Not Much Accomplished....

Well not much that I can post about anyway. I've been working on test knits mostly. I did finish Bree's toe up socks but that's about it. Between test knits and spring cleaning I've been pretty busy. I've been going through the house room by room eliminating clutter, cleaning windows and vacuuming the screens on the windows. The window screens get crazy dusty considering they are located on the the side of the window in the house. I'd expect the dust outside but not inside. It's slow going because I have to make sure I don't over do it. It can be rather aggravating  because I'd much rather get it all done and over but can't. Well I could but I'd be in so much pain I couldn't move and frankly that's just not an option nor is getting all the work done worth the pain. It's not as if it's going anywhere.

I finished Bree's socks. The sock blockers are mini sock blockers that I received from The Loopy Ewe as part of a promotion they were doing to get pictures in their photo gallery shortly after they opened their virtual doors for business. They don't sell these. 

The pattern is my basic toe up pattern with a short row heel and a k2,p2 ribbing on the cuff. Nothing fancy but I have the pattern memorized and perfected for the girls and I. The yarn is Apple Laine Apple Pie sock yarn. It's yarn I bought from The Loopy Ewe a long time ago. I was going to knit a ruffle at the top but I don't think it would have worked very well since this yarn is a little on the thick side. I'm going to knit the next pair with a thinner yarn and I'll knit the lace pattern on the foot too. I'm not sure what yarn I'll use yet but even with the ruffle I'll need way less then 50 grams of sock yarn. These socks only took about 25 grams.

I placed a small order with Knit Picks.

I wanted to try out their new dish cloth cotton called Dishie. Since I was ordering I tossed in a skein of Chroma fingering weight for a shawlette. I'm planning on using this to make Bakersfield (ravelry). I'm from a small town near Bakersfield, CA and this pattern has been calling me ever since I saw it which is funny because I really don't wear shawlettes or shawls. The dishie is soft and it feels like it's a little bit thinner then Peaches & Creme or Sugar'n Cream. I'm going to cast on a dish cloth for my take a long project. I'm curious to see how well it wears. 

I'm test knitting all the patterns this year for the 2011 Woolgirl Sock Club.

Here's the socks that I knit for Aprils shipment. Since I knit both socks Woolgirl gave them back to me as payment along with the kit because I also knit the shawlette too. Normally I only knit one sock but these left and right socks are different. I absolutely loved knitting these socks. The pattern is awesome and the Stricken Smitten sock yarn was a dream to knit with. Never mind that the color is my all time favorite color!! If you want to see the whole kit Click Here to head over to my Flickr page. I'll definitely be knitting these again!!

I also got the Little Women Kit from Woolgirl. 

Seriously what's not to love about this kit. A pattern from Sivia Harding and 770 yards of MCN from Plucky Knitter not to mention the teas and other little goodies. Yum yum yum! If you want a great beaded shawl pattern go check out Sivia's (ravelry)(non ravelry) patterns. I didn't test knit this one.

April's shipment from Twisted Fiber Art.

This ones named Foxy. I have one more shipment coming this month and sadly the club will be done. I really loved their yarn.

I'll leave you guys with a shot of my demon dog. 

I snapped this shot just as Penny was jumping off the couch. She was playing of game of "Find Daddy". Shawn was hiding under a blanket and Penny was looking for him. When he didn't pop out from under the blanket Penny would jump down and run around the house in a big circle then hop back on the couch at the other end. Zeus was in his supervisory position to make sure that Penny didn't do anything she's not suppose to. For a 7 pound dog he's very bossy. It's a little dog thing.

Happy Crafting!

No Knitting Here, Just Talking bout Terrorists

Hooyah Navy SEALs! A heartfelt thanks to all our armed forces for their sacrifies over these past 9 plus years. To all the first responders on Sept 11 who put their lives on the line to help save lives. A moment of silence for all those individuals who lost their lives on 9/11 and after. I know this isn't over but all these individuals should never be forgotten!

It really bothered me last night to see all these people gathering at the White House and Ground Zero to cheer and celebrate. There shouldn't have been singing, laughing and celebrating. These people were doing basically the same thing that the terrorist did when they killed an American. Going to these places and saying a prayer, reflecting on all that has happened, remembering a loved one, leaving a sign, flowers or lighting candles all would have been acceptable things for last nights annoucement, not cheering and hollering like a bunch of drunk fools at a frat party. I will openly admit that I cheered and did my little snoopy dance in the privacy of my own home. I can not and will not mourn the death of a murderous monster.

Now it's time to sit back and see what happens in the aftermath of bin Ladens death. I keep hearing people saying that this is the end and that bin Laden's death will cause his terrorist organization to crumble and that we should bring our armed forces home from Afghanistan. I personally think the murderous SOB had a backup plan in place if he was ever captured or killed by US forces. If I was a terrorist I'd have a backup plan in place for someone to step up and continue on the fight against the infidels. Ok, who wants to take bets on the fact that this post has sent flags flying on some super computer buried deep in NSA or Homeland Security's headquarters? No Homeland Security I'm not saying I'm a terrorist. I'm saying that I'm trying to think like one or as much like one as I can stomach and I think that the US is far from done with Al Qaeda. I truly hope that I'm wrong and will be happy to admit that I'm wrong if Al Qaeda falls apart. Course there are a lot of other terrorists out there. They all aren't card carrying members of Al Qaeda. 

Of course if you believe the conspiracy theorists they'll say he's not dead and this is some big coverup by our government. I know, I know he's hanging out with Jimmy Hoffa in a bar chatting over beers. If I was the president I'd be leery about releasing death shots of bin Laden. What do you think all the media outlets are going to do with those photos when they get their no morals whatsoever, don't give a crap about anything but shoving their First Amendment rights in everyones face, grubby hands on them? (no I really don't think much of the media) Why, they're going to splash them all over the place where I'm betting quite a few children are going to see the pictures. While I myself could stomach the photos. I do not feel that my two children should see something like that. We don't keep them in a bubble world but we sure as hell don't try to make them grow up fast by being exposed to something like that.

I've talked to several non military persons that have had a really hard time explaining this to their children. We have talked quite a bit with Kaity about this and she seems to grasp it. Maybe it's because she's a child of someone who is active duty and so are over 90% of the kids in her school. Deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq are a part of every day life. Being a military brat is tough. You learn how to live without mom or dad and in some instances both for 9 months to a year......sometimes even longer then that. You're well versed in how to use a computer to chat on Facebook or Skype. You learn what you can and can't send to mommy or daddy while they are gone. You get use to losing friends all the time because they move or you have to move. Kaity's living through that right now. Her two best friends are moving. One is moving to Japan this month and the other one is heading to Maryland during the summer. She's already lost one friend last summer because her dad retired. Bree isn't going to have to deal with military life as long since Shawn retires in Oct of 2012 and we can finally have a home of our own knowing we'll never have to leave it if we don't want too or worry about deployments.

I'll be back in a few days with a knitting related post. I just needed to post this to get it off my chest.