2007 finished objects 21 and 22

I finished this pair on Sunday. It's been busy around here. Everyone is ill. D2 and D3 both have really bad colds. I spent Saturday over at D1's to try to give her a break. She's got so funky URI which won't go away. Her hubby has a URI with an ear infection that actually burst the ear drum while he was sleeping. My 4 yr old grandson W has pneumonia. He had a fever all day Thursday which spiked to 105 after his nap. Quite frightening. He seems to be on the mend.
Finished this on Monday. More cic socks with knitpicks yarn
Almost done with these which I think will be my favorite pair of socks ever. LOVE THIS COLORWAYS!!!!

Woke up to this yesterday. I love to sit out there in the summer and sip coffee. No coffee sipping today unless it's ice coffee. This is perfect snowman snow. W called yesterday to ask if I was going outside to play. He was sad because he couldn't go outside. I think he just wanted to make sure that I wasn't having fun without him. lol

Lots of knitting .... little finishing

This yarn is taking soooooo much time away from my knitting. Why? It's scratchy and smells like farm animal. Really bad farm animal.

I've washed it several times. It bloomed well. The scratch was still there along with the smell.

I soaked it overnight in conditioner and air dried it outside for 2 days. Still scratchy and smelly.

I actually woke up this morning and the first friggin thing that popped into my head was "What the hell am I going to do with that yarn?" How sick is that? I can't possibly make socks out of it. If you are an orphan the least someone could do is give you nice soft socks to wear. You've got enough on your plate without having itchy stinky socks.

Suggestions on something new I can try? Anyone want to give it a new home?


Somewhere along the line I did manage to finish this pair of socks. I've got 2 adult socks and one more cic pair on the needles. I seamed most of the second sweater with the longer arms and I think it'll work out well. Will be frogging the first one back to the body and redoing the top.

There's one in every crowd

There are so many nice knitting groups on the web. Lovely people who are always willing to offer helpful hints. People with incredible talent who post pictures of their completed work. Comforting words spoken to friends unseen. However ........

In every group there's always one person who feels the need to make a friggin' comment on everything. An authority on every subject known to mankind. The person who seems to feel it's his job to point out how ignorant others in the group are for voicing an opinion of a yarn, store, pattern, tool, etc. that is not the one the authority feels is the best ever.

Case in point ... a woman posted today that she went to Walmart and went nuts looking at all the new yarns. Did she ask what anyone's opinion of Walmart was? No. Ask if everyone loves Red Heart yarn? Not at all. Just made an observation that her Walmart had some great new yarn and she purchased some.

This comment was met with a round of ooos and aaahhhs from members who obviously shop at Walmart. Others chimed in with their shopping experiences at Michael's . All nice comments about a favorite activity ..... looking for yarn.

But then the authority has to piss on the party and make it seem like you'd have to be an ass for shopping at Walmart and Michaels. Pathedic selection. Ebay and Herrschners have much better selections.

True. Of course the last time I shopped from Herrschners I paid far too much for extremely slow shipping. And EBay purchases are dependent on the seller's prompt action after you've made your purchase. Not to mention that the colors aren't always as pictured and the yarn falls short at times between what you thought you were getting vs what arrived in the mail.

I guess I'm just questioning why someone would need to be rude and demeaning to others in the group. What's it like to be that friggin' miserable that you have to be an ass to people you don't know for no apparent reason? Do you wake up in the morning knowing you are a superior person put on earth to correct the errors of others? I just don't get it.

An educational weekend

Friday W and N slept over. I had gotten a couple of videos from the library and boy have times changed. One of the videos was the Grimm Brothers stories: Puss in Boots and The Master Thief. There was a shooting in the Masterthief which caught us off guard. Guess I'll have to watch all the videos first.

Saturday was spent on errands, fixing my Dad's computer, and knitting. I started knitting from one of the cones of yarn from Webs. There will definately be a contest down the road on guessing how many pair of socks I'll be getting out of those cones of yarn.

Sunday started with a call from D1 saying W was having trouble breathing and she was taking him to the er. 4 1/2 hrs later they were home after a terrible experience there. Lots of waiting with little attention. She'll be taking him to the regular doc today. ER filled with olderly people who had fallen on the ice this morning trying to get to church.

Sunday afternoon was time for a little education so off to New Haven to the Knights of Columbus Museum. It's an interesting place to poke around. The featured exhibits were The Swiss Guard (charged with guarding the Pope) and Crosses and Crucifixes (from all over the world made at different times, different materials).

Sunday evening was spent frogging the sock I was knitting from the cone of yarn, winding the yarn into skeins, washing the yarn several times, rinsing, and hanging to dry in the bathroom. Too scratchy to knit with. After repeated washings it did soften up well and bloom into some nice yarn. I'll try again today and it should go better.

Toys for all $65.15

W received these cars for this birthday. I liked them because they reminded me of the vehicles in the movie "Cars". W was giving them names and decided the little red on in front was named Lightening the Queen. In the movie cars the red race car was Lightening McQueen so he was close. Love the things that come out of their mouths.
$65.15 for the above yarn from Webs. This will be used for CIC socks. The yarn is a little stiff so I'll be washing them before sending.
Sock in progress
Sweater in progress

Another sock in progress.

My new friend.

This is my new friend, Turner. Yes I actually named the exercise bike. D3 is embaerassed but really she's 18 yrs old and should be well past the point of being embarrassed by stuff like this.

I started off Tuesday with two 1.5 mile rides .... after which my legs felt like jello. Yesterday one 4.5 mile ride while knitting. I'm trying to work up to 1 hr of peddling time every day so that should take a while. Just think of all the extra knitting time I'll get in!

Haven't posted knitting pics in a while

But that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting. Above are 2 more pair of socks for CIC.
And one pair of socks for me. I love these because the colors are cheerful and girlie.
Then we come to this sweater. I finished it to this point over a week ago but I just can't bring myself to stitch it up and call it done. Why? I arms are too short. I can't find the link to the pattern but I used a size 4 long sleeved shirt to determine that the arms will hit about mid forarm. That will just not do!

I followed the size 4 pattern but knit the body in the round instead of flat. I also knit the body 9" long because it just seemed a little short to me (wanted to make sure the sweater went past the waist to keep the child warmer). I added an additional 4 stitches to the length of each arm too.

So now I've got 3 options: 1) rip back and add enough stitches to lengthen the arm by about 3 inches 2) pick up stitches at the arms and knit to lengthen the arms 3 inches or 3) sew it up and let it go as is.

Opinions anyone?

It's a party!

W is turning 4 on Saturday so it's a party. He presented me with this lovely invitation that he made himself. The front has a wonderfully abstract yellow picture "Gram, that's a picture of nothing. I just wanted to use the yellow marker." The back has letters "And this doesn't spell anything. I just wanted to make letters."

The inside has a picture, "That's me holding my birthday cake with 4 candles in it because I'm going to be 4" and a dinosaur, "It's a green dinosaur party." Plus a wonderful pink smile face sticker. "I put this sticker right here just for you Gram. Girls like pink and you are a girl."

Cute Kid story

W and N slept over last Friday. N had a bucket filled with little things. He and I were taking things out of the bucket and I'd ask him what each thing was.

Me: What's this? N: Clifford the dog. Me: And this? N: That's Bob the Builder. Me as I reached in and pulled out a dinosaur: what's this? N: that's a green dinosaur. Me reaching in and pulling out another dinosaur with a very long neck: And this one? N: That's a longasaurous.

OMG!!! cracked me up!

The bedroom set take 2

Well, the correct bed was delivered so hubby and I will get everything moved into the room this weekend. I told the delivery guys to call me Mrs. Picky Bitch and boy did they turn red and sputter out apologies. They were cold and cranky but that's no excuse for being rude.

Knitting on a few socks currently but nothing to show for it yet. I've got one by my desk for conference calls and two downstairs for tv watching. S1 set up my new exercise bike so I'll have to try knitting and riding tomorrow. Hope that works out. If not it could turn into a funny story.


My oldest daughter and her hubby found a house. They signed paperwork tonight to move forward with the mortgage. I've got mixed emotions about the whole thing. I'm happy that they found something but I'm sad because it's an hour away. I've been soooooo spoiled having my grandchildren 15 minutes away. It'll be sad not to be shopping and just drop in to say hi and play a little. I'm sure I'll feel better soon but for now I'm having a pity party and I'm the guest of honor.

Dear Delivery Guys .....

I know it is ungodly cold today. I am so sorry that you have to be out delivering my bedroom set today. If you had delivered on Friday like your boss promised me then you wouldn't be as cold. I am also sorry that I am asking you to set up everything in an unheated garage. I did not move the old set out of the room yet; probably a smart idea since you were supose to deliver on Friday and I would have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor if I had.

That being said I have to say that I'm a little miffed by your attitude. You are trying to deliver a king-size bed. My order clearly states a queen size bed. You can tell me that I can have it at the same price, you can try to talk me into anything you'd like but you will now take apart the wrong size bed, pack it back on the truck, drive back to the warehouse, get the right one, drive back here, and set it up again. I understand that you do not want to do this however I'm the customer and I want what I ordered.

Can I add a little something here? When you are talking on walkie-talkies in a garage that is attached to the house chances are that anyone inside the house will be hearing your conversation. Having said this you will understand why I was a little upset when you referred to me as a "picky bitch." Trust me buddy, you haven't seen anything close to what I'm capable of which it comes to bitchiness yet. Keep it up and you could get a glimps shortly.

Diane

My new socks

I just love these socks. Not a yellow person or an orange person but I really love the way these look. They almost match (which had nothing to do with my matching skills) but still look totally different.
Nice pic out my front door but of course you can't see what I was seeing.
The red circle is my cat Charlie. He is sitting at the edge of some brush stalking .... waiting ... listening for a little field mouse to make a move. I've seen all my cats do this at one time or another.

I finished the knitting on my cic sweater but didn't get a chance to sew it up yet. I think the sleeves are a little short so I may have to add some rows. Gotta keep those little ones as warm as possible.

A little something for your valentine?

Hummmmm when I think about Valentines Day these don't come to mind.

When life immitates Seinfeld

I had an appointment at the dentist today ......... I have louse teeth so I always have an appointment at the dentist ....... so I brought along my sock in progress ............. I always have a sock in progress ............... to work on while waiting .................. I always have to wait.

After checking in with Gail ......... kinda odd when you know everyone at a rather large dental office by first name and visa versa ............. I took off my coat, sat down, and pulled out my knitting. Craptastic day today so I was looking forward to 5 or 10 minutes of relaxing knitting when all of a sudden the door opens and they call me in. Sandi says, "No time for knitting today. We're too fast. No knitting for you."

All I could think of was the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi and the soup cook's line of "No soup for you." The things that crack you up with you watch way too much tv.


On a lighter note, I won an exercise bike in a drawing. How cool is that? I can't wait. Think I'll have to try knitting and cycling at the same time.

And I finished some stuff too

These are two pair of socks done for CIC from some knitpicks wool of the andes.
And these are a pair of socks that will be put away until next christmas. The yarn is Opal Rodeo and yes I actually set out to make these match. The colors were so strong that I wanted to match the purples.
And last but not least I started a sweater for CIC. I don't have access to the pattern info right now but I'll make sure I add it as this progresses along.

$98.35 in sock yarn

Here's a less than fantastic pic of the sock yarn I ordered on January 10th. It always amazes me that this yarn can get from Astrid to me so quickly. Plus you just can't top the price. Of course I did have a moment of panic when I went to open the package and saw this .......

Yup, a tear in the plastic mailing packet. Nothing was wrong with the yarn at all so I worried for no reason.

Most of this will be socks for me. I have a goal for 12 pr of socks for me and I've done 3 so far. Each one will be a different pattern so I just have to figure out which patterns work well with which yarns.

Plans for my newest yarn addition .......

Last year I did a lot of socks for CIC. This year I'm going to try making some sweaters. I found this pattern . I have short attention span with my knitting so this will be challenging. At least figuring out the different yarn stripes should keep me interested.

Anyone have any other interest kid sweater patterns size 2, 4 or 6?

$55.72 so far in 2007

Very odd weather today so the pics aren't really showing the colors correctly. Two more pair of cic socks.
And 28 balls of knitpicks wool of the andes. So $55.72 spent on yarn so far this year.

As a parent .......

I tell my kids things over and over and over. The things change over the years but you still end up repeating things. For instance ..... every fall when it rains I warn my kids to drive carefully because wet leaves are very slippery. In the winter I tell them to leave 5 extra minutes to warm up the car and get the snow and ice off before driving.

Now my kids know I'm repeating myself. In fact I start off with, "It's raining in the fall so I have to give my slippery leaves speech now. I don't want to but it's in my Mother contract."

My husband has his own endless loop of things he tells the kids. His big one is, "Never let your gas get below a quarter tank. It's not good for the car." Of course this is met with rolling eyes from everyone.

Yesterday morning hubby comes home after his morning run (school bus driver) asking if I can run him back to the car. "I ran out of gas on the way to work this morning. Another driver saw me walking, picked me up, and drove me to work. He dropped me off here just now."

I drove him to the car with a gas can in the back seat without saying a word. Unfortunately that was the only silence he's heard from any family member. All 4 of the kids have been teasing him terribly. I told him not to worry because after 2 or 3 yrs they'll probably stop.

Socks everywhere

The thing I love about sock knitting is it's instant finished projects! No weeks of knitting. No sewing seams. Great for a lazy knitter like me. This is the first pair of socks for CIC. Teal and green knit picks worsted weight yarn.
And another pair of socks for me. Regia brasil in shades of blue. Fluted bannister pattern on these.
I did a pair of socks for N last month but couldn't give them to him because I didn't have the pair for W finished. N and W slept over Friday night so of course W saw his sock in progress. "I just need to finish this second one for you and then you'll be able to wear them," I explained. To which the little man chimed in, "Well you'd better get to work now." I did as I was told and finished them Sunday morning.

Cute story from the sleep over. W is almost 4 and is very interested in knitting. He saw a package of unopened double points.

W "Could these be for me?"
Me "Well when you get a little older I can teach you to knit and then yes they could be your needles."
W "You can teach me to knit just like you knit."
Me "Yes and when you get very good at it you can make socks for me."
W "No you can make your own socks."

Second story: W pushed his brother and ended up with a time out in the corner. After about a minutes he asked to come out. "You can come out and say sorry to N for pushing." The minute N saw his brother coming towards him he ran off. "Gram, I can't say sorry to my brother because he's running away. He must think I'm going to hurt him again." "Why would he think that?" "Because I do it all the time. He's smart."

Just thinking ....

I was listening to the radio while they were talking about the different memorial services held to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. They mentioned that he would be 78 yrs old if he hadn't been killed. Got me to wondering ...... how long does someone have to be deceased before they stop telling you how old that person would be had they not died?

I was at the Washington Monument on George Washington's birthday last year and they didn't mention that George Washington would have been 274 if he hadn't died. That leads me to believe there is some unspoken cut off.

So this has been a topic of discussion around here. Some people think 90 should be it. Others 80. What do you think?