Stash Update!

It is snowing hard today and school's out for election in our state. This arrived after I posted the previous post.
Rain, sleet or snow, the mail must go. Look what arrived. STR in Blarney Stone and Cockamanie.




Dream in Color also arrived. The Lipstick Lava is worsted weight. In the Mystic is sock weight, of course.

I'm off to knit and enjoy the snow.

This Is The Stash.........

"This is yarn stash that I have built."
I bit the needles and decided to re-organize and count my sock yarn stash. This in no way reflects all of the yarn that I have acquired over the years.
The DH just looked at me when I decided to partake in this task. This is a picture of the sock yarn that I could find. I have since located yarn in the spare room dresser and the underbed container. There is enough yarn here for 216 pairs of socks. Not counting what's on the needles as UFOs.

"This is the yarn that I've added to the yarn stash that I have built."

This is a close-up of STR and DIC. There's enough there for 41 pairs. This total is included in the 216 pairs.


"And this is the yarn shopping bag that I made so I can add to the yarn stash that I've built."

I have been doing some sewing. Yeah, I know knitting should be my priority when one looks at the sock stash but I needed a tote so I could do my part and eliminate using plastic bags.
I made this yarn tote for my yarn shopping sprees. Okay, okay, I hear you. I don't need a bag this large to yarn shop when I have vast amounts of yarn untouched. But yarn must sit and look pretty for awhile. It is put into a basket for a few months. Then it is transported to the spare room for an undetermined amount of time. If it has not be cast on then it retires to the yarn room downstairs for an undetermined amount of time.


"And these are the bags to carry my SIP from the yarn stash that I've built."







p.s. DH tried to count my sock stash in $ but I quickly put it away. There are some things he doesn't need to know.

Chirp, chirp, chirp

Chirp, chirp, chirp. Do you hear them? I was hearing little peeps chirping.
My little fingers clicked to the http://www.loopyewe.com/ and there they were. Soft, buttery yellow, little peeps. Chirping for me to hold them and pet them. Right then and there I was twitter-pated. I scooped them up in my little cart. They arrived carefully wrapped by Sheri and the elves.


Shaking, I unwrapped each skein. Yeah I know, I ordered more than the peeps but I just had to have a few extra skeins. Stash build up, you know.

L to R is Butter peeps in fingering, Cool Fire in worsted, Butter peeps in worsted and Cloud Jungle in lace weight.




I grabbed the swift and winder and butter peeps was wound. I cast on for the socks and I am in knitting heaven here. I love it!
And they're mine, all mine. After all, I am the one who saved these little peeps from another knitter's needles.







The above package came in the knick of time. Mr. Bettis is in T-R-O-U-B-L-E...........again. We shut our bedroom doors when we leave the house. Mr. Bettis is forbidden to jump, leap or otherwise frolic er destroy beds. ALL beds.
However, I went into my room after an outing and it looked as if it had snowed in there. Mr. Bettis shredded my comforter. We went to Walmart to purchase a cheap quilt. After all, buying a cheap quilt vs. expensive quilt saves money for chirping peeps.

This is where I found Mr. Bettis the other day. Notice I was smart enough to put plastic on the bed. Not that, that will deter him from the bed. I couldn't figure out how he was getting in the bedrooms knowing we shut the doors. So I shut the door and lurked around the corner. AH-HA! I caught him "red-pawed" hitting the door latch! We have latches not knobs on the doors and that oaf figured out how to unlatch the door. The one-armed DH is now at the hardware store trying to find something to fix this problem. Trust me, I won't allow the DH to use the table saw to fix any problem at this time. :)

p.s. The butter peeps saved Mr. Bettis from finding a picture of himself on the web looking woeful hoping someone would put him in their "cart" to bring home.

Froggy Shower

A dear friend is adopting a child. We (the knitting group) had a "baby adoption shower." It's a girl. She is roughly 14 yrs old (forgive me S, I forget how old she is). She is a beautiful "baby" and she has a delightful smile.



The shower was a surprise to the parents-to-be and soon-to-be-daughter. There was cake (of course) and gifts galore. DD and I had a lot of fun shopping for "baby girl." She is a fan of frogs (her new mom knits so this is appropriate). We bought this frog to "entertain baby girl". He is a puppet and he "talks". She also received a light for the back seat of the car, face wipes, a lollipop pacifier, hand knitted face cloths, a water "bottle" and many other wonderful, useful items including a stress ball for the parents :) Congratulations Mom, Dad and "Baby Girl!"




I made a pair of pink "booties" for baby girl. They will keep her "little" feet warm. I found the pattern while surfing the net. Quick, easy and cute.





This is in keeping with the frog post title and the fact I still suffer
startitis. The knitting group was knitting these socks. I flatly refused. By mid week, I lost the battle with startitis once again. I cast on for the fan socks by Heartland Knits. Check it out here: http://www.theloopyewe.com/browse/byvendor/heartland-knits/ Self convinced me that I did not need to keep track of the pattern. After all, (as self explained) I have been knitting for many years. But with the one armed husband and the chattering 16 yr old I lost count of the pattern rows. I am also not smarter than the pattern. It was necessary to frog this sock countless times. Until.......the lightbulb flickered and I announced to self that she was wrong. W-R-O-N-G! I did need to count and keep track of the rows. So while self convinced me to start the socks, I am in control of some things.........aren't I?



This is another thing that I apparently do not have control of, Mr. Bettis. He is not supposed to be on the furniture but this is what I came home to after "baby girl's" shower. Mr. Bettis lounging on the love seat. GET DOWN, BETTIS! Do you see the affect that order had on him?

It's a no win situation around here.

Startitis

From my "knitting research" Startitis is a dangerous knitting disease. A knitter starts many projects only to find them at a later date hidden from view as UFO's. I understand (ahem.....I can only go by my research :)that this disease of newly started projects results in:

1. Needles that said afflicted knitter thought were lost and henceforth said afflicted knitter purchases more needles.

2. Knitter has no idea as to what was started as there are only a few rows on the needles and said afflicted knitter did not put the pattern with project (one of those things where said afflicted knitter thought she was smart enough to remember what was started in the first place). Like that is going to happen, given that said afflicted knitter has been known to start many projects at a time and has no idea what was cast on in the first place.

3. This disease results in frogging hibernating projects aka UFO's only to once again....(and this is where I truly believe that once a knitter has had startitis, it is incurable) start new projects. After all, said afflicted knitter now has an abundance of needles and yarn from the first bout of startitis.

Startitis is attributed to many factors.

Stress, can come from a one-armed husband (read previous posts if you haven't caught up on the news around here) who is feeling better by the way and is in physical therapy. He is casted until Feb. When one armed husband finds it necessary to inform afflicted knitter of missed dust bunnies, one armed husband receives the job of sweeping. Thus giving the afflicted knitter time to start a new project and help the one armed husband with physical therapy :)

Boredom is just that, boredom. Whether said afflicted knitter is bored with a current project (and there could be many depending on materials and time for afflicted knitter) or just bored in general, said afflicted knitter starts a new project.

Ravelry and surfing the net also attributes to startitis. I would like to think that fellow afflicted knitters have no idea that they too, enable other knitters. (okay Sara, now you know)

Yarn manufacturers are the biggest enablers. I mean really, how dare they continue to produce soft wool/alpaca/angora/ cashmere in beautiful colors to tempt knitters. They truly are enablers of startitis.

All that said and done, I admit I suffer from startitis. Although every once in a while I finish something like my froggin' green gloves. And not a moment too soon. We received 5 inches of snow and ice yesterday.

By the way, these are reversible right and left gloves. I took the pictures outside and it was cold so I just threw them down in the snow/ice and clicked the camera.

A Knitter's Gift!

Ravelry knitters are the greatest. Bloggers are wonderful. Look what arrived today!
A red and white Loopy Ewe sock bag and a beautiful skein of yarn. When this arrived I thought it was sent to the wrong person. I am on a yarn diet until Ed returns to work. So I knew I had not ordered anything. I opened it to look for an invoice. No invoice. I opened the bag and there was a note from the Loopy Elves saying "This is from Sara." I took a deep breath and carefully peeled back the tissue paper and there was a beautiful cashmere/merino blend of yarn in my favorite colors. Pink and yellow. I was smitten. I held back the tears and shrieked with joy. I have wound the skein and I am starting a pair of socks. (imagine that) The red and white bag is perfect to tote (no pun intended) to the DD's school functions. School colors are red and white. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sara, for the gift.

I handed the "one armed husband" a puzzle. He needs something to do at this point in recovery. He can prop the "hand" and work on this. Unfortunately it only took him a few hours to work this puzzle. He is very good at putting them together. Since this one was only 950 pieces and it took him a total of 2 1/2 hours to work it, I have found a 1500 piece puzzle. That should keep him out of my hair for awhile.
I find it interesting that he is growling over the dogs aka Mr. Bettis wanting in, out, in, out, in........welcome to my world, buddy!


I started the "my so called scarf". I'm liking this pattern. It is out of the Manos del Uruaguay worsted hand dyed yarn. It is a dense pattern and it will keep me warm if I ever get it finished.







These are "Self's Froggin' Gloves." Out of Frog Tree Alpaca sportweight and the pattern is from Interweave's Handy Book Of Patterns. I love that book. Size 3 needles. They are soft and warm. Self will need them next week. I'd better get moving on these.


P.S. Remember the resolution that I would get 2008's Christmas gifts finished early? "Self" became demanding and I am already behind schedule on the gifts. But Self must keep sanity while "man/toddler sitting."

The Second Curse

I am so ready to "chuck" 2008! I was downstairs dyeing yarn in my "new" dyeing area when I heard "drip, drip, drip." I went around the corner in the laundry area and looked. My feet squished on the piece of carpeting in front of the washer. I looked again, thinking the 2 yr old washer was leaking. Just my luck. But it wasn't the washer.



I turned and looked at the wall..............water was running down the wall! I yelled for the "one armed husband." Not sure why, instinct I guess. I mean really, what was he going to do with one arm? He came as fast as he could. I noticed a bubble in the dry wall above my dyeing area. (alright, this is where I did something stupid........again) I pushed ever so lightly on the bubble. It burst and water went everywhere bringing the ceiling with it. I screamed and Ed just stood there. Seems a pipe from the second bathroom sink was leaking. The "one armed husband" grabbed my dye pots to catch some of the water. I grabbed a tarp to throw over everything and we just stood there staring at the mess. We tried to fix the pipe but have you ever tried to fix something with the DH standing over you totally helpless trying to tell you how to fix "the" something? This scenerio doesn't work well when he's not helpless, let alone when he is.

So I called my dad. He has picked up the necessary part and tomorrow it will be fixed. The pipe will be fixed. I won't hold my breath on the ceiling. I know how this goes. Hey Diane, did you send this my way? Considering the "table saw massacre" and my DH's procrastination on repairing construction in our house, I figure the ceiling will be finished in 2 yrs......maybe. Keep in mind he was in construction for 20 yrs and everyone else's house was beautifully finished. Mine on the other hand? Well, I won't go there out of respect for his accident.

Alright enough is enough, this is the second thing to happen. Since everything comes in 3's I am steadying myself for what will come next. In the meantime, I knit.



We did get the Christmas tree down finally. But before we did there was this fluff ball sleeping soundly. I really think she was pretending she was outside under a nice evergreen far, far away from Mr. Bettis.




P.S. New song? I have now added "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

Man or Toddler

Okay, it's been a week since the "match" between my husband and his table saw. In case you are unaware of this match please read the previous post.

Ed is recuperating. We had another ER run on Sunday the day after the accident for major pain meds. The saw did what a saw does..........cut. I will say no more other than he is now in an immobile splint and so far the graft/repair is doing what it is supposed to do. Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

Now on to life with the husband home from work. I left him for a few hours today to attend my local "knit-in" for a little R&R. When I came home he was lying on the couch with the hand (what is left of the hand) on several pillows. Seems he was downstairs assessing the "ring" where the match occured in order to contemplate his next "job". He wants to tear out a wall in the 3rd bedroom for a new closet. What is he talking about? Here is his hand (what is remaining) in an immobile splint and he wants to do construction stuff........again? Anyway, he decided to try to lift a rather heavy box and the hand that is supposed to be immobile, bent causing an undo amount of pain.

I can no longer leave him home alone. I have a 5'11", 190 lb man..........or is that an overgrown toddler who cannot be left alone. I have to fasten his pants, button his shirts, tie his shoes etc. He spilled a glass of sticky ginger ale all over the laminate flooring and he now has an adult size "sippy cup." I'm thinking yards of knitted I-cord would be helpful keeping in a chair.

I will post pics of the knitting that I have managed to get done while "man-sitting".

p.s. You know the song, "I fought the law and the law won" Well my humorous self has been singing, "Ed fought the saw and the saw won." I told you we had to keep our humor.

New Year Bang!

I will make this short minus pictures for the weak at stomach. We are bringing in the New Year with a medical BANG!

I have spent the last two days in and out of the hospital with the DH. Seems his hand and his table saw had a "showdown." Without giving details I will just say, the saw won. Scared the pjs off me, that's for sure.

He underwent almost 3 hours of surgery and is in an astronomical amount of pain. Add insurance crap in there and you have a nightmare.

Don't ask what he was making with the saw. Let's just say it had to do with yarn, knitting .......... Okay. I take the blame. It was an item for me to give to my BFF for Christmas. (No, Di, it's not your fault) It is an accident.

We have a sense of humor......who wouldn't? considering we were the couple who got married with his left leg in a cast. It has been a medical nightmare since. So in order to get through the medical crap bestowed upon us, we have developed a sense of humor. So bear with me and laugh along the way as we go through this medical mess............again. I need the laughter.

P.S. He had spine surgery 1 1/2 yrs ago and was off work while recuperating. So here we go again............Thank goodness for my knitting.

Merry Christmas

The youngest daughterbaked more cookies today. This time the cookies required a bit more time.

Decorated sugar cookie. are a lot of fun. It is traditional at our house to make these cookies on Christmas Eve. The daughter also decorated a very nice gingerbread house for decoration on my antique 1900 black cook stove in my kitchen.
.





I leave you now until after Christmas Day. We will be celebrating with family tomorrow.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Love and peace to all!

School's Out.......Again

The DH called on his way to work ( I find it interesting, that he was on his way to work when he called rather gleefully) to inform me that school is out.......again.

The temp outside is a balmy 12 degrees farenheit. It's cold. The snow turned to ice and the streets in town are a mess. So the kids are out once again. It's not that we have that much snow, after all we have been known to have snow measured by the foot, but this particular snowfall is slick. It glistens like diamonds, beautiful, but slick. So once again, I will be "entertaining" the 16 yr old. She is the last one at home out of 4 kids. As I told a friend, she's a good kid/student but how much high school drama/gossip can a parent take? Although said gossip/drama has been used by me (unbeknown to her) as life learning tools.

I'm off here to find "entertainment" for the 16 yr old i.e. dusting, cleaning........well you get the picture..... and if I get any flack I'm thinking Mr. Bettis could put those huge paws to work and become a sled dog. He could pull her to school.

p.s. Now where's that dog sled?

Snow ,Snowmes & School's Out

Okay, the weather man missed this one. He called for an inch of snow. We have more than that and it's still snowing. I don't mind. I like snow. It is very pretty and Christmasy. However school was out. What does that mean? It means my 16 yr old daugher wanted to go shopping. Not-happening! Then she wanted to bake cookies, sculpt clay, knit and talk my ear off. I'm not complaining, it's just she is high maintenance and I'm accustomed to quiet all day while she's in school.

This is our lighted deer in the front yard. I sent the daughter out to take the pictures. Hey, I know it's cold and wet but it gave her something to do............for at least 5 minutes.

Unfortunately "my schedule" was a mess with her home from school and so I knitted. No, not the gifts I should be knitting, but Snowmes! I was on the phone with my BFF when the pattern arrived in the mail. My poor BFF no longer has hearing as I was screeching into the phone when I opened it. Maybe a snowme will cheer her.
They're lovin' this snowy weather.

I cast on right away for the larger Snowme out of stash. He was finished by dinnertime. I sent the husband to the store to pick up JoAnn Sensations white boucle for the smaller one. It is perfect yarn for it. These two need more snow buddies so another one is cast on and almost finished.
I know, I know, I'm supposed to be making gifts. Won't everyone just love getting a Snowme this year instead of gloves, hats etc? I think this would warm their heart instead of useful, dull items to warm body parts....................LOL

Have a Good Snow Day!

p.s. I just heard, the high maintenance kid has a 2 hour delay in the morning. Let's hope it's not another school's out day.

The Mind (sanity) is slipping

Knit 'n Time

I finally got some knittin' time. This is the "new" scarf for the Piccolo Pirate's flute teacher.
After all the scarf knitting woes posted below, Woo-Hoo! It's finished. I'm not that fond of knitting scarves, I get bored easily. But I must say, they work up quickly and they are pretty when finished. I made this one yesterday afternoon.
The Piccolo Pirate would've made this herself except she has a lot of homework. So she's excused..........this time.

I started these on Saturday evening. I finished them last evening. Quick, pretty and warm. They are made from Worsted Slub from

Yarn Treehouse. I liked working with this yarn, it was soft. These mitts go to the dog groomer aka Vet Girl's co-worker.

My kids have a knack of coming to me one month before Christmas to see if I have any "nice, homemade gifts lying around" for them to give to people they know will appreciate them. Yeah right, like I have a box full of beautiful handmade knitted items set aside just for them. But, I'm a mom, so I try to "whip" up nice gifts for them. I must admit, I like the wonderful comments that come back, isn't that why we knit in the first place?
Next year, my BFF and I will be posting pics of all the beautiful items the gift containers that we have knitted all year.

p.s. Mark the above statement on a calendar and remind me of this next year when I'm in another knitting gift panic.

Stupidity

This is a list of stupid things I have done this week.


This is one stupid thing I have done. Allowed Mr. Bettis to continue to live here. (okay, I'm just kidding.........well, that's a maybe too) We were decorating over the weekend so disregard the mess in the living room. Mr. Bettis un (yep i said un) decorated my kitchen tree (check post below on how much I love this tree) and his owner was trying to show me how good he is by shaking his paw. Big Deal! It is Mr. Bettis's birthday and his owner wanted to throw a dog party. Is he nuts? No way! It's been a very lo-o-ong year with Mr. Bettis.
The week has improved .........hee-hee............Mr. Bettis chewed up his owner's brand -new- go- to -the -daughter's wedding on Dec 22, shoes. LOL.................After a week of mourning over deceased yarn, this gives me a good chuckle.

p.s. Hey, I know I'm warped, but at least it's not my yarn/shoes that Mr. Bettis chewed up.

Christmas Gift Knitting Woes

It all started with this scarf. I decided to knit a scarf for the Piccolo Pirate's flute teacher. I purchased the yarn out of town. Listening to the DH who told me one skein would be enough, I purchased one lonely skein. (apparently the "yarn logic" side of my brain was on vacation).This scarf is not near long enough and I am about of yarn. Unfortunately it would cost $35.00 to put "liquid gold" in the car to get to the shop to purchase another $5.99 skein to finish the scarf. Not counting the 1 1/2 hour drive to the shop.


Trying to find yarn in my stash, I found this unfinished scarf. So I thought, okay, I can finish this for the flute teacher. Wrong!
It is knitted with my yarn, Trapeze and Storm Cloud. The grey skein is attached but the colored yarn is no where to be seen. So after going through 10 of the 25 containers of yarn stash and me grumbling to the DH that this was all his fault for talking me out of the second skein of yarn for the above scarf, I cannot finish this scarf.
This does wrap around the neck enough to put a nice stick pin through it and make a neck wrap. But not for the flute teacher, she is young and would want a nice long scarf. So I'll put this on hold. (not good for me to do this as it will probably become another UFO....again).


Going through UFO knit bags (and there are quite a few of them, stashed behind the couch, hidden in closets, drawers etc) I found these unfinished socks. Now I know why they're unfinished. I started these awhile back with my yarn, Trapeze and Storm Cloud (do you see where I'm going with this?). I put the socks aside and picked them up at a later date to finish the second sock. When I put the two together to size them up, something was very wrong.
I designed my own pattern but failed to follow it. One of those things where I think I'm smarter than my own notes. I made the right sock with the MC Trapeze in the foot. I made the left sock alternating the MC and the CC every two rows in the foot. I am out of the Trapeze yarn. AH-HA! So that's where the Trapeze yarn went to finish the Trapeze scarf. I'm in trouble up here. These were a gift.

Lessons learned:
1. Never, ever, ever listen to the DH when it comes to buying the extra skein of yarn. He does not knit and knows nothing about it. He is only out to eliminate my stash.

2. Never, ever go off on a whim and cut the yarn from a project to start another project with the yarn. If I should decide to do this again I must frog the original project or finish it.

3. Never think I'm smarter than my own notes. Always read the pattern. Although I admit, I have mis-laid the pattern somewhere.......okay, I need to find my book of notes........... now where could that be?

p.s.The likely-hood of me learning from these lessons is probably pretty slim with the exception of lesson #1.

Black Friday & all that!

Thanksgiving dinner was a success! Everyone made it with the exception of the youngest son and girlfriend. They were unable to make it. The turkey was delicious with all the trimmings.

My kitchen is decorated in vintage 1940's and the tree is decorated in vintage 1940-1950.

I wanted a nice german feather tree but the wallet wouldn't allow such an expense so the DH bought snow flock and sprayed one of my own (charlie brown tree as the kids call it) artificial trees. I put an inexpensive sparkly garland and ornaments. This little house reminds me of the houses my dad used with our Christmas train when I was a kid.

This star is a replica of the star ornaments my grandparents had as decorations at the farm house. I have many fond memories of those Christmases past.

Not willing to spend $7.99 for a glittered postcard ornament, I found antique replica postcards in my box of old cards for the Piccolo Pirate to glitter and add silver ribbon to hang. I have an assortment of these and the cost for each of the 6 postcard ornaments that we made came to $1.00 a piece.

I like this tree.

Giving Thanks

In case you haven't noticed, I changed the blog template. I was bored with the last one and when I figured out how to add the yarn text, it didn't match. So I changed it. I do the same with my living quarters. I buy a tablecloth and the rooms in the house must be changed. All to match the tablecloth.
I am on a cooking marathon up here. Thirteen people are coming for dinner. My 4 kids and "company" (as my friend, katy knits, calls it), my parents and grandmother are coming for dinner. There's a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge. I think I'm gonna need it.

Tradition is: The youngest child breaks the bread for the dressing while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. This task now belongs to the Piccolo Pirate. I must see the Rockettes. I was a tap dancer all my life until the accident and I have been to New York with my eldest son to see them in person. I have called him for years to ask if he watched the Rockettes and if he missed it, I tell him about the costumes and the routine. I know it's a strange tradition, but it's mine.

What am I thankful for?
My faith
My family
My friends whether internet or person
Thank you all for being my friend. I have enjoyed the emails, the stories and the friendship that you have given to me. I appreciate it so much.

Now I'm off to do the cooking marathon and hopefully sneak a few rows on a knitted sock.
Have a joyous and Happy Thanksgiving!