Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling

Clementine .......... I even sing terrible on a blog. This is what I've finally decided to make for my ISE4 pal. Merino/alpaca yarn which is oh so soft. Love it.

And Mater is currently in the great room. He's not floating much anymore. Currently Charlie cat is just dragging him from room to room by his ribbon.

Got my camera back so .... $39.47

I found this on ebay but Yarn Treehouse has their own website. The midnight blue is sports weight 40% alpaca and 60% merino, the purple is lace weight 80% merino and 20% japan toraylon (toraylon? what's toraylon?) and the multi colored is 100% merino wool.
These are done.
The green blob is in the process of being finished. Casting off 400+ stitches takes a while and is very boring.
New shawl is going to be Wendy's Fir Cone Wrap. I'm trying on size 7 needles and think it'll be nice. We'll see.

Well I've gotten some good rants If you have one to share please enter my contest.

Hillary Clinton is looking for a campaign song

I was thinking maybe "You ain't woman enough to take my man" by Loretta Lynn might be fitting? I'm just saying ...........

Dishcloth swap questionaire

Q: When did you learn to knit? Who taught you?
A: I learned at around age 10. I wanted a super cool knit poncho which was all the rage at the time. I was trying to get my Grandma to make me one but instead she handed me knitting needles and some yarn and taught me how to knit.
Q: What was your very first completed object?
A: A super cool knit poncho that was deep purple, baby blue, and light pink. I shutter just thinking about that color combination. It also was a turtle neck with a zipper front. Frightening!
Q: Most recent finished object?
A: Socks that I haven't posted to the blog yet; just finished this evening.
Q: What was the very first thing you sent to the frog pond?
A: I really don't remember.
Q: Most recent thing sent to the frog pond?
A: Socks because of a knot in the yarn.
Q: What's currently on your needles?
A: Socks and a shawl. Only 8 rows left on the shawl!
Q: What types of needles do you enjoy working with?
A: My trusty bamboo double points seem like they are in my hands all the time. I also love the new knitpicks options needles for lace knitting.
Q: What types of needles have you tried and hated?
A: I don't much care for the good old fashion metal single point needles. They seem too heavy and when working on larger project they tend to make my hands tired.
Q: Have you knit dishcloths before?
A: Yes and not too long ago.
Q: What was your favorite one?
A: Really don't have a fav one.
Q: Least favorite one?
A: I just finished knitting one in the round and hated doing it. It came out great but I hated every stitch.
Q: Do you use homemade dishcloths or face cloths yourself, or give them as gifts, or both?
A: Homemade dishcloth in the kitchen at all times. I also give them away as gifts.
Q: What are your favorite and least favorite scents? (For your body, such as soap/lotion/etc)
A: Love lavender and anything citrus. I don't care for strong florals.
Q: What are your favorite colors?
A: Anything but black, white, cream, and brown.
Q: What colors (if any) are your bathroom and kitchen decorated in?
A: Blue, green, and maroon.
Q: What other hobbies and crafts do you enjoy?
A: Reading, counted cross stitch.
Q: Chocolate: Dark? White? Milk? Ew?
A: Dark chocolate
Q: Do you like salty treats? What kinds?
A: No not a salty treat eatter.
Q: If you could go anywhere in the world for one day and spend the day any way you wanted, where would you go and what would you do?
A: I'd go to Alaska and watch the whales.
Q: Do you have any allergies? (Yarns, foods, etc. that might impact what your pal can send)
A: Ragweed so a dishcloth made from goldenrod is out of the question. lol

Rant to Win Contest

Got a good rant? Please share it with me. You can name names, places, dates, anything you want. Just get it off your chest. Prizes will be posted after I look thru my stash but it'll probably be sock yarn. Random drawing on 5/31/07.

I'll start it off with my current crappy situation:

I'm in the middle of a stupid customer service nightmare with friggin Walmart that just can't be believed. I ordered a swingset for my grandkids thru their website and used the site to store option figuring that we'd pick it up at the store, drive it to their house, and set it up. No problem. Delivery to the store in 7-10 days. You'll get an email from the store and then you'll have 21 days to pick it up. $159.00 plus $9.54 tax. Great!

After 14 days I emailed the website to ask status. I got a call from the store saying, "Yes your swingset came in a week ago (they never called or emailed) but it was damaged in shipping." I asked if they had ordered a replacement. "No we can't do that." I asked them to cancel the order and refund my credit card. "No we can't do that. You have to come to the store and decline accepting the damaged set. Once you do that then you can go back on the website and reorder it." I said I didn't want it just refund my credit card. "Nope, you have to come in."

So I stopped in at Walmart in Waterbury, CT to decline to accept my set and get a refund. The customer service desk knows nothing. They call a manager. They call a manager again. They call a manager for the 3rd time. After 15 minutes the manager calls back saying tell her to come back tomorrow. Nope, I'm not leaving. I want my money. I tell her to call him again and tell him I want my money now.

Another 15 minutes and up walks an assistant manager, Allan, who says that I should come back tomorrow. No, I want my money. We go back to the site to store section and he takes my id, looks thru the computer system, sees my order, goes in the back and sees the damaged box, comes back and spends the next 10 minutes trying to get me a credit. Nope the computer won't let him do the refund. Could I come back Monday? No.

"Ok we'll have to get you a refund in cash from the store safe." Another 10 minutes of waiting. He hands me $159.00 has me sign a log. I ask for a receipt. "Nope there isn't one. The logbook is the receipt." Can I get a copy of the logbook? "No." Well you are under paying me because I was charges tax. "If you are owed more money just come back and we'll take care of it."

I get home check my credit card and sure enough I'm short $9.54. I email help@walmart com and outline the situation. I get an email back today asking me to fax my receipt for the $159.00. I emailed back stating that there isn't a receipt and giving them the outline of this refund. As of right now I'm still out $9.54 and will never deal with walmart.com ever again.

So that's my current rant. What's yours?

Eight random things

Sandi tagged me for 8 random things.

1) I have 3 brothers and no sisters. My own family consists of 3 daughters and 1 son so the tables turned!

2) I love and collect all things Mickey Mouse but can't stand Minnie Mouse.

3) I frequently will listen to what people are telling me and even respond to them but later on I can't remember any of the conversation.

4) My hubby and I have been out on a date every Saturday night since we met 26 yrs ago.

5) I work at home so I don't usually wear shoes but if I put on my shoes sometime during the day I leave them on until bedtime.

6) I never eat anything I can not identify. If I'm unsure of the ingredients in something I won't taste it.

7) I never bake. I use to bake but over the years I decided that it's something I really don't enjoy so I stopped.

8) I never go to the library to get a specific book. I go in and grab the first thing that catches my eye. I only read non-fiction.

Feel free to tag yourself if you want to share.

Spring Into Summer Dishcloth exchange

Happy Mothers Day to all.

Once you start joining one exchange you get into more and more exchanges. I try to keep mine down to just a few but since I'm on a dishcloth knitting kick I had to join this one.

Questionaire for their contest:

What is one baked item you love making or buying and why? I love making meatloaf. It's a comfort food that I never make the same way twice but every time I serve it my kids will all sit at the table raving over how much they love meatloaf and eatting every bite.

What is one item you love to knit and why? Socks. I know people are in shock to find this out. I love knitting socks because you can take a sock in progress anywhere, they knit up pretty fast, you don't need to second mortgage the house to buy a ball of sock yarn, turning the heel is like a magic trick every time you do it, and once you knit a pair for someone and they try them on you have no more problems about future gifts .... just knit them more socks.

Favorite outdoor activity and why? Walking because it slows you down and you have a chance to look around and see all the things you miss when you are whizzing by in your car at 25-50 mph.

Favorite way to relax? Knitting, of course. Sipping a nice cup of coffee while knitting makes it great.

Who's in charge?

I'd like to think it's me but in reality I know is Joey. Here he is napping on the bed. Nothing new about that. Notice the sheets are missing? Well I just took them off taking great care not to disturb his snooze.
Of course, he deserves special treatment. He's the only cat in the house that will do this with wool yarn in easy access.
And let's file this under the "creepy balloon" section. Mylar balloons get possessed after a while if you let them hang around. Mater has been all over the house. Yesterday he left my room, caught an air current down the stairs and ended up in the front hallway. This morning I found him hanging out in the great room. Creepy.

Signs of summer everywhere

From this .....
to this in about 2 weeks. This redbud is my fav tree in the yard.
Really puts on a great show every spring.
Along with a backyard filled with "beautiful yellow flowers" just waiting for my grandsons to come over and pick a ton to give to their mommy. My neighbors probably hate my guts for not spraying to get rid of these but I just love how they look. One man's weeds are another grams flowers. lol

And some knitting thrown in for good measure. Started a pair of socks and ran into a knot after the cuff. Since I don't know how the colors run I frogged and started over after the knot. Green shawl peeking in there saying, "Hummm, Diane did ya forget about me?" She's been neglected so far this week.

A conversation with W

W: Hi Gram. What are you doing today?
Me: Just working. What are you doing?
W: I was playing trains but N took my train. I had Donald and N just took him. I don't like Donald too much so I didn't hit him to get it back.
Me: Oh, that's good. So did Great grandma and Papa (great grandpa) come up to visit yesterday?
W: Oh yes. We had company yesterday. We don't have a lot of company now that we live far, far away.
Me: Well it's not that far. (it's a little over an hour) I'm coming for a visit this weekend.
W: Yes Gram it's far, far away so we don't have much company anymore. And when we go somewhere we are in the car a long time.
Me: I'm going to come up to see you this weekend. Is that ok?
W: (all excited now) Oh yes! Hey Gram, when you come up don't forget your lollypops. You'd hate to have to drive all the way back home to get them if you forgot and you know how little children love lollypops.
Me: Ok I'll remember them. So what's N doing?
W: Playing with the train he took from me.
Me: What's A doing?
W: She's taking a nap. Little babies like to take naps since they can't do anything.
Me: That's true. Babies can't do as much as big boys. What's mommy doing?
W: She's in the basement doing laundry.
Me: She does a lot of laundry.
W: That's because we are messy people.
Me: And what's daddy doing?
W: (taking the phone away from his mouth) Hey, dad. What the heck have you been doing today? (dad listing stuff in the background like fixing shingles on the house so they can get it painted, wiring for some phones, replacing some electrical outlets, gardening) Gram he's been pretty busy today but not as busy as me.
Me: You've been busy? What have you done today?
W: Had breakfast, played outside, helped dad in the garden, rode my bike, played trains, and I didn't hit my brother. Gram, maybe you should bring me 2 lollypops when you come up so I'll have more energy.
Me: I guess not hitting your brother is hard work.
W: Yes it is.

Swap stuff

Doesn't this just scream spring? One of my msn groups had a dishcloth exchange and I was very lucky to be matched with Sherry. She has mad crochet skills.
I, on the other hand, should have been in the remedial knitting class. I actually sent out my dishclothes without snapping a pic of them because by the time I was finished I was really FINISHED! I'd love to tell you that it was a hard pattern, complicated and difficult but it wasn't. It was just me screwing up over and over again. Sometimes the easiest things give you the hardest time.

Check, check, check, and check

On the to do list this week ..... Tilly shawl blocked. Check!
Feather and fan shawl blocked. Check! oooooooooooooo
holy sh**!!! That pin is holding 2 dropped stitches I noticed during blocking. I'll darn them in and you won't notice but CRAP!! how come I didn't notice that while knitting? Huge honking mistake not to notice.
Finished my fav pair of socks knit to date. The Opal Zebras for my son in law. Definately making a pair for me. Really how super cool are these?
Finished the crazy socks for D1. I'll weave the toe and hide the ends during a conference call today.

So the to do list is finished and all that's left is one shawl and ummmm oh yes I casted on 2 new pair of socks last night. Hey a sock knitting addict has to make sure her "fix" is on the needles. lol.

There is a secret project that is driving me NUTS. Should have been so easy but after froggin 3 times ...... gurrrr.

How to get great customer service .....

I use to be a customer service rep so I basically know how the system works. Sometimes it can work to my advantage. So let me share my experience to assist you in getting help faster.

I had to call ATT on a phone issue. My daughter had the phone transfered to the new house but there's no line from the street to the house. Repair line says wait time is about 25 minutes due to a high call volumn. 25 minutes!?!?!

Hummmmm, hang up the phone and call again saying I wanted a new service. In about a nano second there's a very nice lady on the phone just waiting to help me out. "Oh sorry but that's not something I can help you with. While it is a new service it's actually just a transfer of an established service. It's a repair issue so I'm going to have to get someone on the line who can assist you," she says in one of those overly happy voices that would normally piss me off.

I wait for maybe 5 seconds and get transfered directly to a repair person who is happy to take the info from me. "So sorry this happened. We'll have someone out there tomorrow morning and the repairs will be completed by 1." Total phone time? 7 minutes.

The key is to: Be pleasant so whoever is on the phone wants to help you. Even though you've intentionally called the wrong department make an excuse like "well since it's a new location I figured it was a new service." They feel bad that they can't and most companies have a policy called "warm transfer". Warm transfer is that they will not put you into a que of phone calls to wait your turn. Instead the rep you are speaking with will stay on the phone and call someone internally in the department to assist. The internal reps don't have time to waste on hold so their calls are answered asap.

**Since this is a knitting blog I'd just like to share that there are 2 lace shawls on blocking wires in the attic room drying. In addition I'm on the foot of the sock for D1. Oh the things I do to get to cast on another project!

And there's been knitting too .........

Not much finishing but knitting none the less. Finished one sock for D1 and have the second one ready to turn the heel. Very colorful yarn but I have to say I hate it. D1 saw them and loves the colors (doesn't know they are for her) so I guess that's all that matters.
I've finished one zebra sock and have the second one ready to start the heel flap. I love this Opal Zebra sock yarn. Sooo cool. Adamas Shawl is on the 12th chart of the body. It calls for 14 repeats on the body so I'm getting there. I love the way this is turning out.
And the missing blocking wires arrived separately from the rest of the order. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to try them out yet.

Plan this week is to get the two finished shawls blocked this week and finish both pair of socks so that I can cast on the Forest Canopy Shawl designed by Susan Pierce Lawrence. I've decided not to cast on the shawl until I get 4 things finished ..... well that's the plan ...........

While their parents moved .....

We had an exciting weekend. First, W's cars balloon left over from the beginning of February decided to play hide and seek. He did a good job of hiding.
Next W and N decided to hide. I don't know how I ever found them.
And at the end of a long, fun filled weekend of walking, playing watching dvds, playing trains, working puzzles, reading, telling stories, and everything else that goes into a weekend with Gram, they waited at the window for their mommy and daddy.
I think little missy A left her cellphone behind but there's no stored number for me to call and check.

Coffee swap questions

Questions for the coffee swap
1. Whole bean or ground?
Ground because I have a grinder but I'm extremely lazy.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
Fully-loaded, I need all the help I can get.

3. Regular or flavored?
Either. Love hazel nut or anything chocolate.

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

5. Favorite coffee ever?
I really don't have a favorite. Around here Dunkin Donuts is the king of the land so I probably drink more of that than anything.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
After raising 4 kids I have to say that I'm not really all the picky about much anymore.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Anything that catches your fancy is fine.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
nope.

9. Yarn/fiber you love?
I'm a sock knitter. I also am getting into shawl knitting. I use very little acrylic and I do a lot of charity knitting for CIC so wool worsted yarn is always welcome.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?
I can't say I hate any yarns.

11. What's on your needles?
2 lace weight shawls, 3 pr of socks, and a couple patterns waiting in the wings .... I hope they wait until I get something done. lol.

12. Favorite colors?
Anything except black, white or brown.

13. Allergies?
goldenrod.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
I love all the variety of things people make. That's the fun part of blogging. I really don't like people in the groups who criticize others for using yarns or needles that are inexpensive. After all variety is the spice of life so use whatever makes you happy. I'm addicted to my children; they are grown up to be wonderful people. However I dream 24/7 about my 3 grandchildren because they have my heart.

A day with N

Since N was heartbroken about the whole not going out with grandpa thing the other day we decided to take him along on an outing Sunday. We went to Hubbard Park to see the daffodils. They are having the festival next weekend but there were rides already set up this weekend. N went on the train.
And took a ride on the firetruck.
And went on the orange twist. He looked at the ducks and geese in the pond. We took a stroll around the pond and headed back home. It was a nice, sunny, warm day so nice to be outside.

Unfortunately, I'm in trouble again. W is really sick running temps of 102 so he couldn't come along with us for the day. I left him sobbing at his front door crying, "Gram don't leave without me." Heartbreaking. I'll have all 3 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so hopefully I'll get back on everyone's good side.

Cute kid story ahead

I've had my grandchildren over every weekend since D1 and my son in law bought their house. Yesterday everyone was sick so we had a quiet day of watching movies and playing games.

My hubby had last week off from work so he drove up to the house on Tuesday to work on the bathroom renovations and other odd jobs. He decided to stay over a couple days and ended up not coming back until yesterday. He did a lot of stuff but it's a house that no matter how much you finish there's still a million things left to do.

After a quick shower and change of clothes hubby came downstairs and said, "I'm going up town for a cup of coffee. Anyone want to come?" Anyone want to come wasn't really an invitation since the usual people in the house (18-22 and me) always say no. Well before you knew it N said yes, gets off the couch and goes into the hallway to look for his shoes.

Hubby starts out the door and N starts crying. S1 happens to go into the hallway and asks N what's wrong. N says, "Help me get my shoes on, Uncle." I look into the hallway and say, "Hey stop! N really thinks he's going with you." Hubby turns around and says, "Sorry N not this time. I'll take you along next time. It's late and your parents will be here to pick you up before I come back."

N is now upset because he's not going so I said, "Come on N and stay here with me. We'll play trains until mommy and daddy come." N is still trying to convince his uncle to get his shoes on so his uncle comes out with, "Gram says you can't go. Isn't she mean?" N agrees that his gram is mean, tears are wiped away and normal activity resumes.

So last night at around 9 it occures to me that my hubby issued an invitation, the invitation was accepted, my hubby decided not to follow thru on him invitation which caused emotional distress to a 2 yr old, and somehow I'm the mean one. How did that happen?!?!?!?

Things that make you go hummmm $19.56

3 things on the packing list in the box. Ok 2 skeins of Stained Glass Shimmer check. 2 skeins of Iris Heather Alpaca Cloud check.
3rd item on the list is lace blocking wires which would consist of 12 large (32 1/2" long) straight wires ........ must be being sent in another box because this little one can't possible hold 32 1/2" wires.

The shimmer will definately be something for my ISE4 pal. No really this time for sure. The other 2 things I knit for her were just practice. This one is definate jewel tones and with the little silk sheen it's perfect.

Total for yarn spent this year so far? $423.07. Maybe it would be cheaper if I took up drinking or smoking. lol

What I went to Michael's for .... $24.75

Stitch markers. When you have a 12 stitch repeat you need a lot of stitch markers. I have a ton but
I just love these for lace knitting. They don't snag like my split rings and don't get stuck in the yarn like most of my hand made markers.
I didn't need 25 calls of cotton yarn for lace knitting but it was on sale for 99 cents a ball. $24.75. Can't pass up a bargin!

Lace never looks good in progress

Tilly shawl just waiting for i cord bind off and blocking. The yarn is knit picks gossamer which is wonderful to knit with. The color is Sweet Pea. My ISE4 pal likes jewel tones so I don't know if this will be sent off or not. I decided that the maroon shawl will be a gift for my sister in law. The color isn't deep enough for my pal.
This one is in knit picks's gossamer also. The color is Leprechaun. Pattern is the Adamas Shawl which is also from knit picks. I'm on repeat 7 of the body.
Even close up unblocked lace looks like something the cat threw up!
Current knitting book from the library. Really nice book. Still fence sitting about buying it at this point. Do I really need another book of patterns? Probably.

Glug, glug

Sunday at my neighbor's house. Water making it's way out of a little stream and toward their basement.

Today? Back in the stream where it should be. Not a drop of water in my house but the yard was a disaster.

Oh well, I just stayed in and knit. Finished Tilly except for the i-cord bind off. Started another shawl but not far enough along to get a pic. I ordered some blocking wires so hopefully blocking my ISE4 shawl will be done soon. Finished one zebra sock and working on the mate. Lots of knitting but not much finishing. lol.

This little missy is sick. I had her and her brothers Friday night and all day Saturday. She was running a little temp with a runny nose. Monday her brothers came down with really high fevers and congestion. I'd love to go over and help but I'm not feeling all that great myself.

The excitment of the weekend is building .....

As you can clearly see, we're all in a panic over Friday the 13th. Oscar is every excited.
Charlie can hardly contain himself wondering what will go wrong. Even Joey is eager to get Friday over with. Yup, those cats lead the exciting life. Give them something soft to nap on and they are all set. Me? Well I really am excited because of this
My scarf from my ISE4 pal Rachel. This is a truly awful picture of a totally rocking scarf. Want to see a better one? Click here. Thank you Rachel.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I'll be watching the little ones so D1 and SIL can work on the house. I've got DVD's from the library, popcorn, and plenty of juice.