The orange/gold scarf is no more ....

Been working on some socks for my son in law. These are opal croc which is a dream to knit with.
And ummmmmm sorry to say I just couldn't get into the opal scarf. I kept waiting for the yarn to "tell me" what it wanted to be. Finally it spoke up yesterday and decided to be mitts and maybe a hat.
Opal prism in purple for D1 for Christmas.
W and N were over the other day watching a DVD when a song came on so they decided to dance. Don't you love it when it's suddenly dancing time? We adults should have more dancing time to break up our day.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know I said that Tilly was finished but I had a change of heart. The top edge was curling like crazy which bugged me. So I decided to do an I cord edge. Of course I had no clue on how to actually do an I cord edge so I did a google search and found this. Boy so much easier than I thought it would be. This is take 2 on the orange/gold scarf. I decided to do a feathers and fans on size 6 needles. Looks much better than the last attempt with this yarn. And I've been working on this Christmas present. I made a set for a secret pal and my mom loved the look so I'm using the other half of the yarn for a set for her. It's hand dyed off ebay but I can't remember the seller info right now.
Every year on the day after thanksgiving I hit the store with my oldest daughter. This year I'm going to have to pass. Wednesday I was carrying W to the car, stepped on a larger piece of rock in the gravel driveway, the rock rolled out from under my foot and we ended up on the ground. Thankfully W was scared but fine. Me? Sprained left ankle and a skinned right knee. DAMN GRAVEL DRIVEWAY!!! So I think I'll stay home with my foot up and knit.

Off to the frog pond ....

Ok, think this one is heading toward frogging. I wanted something warm and soft but this is looking a little too "manly" for a woman's scarf to me. The colors are much nicer in person than in the pic but why take a perfect picture of something I'm going to take apart? Any ideas on a scarf pattern for dk weight yarn?
And here we have Tilly's Shawl. Finished knitting it last night. Just need to hide the ends and block it. It looks wonderful and by the end I didn't even need a lifeline. How brave huh? I'll get a better pic after it's blocked. I've got some must do knitting up next but think there will be another shawl shortly.

My swap assistant

Friday evening I watched the 3 little ones while their mom and dad took in a movie. They stopped by to pick up A but W and N spent the night. Saturday morning mom stopped by to pick up W for his swimming lessons but N and I decided to go on an adventure ..... just the two of us.

First we went to a local holiday fair. N picked up a few plastic canvas bear magnets for his fridge. We did a little visiting, he did a little flirting with a couple old ladies, and a good time was had by all.

Next we walked over to the grocery store to get some milk. Since N is only 2 and gets easily distracted this took a while. Luck would have it that Grams have all the time in the world. We're never in a rush when it comes to spending time with little ones. It's funny how when our own children are little we are so focused on getting through everything that we rarely take time to enjoy the journey. I think grandchildren are God's way of letting us have that second chance to see the world a different way.

After that we hopped by in the car to drive across town to a local coffee roaster to pick up some coffee for my exchange buddy. Sending coffee to someone in South Africa (a country with outstanding coffee) is a little like sending wool to someone in Peru but I decided that a little New England type coffee would help show Ruth a picture of my part of the world.

After we came home with our purchases N proceeded to assist me in picking out some yarn for my swap package. I must say he has wonderful taste in yarn. His reward for being a great assistant was cookies, milk, and a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD. My reward? Spending time with the little man.

And the winner was .......

Oscar, the gray cat on the table. Charlie may be bigger and stronger but Oscar is just too damn mean!

I should explain that Charlie just sits where Oscar is just to annoy her. And Oscar is so disagreeable with everyone and everything that she just can't not pay attention to him. She'll sit there hissing while Charlie looks around at everything except her.

Finally it just gets too much for Oscar and she'll fly off the table, chair, couch, stairs, etc and attack Charlies. Fur will fly (always Charlie's) and she'll walk away the winner. And it happens over and over again. Why? Good question. We just don't know.

The battlefield on my front porch

Coffee swap questions

1. Whole bean or ground?
Ground because I basically too lazy to grind beans in the morning.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
fully-loaded

3. Regular or flavored?
I usually combine half regular and half french vanilla or hazelnut.

4. How do you drink your coffee?
Just a little milk please.

5. Favorite coffee ever?
I live in the land of Dunkin Donuts so that's what I usually drink but I make mine at home (One of the perks to working at home is you never have to go out for coffee).

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
Nope not fussy at all.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Not a big treat person but every once in a while a nice coffee cake hits the spot.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
nothing that comes to mind

9. What treats do you enjoy with your coffee?
A little knitting and tv watching but more often then not my "treat" is working on the computer.

10. Yarn/fiber you love?
I love wool and alpaca. I don't use much acrylic and really haven't knit much with cotton.

11. Yarn/fiber you hate?
Fun fur anything.

12. What’s on your needles?
Currently 3 pr of socks in various states of completion, 1 shawl, and one hat.

13. Favorite colors?
Blues and purples

14. Allergies?
Hayfever so please don't send any goldenrod. I'm also allergic to cats which is hysterical since I have 3 of them.

15. Anything you really love, really don’t like, or just need to get off your chest?
No, I'm not being a whiner tonight.

I can only count up to 6 .....

I was working on Tilly most of the weekend. Between stitches markers, life lines, and the never ending counting I think I've got this lace thing figured out. Of course the down side is that since there are 6 stitches in each repeat I no longer have the ability to count past 6. On a positive note I don't feel the urge to burst into tears every time I think I've made a mistake. Now that is progress for sure. For those who need to know the yarn is shadows from knitpicks and the needles are the new knitpicks option needles. I have to say I love the cables on these needles. Think my Boyd needlemaster may end up on ebay shortly.
And this little lady bug was enjoying a sunny spot on my window sill Saturday morning when I can down to make some coffee. Making good use of W's bunny bubbles.

Sunday was rain, rain, and more rain so hubby and I decided to do some mall walking. We were walking by the toystore and heard a teen say, "Yo, look at the yo-yo. Yo" Too many yo's in one sentence so I started laughing. Yo, I'm still giggling over it.

What did I ever do before he came along?

When W was a little guy he always use to bring over a set a make believe keys to help "drive the car." If he forgot them when he got in the car to go home I'd have to run back up to the house to get them or he'd cry. Now of course he's almost 4 so he's a little more grown up. (old pic but one of my favs)
Yesterday he was over and brought a set of keys in with him. I was speaking with W this morning and said, "You know babe, you left your keys over here yesterday. I was wondering how you got home without them." I hear this sigh on the other end of the phone ... almost like geeze do I have to explain everything to this woman .... and he says, "You know Gram, those aren't real keys. They are just make believe so babies can play with them. They don't actually make the car work. You should know this stuff."

On the needles and off the trees

3 out of 4 of my kids are currently at NVCC studying various stuff. The college is having their annual hat/scarf/glove/mitten drive so D3 asked me to make something to donate.
And I've been working along on the shawl. Only one really bad boo boo that I didn't see until I was about 3 repeats away from it. I took another piece of yarn and fixed it instead of ripping back. My bad but you can't really tell.
And finally a shot of a tree in the back yard that was bright red a couple weeks ago.

Harry Potter quiz

We were watching Harry Potter this past weekend and I thought I'd share this quiz with you.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Gryffindor!
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their name."Students of Gryffindor are typically brave, daring, and chivalrous. Famous members include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Albus Dumbledore (head of Hogwarts), and Minerva McGonagall (head of Gryffindor).

Tons of pictures

Well posting pictures when I should be working. Please don't tell my boss. Halloween was fun. This little dinosaur showed up on my doorstep wanting candy and kisses.
He brought along his sleeping sister dressed as a wormy apple. Hummmm is she wearing an apple hat? Wonder where that came from.
This is her awake and out of her wormy apple outfit. If you're wondering yes I woke her up just so I could snuggle her for a while. I make no excuses for this action. I know you should let sleeping babies get their sleep but yes I woke her up and I'll do it again in a heartbeat.
And last was this dinosaur who really was tired by the time he hit my house so he decided to just sit in the entryway and eat candy. Hey I'd do that all day every day if I could.
And there's been knitting going on around here like crazy. I finished 5 pr of socks for the grandsons but since I've posted pics before and they are all the same yarn and pattern I will not bore you with them. I did some baby washclothes for a virtual baby shower. Can you ever have enough washclothes with babies in the house? Sadly, Kristi and Noel lost one of the triplets so we're knitting for 2 little ones now. Send some good thoughts and wishes their way.
Finished a pair of socks for a secret pal. Opal Uni in a waffle pattern. Thinking of making a pair for myself maybe next year when I get a chance.
And some more fruit hats for Kristi's twins when they reach about 2 yr olds. Honestly they are the last fruit hats of the year .... unless someone else just needs to have one for their kid.
If you are wondering why I have so much stinking red superwash colorado vail yarn it's because I was at Webs last year ..... enough said to those who have been to Webs. If you haven't let me tell you it's the meca of yarn and all things fiber. Worth a trip no matter where you live.

And my last thought is this: they set up a do not call list. If you don't want calls at your house selling you stuff you put yourself on the do not call list. Great no annoying calls ...... except during election time. Why? Because the politicians decided that they should be exempt from the do not call list. You can get all the political calls and polling question calls they want to make.

Being an independent in a state with some very tight political races I can tell you that I get up to 3 calls a day from those prerecorded things. They don't make it past the first sentence before I hang up but really HOW FRIGGIN' ANNOYING!! I'm not voting for a couple people just because they pissed me off!!! Can't wait til next Wednesday just so it'll be over with.