonicare toothbrushes, and Kaity's Nintendo DS are all able to run on 220V with new power cords. The US runs on 110V while Germany runs on 220V so some of our things won't run and will have to be replaced when we get there like our coffee pot, crockpot, etc. If you're curious about the types of power around the world Wikipedia has a listing. My Kindle will charge via USB and although I can't download using the wireless Sprint network I'll be able to buy the books on Amazon's site, download the file to my computer and drag it to my Kindle. Takes a little bit longer but hey if I can still use my Kindle I'm happy. Same goes for my iPod, it charges via USB so I'm set and ready to go. As long as I have my tech gear I'm happy. From what I understand we'll also have cable modem internet that we can purchase through the local German cable company.

At least the major things will be able to go with us. They have laundry rooms for the apartment complexes so we'll probably sell the washer and dryer instead of storing them. Three years is a long time to store that kind of stuff and I had planned on a new washer and dryer when Shawn retires anyway. I may have to downsize my stash a little bit but will do that as it gets a little closer to moving day. I might surprise myself and whittle down my stash enough that I won't have to worry about it. I have decided that I won't be buying anymore for now so the only stuff that will come in is club yarn and fiber.

I'll be back in a few days with a knitting related post. I just wanted to share the news with all my blogland friends.