Can't Catch A Break

Once again I feel like the universe is having a great big laugh at my expense. I swear for every step forward I then have to take 3 steps back. Oh, I guess I should fill you in on what's going on, huh?At the beginning of the month I went to the rheumatologist for a check up. I go every 2-4 months. The doc isn't happy with my high inflammation levels and the fact that I'm having more pain and stiffness along with restlessness and waking up in the middle of the night hurting so he decided it was time to move on to the biologic RA meds. He wanted gave me Humira to try for three months but I had to have a TB test before I could start them. Humira and TB are a bad combo. So I got the test expecting like every other time that it would be negative. Boy wasn't I surprised when I had a splotchy red mark on my arm the next morning. Since I'm immunocompromised anything spot bigger then 5mm is a positive. It's 15mm so definitely more then 5mm. So after chest x-rays and more blood work to make sure it's not active TB I'm still going to have to go on the TB meds because of my compromised immune system. Of course I'm only on one med so that's always a good thing. The only good thing is the RA doc moved me to Enbrel which is what he really wanted me on to begin with but I guess the military throws a fit about it because it's more expensive.....gah! So I have to be on the TB meds for at least a month before he'll put me on the Enbrel but it's not as bad as I originally thought. I figured I was going to have to wait till I was done with the TB treatment.

Anyways now that the bitching and complaining is over with I can move on to the knitting portion of the post.

I picked up this lovely corriedale from TLE when I order the yarn for my swap partner.

The colorway is called Apple Pie and I couldn't pass it up. It'll probably be the next thing I spin when I finish what I have on the bobbin now.

Speaking of current spinning, this is what I have on my wheel now.

It's Yarn Love's Scarlett O'Hara which is a lovely merino/bamboo blend which is really nice to spin with. I wasn't sure with the bamboo in there but I'm really enjoying it. The colorway is called Blackberry Jam. I think I may very well have an obsession with stuff named after food.

My latest spinning FO's.

The first one is 8oz of Colonial/Corriedale from Copper Moose. It ended up being about 216 yards of worsted weight. This one is by far the best spinning I've done yet. It's pretty damn even. I could definitely see buying more of this fiber. I do have 1lb of it in a dark blue/purple colorway. Copper Moose has great customer service. I need to order some more of the Ashford sliding hook flyer bobbins. I had no problems plying 8 ounces of fiber onto that bobbin. The second is 4oz of BFL from Spinneretta's Studio. It's more of a thick and thin yarn. The third one is 4oz of BFL from Pigeonroof Studios. I'd definitely love to get my hands on more fiber from Pigeonroof Studios.

I'm making good progress on Shawn's sweater.

The yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. I love love love this yarn. It's a lighter worsted weight. I have some red in my stash that I'll be using for myself. I've just cracked into skein number 2. The hank is 560 yards so there's less weaving in ends.

Kaity's Tiny Tea Leaves cardi is done.

Both the girls sweaters are blocked and dry so tonight I'll be sewing on the buttons and wrapping them up. I love it when I finish stuff on time. I'll get final photos of them in them after Christmas.

I'm plugging right along on Bree's ripple blanket.

I still have lots more stripes to go though. Each colorway will have a total of 6 stripes except for the purple which will have 8 because it's my main color and what I'll use for the side border. I've been trying to work on it every day.

I finished my latest on the go socks.

These were made with Trekking sock yarn, colorway 100. All I can say is that I'm so glad I didn't try to match the stripes on these socks. I can't see an discernible frickin pattern on these socks. They are comfy so all is well.

New pair of socks on the needles for me.

These are CookieA's Marilinda pattern and the yarn is Wollmeise Twin. The colorway is a we're different Ruby Thursday.

I think that pretty much sums everything up for now. I'll leave you with a pic of our new baby.

Name to be determined. We're pretty sure it's another boy cockatiel but he/she is only about 6 months old so we'll know more in the next 6 months or so. We'll probably go with a name that will work for both guy and girl. I do believe this one is a cinnamon pied. It's a lot lighter grey then a normal colored cockatiel and it has a good bit of yellow on the wings and head. It doesn't show well in this photo though.

Until next time......Happy Crafting.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all those who celebrate. I've never quite understood why some people believe that Halloween is an evil holiday that is only celebrated by sinners and pagens. Oh well, to each their own. I for one happen to love getting the girls ready for Halloween and seeing the kids show up at the door in their costumes. It's amazing the creativeness that some people put into their costumes. 

I'm looking forward to the day when we have our own home to decorate. There are a lot of rules here in military housing and frankly I'm sick of following them. I want to decorate with all the stupid nonsense rules that we have. One more year to go. If all goes well I'll be in my own home by Halloween time next year. 

My princesses. Bree changed her mind like 3 different times. She went from wanting to be a zombie killer, to being a peashooter from Plants vs Zombies, to Snow White. Kaity on the other hand is nothing if not predictable. If it's not a pink princess it's gonna be a cat.....lol. She did throw us off one year and was a witch.

Knitting Away

Shawn and I have been toying with the decision for him to stay in the military if he makes rank this testing cycle. I'm trying really hard not to think about another 3 years of military hell. I'm so ready for retirement and my own home. If I think about it too hard I'll end up with a flippin ulcer so denial is the river I'll be floating down for now.

Shawn will be heading out the beginning of Nov for 6 weeks at the NCO Academy. I can't even begin to explain just how much I'm dreading those 6 weeks. He'll be heading home 3 frickin days before Christmas providing the weather doesn't keep him from getting home. Between here and Colorado anything is possible and it doesn't help that he'll have to drive down there because they expect him to bring his own printer. You so don't want to get me started on that rant. Who has two thumbs, hates the cold because of her arthritis and will be in charge of shoveling snow....that's right "This gal". OK so no I won't be shoveling it because we have a snow thrower but it's still not easy work and who in the hell wants to be outside clearing snow at the ass crack of dawn when it's -20F outside? Not this lady but that's exactly what I'll have to do so I can get the kids to school. I'm really hoping the snow won't be bad this year or at least wait till Shawn gets home but it flurried a little bit today so I have a feeling this is going to be the year for Snowmageddon. Snow flurries before Halloween is never a good sign. OK, Mother Nature prove me wrong!!

So on to knitting. Lets see what have I been up too. Well I finished some test knits but for obvious reason I can't show you those.

I did finish Bree's Christmas sweater.

Not the greatest picture. I'll get a better one after blocking and sewing on the buttons. I opted to put a third button hole in. The pattern is Tiny Tea Leaves (ravelry)(non ravelry) and the yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. I really love Miss Babs yarn and her Yowza worsted weight yarn is wonderful. Who could argue with a 560 yard skein of yarn?Awesome! The colorway is Blue Teal. 

Finished shot of my Choix Entrelac socks.

I test knit this pattern for Woolgirl and Miss Babs quite awhile back. I haven't seen this pattern for sale online but I'm pretty sure Miss Babs sells them in her booth during fiber fests. I got my pattern by contacting Miss Babs through email. I like that this one has some entrelac in it but not enough that the socks don't fit correctly. Most entrelac socks end up being to tight for me. The main color is Miss Babs Yummy 2ply sock in the Smooch colorway. The green yarn (Kiwi)  and the purple yarn (St. Clematis) are Miss Babs Yummy Toes sock yarn. They're mini skeins perfect for heels and toes. I worked two colors for the heel and a stripe of green before starting the toe decreases in purple.

My attempt at a crochet drink coaster.

I think there are like 20 stitches in the base chain then row after row of single crochet until it was long enough to double over. Then I worked a row of single crochet to bind the two halves together. After that I worked 5 double crochet stitches in one stitch then skipped a stitch and repeated that all the way around. I think the end product came out pretty good. The cotton is nice and thick and soaks up the liquid that sweats off of cups with ice in them. I think I'll make a few more.

The buttons I found for the girls cardigans. 

The dragonfly buttons are for Bree's sweater and the purple stripes are for Kaity. I found them at JoAnn's. 

I've started Kaity's cardigan but haven't taken any progress shots. I have about 6 inches to go before finishing the body. After that it's two sleeves and the button bands. It'll definitely be done before Christmas. I have it set aside right now because I'm working on test knits.

I'll leave you with some shots of Penny trying to be a little dog.

That's Zeus' bed she's trying to sleep in. I should have snapped pictures of Zeus sleeping in her bed. I need to find Penny a bed with sides on it so she can snuggle in it. I found some nice ones at PetCo but they want like $75 for a bed big enough for Penny. I'm hoping Sam's Club will get dog beds back in again. One year around Christmas they got in a bunch of dog beds like what I'm looking for.

Progress Progress Everywhere

This post was suppose to post on the 24th of Sept but somehow ended up posting with a date in Aug. So now I'm posting it so it's the next post in my blog. I'll be back in the next few days with some new progress shot of current projects.

I've finished my Bernhardt (ravelry)(non ravelry) cardi for my third Camp Loopy project and received my prize of Wollmeise and  a pattern.  

I cast on at midnight, on 15 Aug and finished 7 Sep with plenty of time to spare for photos. The pattern was really easy to follow and it's one that I definitely wouldn't mind knitting again. 

I finished my Bubbles Down the Drain socks (ravelry).

I really love this pattern. It's simple enough I can take it with me when I go out or work on while watching tv. It's a very easy to memorize pattern. I definitely see using this pattern for more socks. I could easily down size the pattern to make socks for the girls.

A new shot of the sock yarn blanket. 

I almost have 3 rows done now. By my calculations I need a total of 36 rows, so 33 more to go. I know this is a very long term project. Right now I'm trying not to repeat the colors but I'm sure I'm going to end up reusing some of the yarns again. I know I want to put some kind of edging on the blanket but I haven't decided what I want to use yet. I'm thinking of using either Cascade Heritage or TLE's fingering weight solid series yarn for the edging. Both are good yarns although you get more bang for you buck with the Cascade Heritage. Either way I won't have to worry about that for awhile.

Pic of the girls in their new skirts.

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook have probably already seen this picture. Bree wasn't very happy with me interrupting her play time. They both love their new skirts and have been wearing them every chance they get. We're starting to cool down now and are back to wearing jeans again because it's to cold in the morning for skirts/shorts.

I finished Kaity's socks.

They're just a basic toe up sock with a short row heel. The yarn is Knit Picks Felici and the colorway is called hummingbird. It's an older colorway.

Bree's ripple blanket (ravelry)(non ravelry).

She needed one since her big sister has one. I'm using Caron's Simply Soft. It's great for a blanket. It stands up to the abuse and washes really well plus it's super soft. I'm only using 4 colors (purple, yellow, blue and green) for Bree's. I used 5 colors when I made Kaity's blanket several years ago. 

My prize for finishing Camp Loopy.

Wollmeise 80/20 Twin and a Breath of Fresh Air Scarf pattern. The colorway is Clemintine and I love love love it!

TLE order from the other day.

I wanted a new crochet hook since I've started a ripple blanket for Bree. I didn't want to pay the shipping just for a crochet hook so this lovely skein of Three Irish Girls Adorn sock yarn jumped into my cart. The colorway is Kate and I'll be using it to make something for my Kaity.

George says hello.

He's waiting for his birdy McMansion to get here. I destashed some yarn to help pay for a new bird cage so he could have more toys and lots of flapping room. 

Happy Crafting!

School Fundraising

Just a quick post to see if anyone is interested in the girls school fundraiser. Our PTA is trying to raise the money for new playground equipment. Our kids playground is sadly outdated and with school funding the way it is we won't get new stuff unless the PTA pays for it. If you're interested the selling dates are from 22 Sept - 6 Oct. Leave a comment and I'll respond with the information needed. 

Thanks and I'll be back with a knitting related post in a few days. 

Years Fly By Fast

Shawn's and my 13th wedding anniversary was Aug 7th. It's crazy to look back and see that we've made it through 13 years of marriage without killing each other. I have a few people in my family laughing as they read this because they know me so well. It's surprising that my parents didn't throttle me when I was a teenager. I was difficult to say the least. Shawn and I are both very stubborn. Now mind you stubborn has it's own good qualities but some times we're a bit too stubborn. I look back and see 13 years of ups and down but we've managed to make it through. The military has caused some of those ups and a lot more of those downs. We irrate each other frequently and have heated debates on anything and everything you can think of. We're on the opposite ends when it comes to politics which makes for some very fun and interesting arguments. I guess you could say when we vote we're so opposite we'd cancel out each others vote. I like to argue and I think I missed my calling as a lawyer. Can't say it's always been fun and easy but I wouldn't change anything.

I finished Bree's new socks. Sorry no photo. Bree took the socks as soon as they came of the needles. So I'll have to try to snap a shot after they're washed. They're toe up with a short row heel and a k1,p1 ribbing on the cuff. The yarn is Jo-Ann Sensations Bamboo and Ewe sock yarn. Feels like a typical workhorse yarn. It's cheap and easy to get so it's the perfect yarn for kids socks.

Kaity's skirt is done. 

Dang that bout killed my hands. Now I remember why it's been awhile since I knit cotton skirts. That stuff is rough on my hands. I swear on all that is holy I'm never knitting another cotton skirt/shirt/dress every again.

Started a pair of socks for Kaity. 

Toe up using Knit Picks Felici. The colorway is Hummingbird if I remember correctly. It's an older colorway that they no longer sell.

Started a new pair of socks for myself.

The yarn is Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs GothSock Laudnanum, the colorway is called multipass. Of course the first thing that popped into my mind is the movie The Fifth Element. Not sure if that's what the dyer was thinking about when she named the yarn but it sure works for me. The pattern is Bubbles Down the Drain (ravelry). I really like this pattern. It's simple enough to knit while watching tv but it's not plain stockinette which is something I'm going to be knitting a lot of when I start my cardi for Camp Loopy.

I got the yarn in for my 3rd Camp Loopy project.

Cascade 220 Heathers, colorway is Red Wine Heather and it's perfect. I'm knitting Bernhardt (ravelry)(non ravelry). 30 days to knit a full size cardi with sleeves. I could have picked something easier since the only requirement is that I use 800 or more yards of yarn for the project. I'm going for a bigger size too since this is going to be for me to wrap up in on cold winter days. 

Until next time.....Happy Crafting!

Busy Busy Busy

I can't believe its been over a month since my last post. Ok ok so yes I have a horrible track record for posting. Ravelry sure hasn't made it better either. 

I have a temporary solution to the yarn winding situation.

It's not the best but it does get the job done. Ecxuse the mess. I'm a crappy house keeper and will find any excuse not to clean. This was taken during Tour de Fleece so spinning was much more important then cleaning. At least I fed the kids and did laundry. :)

Speaking of Tour de Fleece, this is what I accomplished.

Well there were a few more but I haven't gotten them skeined up and soaking in a nice bath yet. The one on the far right was spun before the start of Tour de Fleece and was waiting on a bobbin to be plyed.

Bree's skirty skirt is now done.

Pattern is Hip in Hemp (ravelry) and the yarn is Elann Camila. I really like this pattern. And now you know I use a Maytag Bravo washing machine. Best damn washing machine ever!! We opted not to get the matching dryer. They wanted $400 more just because it had a steam function. Ah, nope no thank you. Water going into an electric dryer just doesn't sound good to me.....more to go wrong and more costly to fix when it does. The guy actually tried to sell me the dryer purely because it would give me a matching set.....as if I give a flying fig about that. The washer and dryer are both Maytag and they're both white. Good enough for me. I wanted red but it would have taken several weeks longer and it would have cost me more. Why more for the red washer/dryer? Who knows.

I started and finished my 2nd Camp Loopy project.

The pattern is Dawn Gnot (Ravelry) and the yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy. I ordered some Cascade 220 Heathers in Red Wine to make my 3rd Camp Loopy project which will be Bernhardt (ravelry)(non-ravelry). 30 days to knit a cardi. I'm pretty sure I can do it without a problem. 

I found these adorable stitch markers.

I was hunting for stitch markers for a swap I'm in and came across these. The cutest little s'mores stitch markers ever made by JL Yarnworks.

I also started Kaity's skirt.

I'm also using the Hip in Hemp pattern but the yarn is Knit Picks Cotlin which I think works up better then the Camila for this skirt. It has a better drape then the Camila. The best yarn is still Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy but I couldn't find it on sale so I had to use an affordable substitute. Kaity picked out the eye blinding bright colors. I much prefer the softer colors that Bree picked out for hers but Kaity's the one that will be wearing it so if she's happy then everythings all good.

The tomato plants are doing well although the big ones haven't produced any red tomatoes yet.

I did manage to get a handful of cherry tomatoes so far.

Till next time.....Happy Crafting!

New FO's Finally!

I'm still hunting for a solution for my ball winder and swift dilema but for now I'm using the chairs from the old table. I'll figure something out eventually. I have time since we're holding on to the old table and chairs for an airman that works for Shawn. He's being told he needs to move off base so we're giving him the table and chairs to help him out. 

I've finished a few projects since my last post.

First up is Bree's Sydney sock (ravelry).

The yarn is The Unique Sheep Footprints sock yarn and the colorway is Echinacea. The yarn is sports weight so I had to use the smallest size in the pattern to fit Bree. She loves them and I see more of these in the future. 

I also finished my Embossed Leaves socks (ravelry).

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 and the colorway is Wine Storm. I love ZYG's yarn and the Serenity 20 is a 70/20/10, Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend.....very soft and squishy. 

I also started a new skirt for Bree. 

I'm making the Hip in Hemp (ravelry) pattern again. It's been reworked for smaller toddler sizes. I really loved working this pattern before. I only wished I could have found a deal on the Hempathy yarn I used for Kaity's skirt. That yarn wears really well and I always washed it in the washing machine. The yarn I'm using this time Elann Camila which is a 50/50 linen/cotton blend. It's a little rough on my hands but seems to be a fairly nice yarn.

My Camp Loopy project is done.  

In the Land of Oz (ravelry) with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. I added 6/0 TOHO glass beads where ever there was a central double decrease. I'm really glad that I opted to add the beads.

I've recieved some goodies in the mail too since my last post.

This was ordered from The Loopy Ewe. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy and I'll use it to make Dawn Gnot (ravelry) socks for my second Camp Loopy project. The fiber was added in to keep the yarn company and to hit free shipping. I'm participating in Tour de Fleece this year so I'm in a fiber buying mood. 

Lovely BFL.

It's from Spinneretta's Studio. The colorway is called Peony II.

My tomato plants are doing great

While I haven't seen a single tomato on my big plants my cherry tomatoes are starting to multiply. 

I really can't wait to have some yummy home grown tomatoes. We had such a wet, cool spring. It took forever to warm up so the tomatoes are probably going to have a shorter growing season this year.

George had a bout of illness a few weeks ago. The vet thinks he was coming down with a upper respritory issue so he ended up on on anitbiotics and antifungal meds. Birds deteriorate very quickly when they get sick so an emergency trip to the vet was necessary. Lets just say that giving meds to a cranky cockatiel is not very fun and it's a slow process. Be prepared to have meds flung in your face. George is feeling better as you can tell from the video.

== There is a video embedded but doesn't show up in RSS feed readers. If you want to see it you'll have to go to the blog. 

 

I'll leave you with a pic of Penny and Shawn. 

Penny thinks she's a lap dog and loves to lay in Shawn's lap. It's not uncommon to see the two of them snoring together like this.

Until next time....

Happy Crafting!