More to life than baby socks

Somehow life goes on without baby sock knitting. I will not lie to you and say that it's been an easy transition. I started back on the scarf I was knitting for my neice for christmas. Love the pattern but not crazy about the yarn. She's a fan of the orange so she should like this. And the nice thing? It'll be done before next christmas.

Although this is now calling my name ......
880 yrds of lace weight yarn from Ray. What to make? Any suggestions? I already know it'll be for me and I will not share.

I joined a knit along on Ravelry. February's sock is the jaywalker. I think I'm probably the last person in blogworld who has not made a jaywalker. Looking over my stash of yarn I think I'll be using my prize yarn. I think it'll look so cute with red toes.

Ray's yarn shouldn't be calling to me because this is screaming every time I go into the living room. "Hey, lazy bitch. Yes you over there working on other projects. Don't be acting like you don't know me. All you need to do is hide 2 ends and block me. Just do it already. Don't keep me waiting. I'll move to the top of the loveseat at night and let Oscar sleep on me. No it's not an empty threat. I'll do it."

First fo 2008

36 baby socks for A4A.
And the prize yarn is some nice alpaca from my stash.
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to finish January socks for KAL's.

We have a winner!

Three people guessed the correct amount of socks. I finished 36 pair (and much to my hubby's delight didn't put a single pair on my fingers and say, Look they are even cute walking). By random drawing the winner is Sophanne.

The grandkids are coming any minute so I'll snap a pic of the socks and the prize yarn on Monday. Thanks everyone for playing along.

The rule is no cats on the table

Joey: Well if you didn't want me on the table then you shouldn't have left this nice comforter on it for 3 seconds. You just should have folded it and put it away. It's all your fault.
Charlie: What the heck!?!? How did I get here? OMG the sun must have been in my eyes and I thought I was jumping on the couch.
Oscar: Who gives a rat's ass about you and your stupid rules anyways. I've got this nice back of the loveseat.
Finished sock #1 of my January socks. Seems funny knitting an adult sock after so many baby ones. It took forever!!! Ok only working on it since Monday but it felt like forever.
Got a package yesterday and opened it to find these little faces. Gonna make my morning and afternoon coffee even better.
Notice the gram made socks? I sure did.

Time for a contest

So what happens when you start knitting just one thing on 1/1/08? Say of instance an obsessive sock knitter decided to knit baby socks. And this obsessive sock knitter knit nothing but baby socks for 20 days straight? If she worked 60 hours a week and squeezed in knitting around that schedule how many pair of baby socks do you think she's be able to finish to mail off to Afghans for Afghans? Take a guess. Winner will be drawn on Friday 1/25/08 at 12 est.

Packaging ........

This is the packaging for one $10.00 flannel shirt. A plastic bag, cardboard on the outer part of the collar and the back of the shirt, plastic on the inside of the collar and the top button, tissue paper on the inside of the shirt, and 7 pins. What a friggin waste!
Secret knitting continues.....
Since I've joined 2 sock knit alongs I figured I'd better at least pick out the yarn for my January socks. I'll work of them next week. Love the fall colors.

Charlies says: I'd probably give a crap if your hobby involved tuna or maybe some capnip but since it doesn't I'll give you 'the look' until you go away. No really, just move along. Nothing to see here.

D2's new tattoos

I'll start off by saying that I don't have any tattoos. I don't find them offensive but it's been my choice not to have any tattoos. I think some tattoos are beautiful, well thought out symbols of a part of life, hobby, or a special person. Others are more than a little stupid.

My friend's son had a tattoo put around his arm. "It's a tribal band" he explained. "What's your tribe?" I asked. Eyes rolled and no explanation followed. I would have expected to hear, "I love how it looks" but no explanation said that his friends were getting them and being one of the cool kids he went along with the group.

D2 is into tattoos. She has one on her left leg of a baby smurf stacking blocks. On the blocks are her name and date of birth. I don't care for it but it's got meaning to her. On her right back shoulder are a couple of cherries. Lower back is Senior Frog (a bar logo) and on her front right hip is the first initial of her name. I don't really care for any of them but it's her body and when she gets married it'll be up to her to try to cover up a big red frog on her lower back.

That being said .....

these would probably make more sense if they were on a 3 yr old instead of a 23 yr old. I don't get it.

Secret knitting has been happening. Contest next week about it.

Defeat the Winter Doldrums exchange

Looking for a fun exchange? Like dishcloths? Try this one.

1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both? I knit
2. What types of needles do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? I usually use my trusty knit picks options. The cotton slides well on metal needles.
3. What types of cotton do you enjoy using for making dishcloths? Is there any that you've been wanting to try? I usually use cotton yarn from michaels or ac moores. No particular favs and nothing I've been wanting to try.
4. What color(s) are your kitchen and bath decorated in (if any)? blues and greens
5. What are your favorite colors for yarns? blues, greens, purples. Least favorite? black, white and brown.
6. Do you like Winter, or do you count the days until it ends? Winter is ok. Don't like snow, ice or cold but love the way fresh snow looks.
7. What's your favorite way to brighten your day when you're down in the dumps? Play with my grandkids or knit a little.
8. What is your favorite treat to indulge in and when your down in the dumps? a nice cup of coffee and dark chocolate.
9. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Cocoa? coffee or herbal tea
10. If you could take a vacation starting tomorrow and go anywhere for one week and money were no object, where would you go and what would you do? I'd take a cruise to Alaska and go sight seeing; taking in nature at it's best.
11. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should be aware of? Nope no fiber or food allergies.

The last yarn purchase for 2007 $28.00 total $862.00

This is the last of my yarn purchases for 2007. Double strand = a nice sock weight. That is gonna make a whole lot of socks or some nice lace weight scarves/shawls. 90% wool 10% nylon from ebay.

So the total I spent on yarn for 2007 was around $862.00. Add some books, needles, magazines, etc and my hobby probably ran around $1000.00 for the year. Not bad at all. I finished 113 items. And I have enough yarn in the house to last at least a year ... just in case there's a crisis and I can't get to a store for one year. lol.

I haven't blocked the scarf yet because I'm working on this secret for a contest next week. It'll be a guessing contest involving a quanity of baby socks. My hubby said that sooner or later I'd get tired of making baby socks but that just doesn't seem to be happening.

Maybe it's time for a 12 step program? "Hi I'm Diane and I can't stop making baby socks."

Gotta go have a little breakfast. If you like oatmeal you've got to try this stuff. Totally different taste and texture. Unfortunately if take about a half hour to make it so I do a larger quanity and throw it in the fridge so I don't have to make it every day.

What I should be doing instead of blogging ....

Maybe if I just stall a little longer the wood stacking elves will come.

The joys of home ownership

I'll start off by saying that my hubby is a builder and can fix anything around the house. But several weeks ago we started to have a problem with water stains in the foyer. This could only mean there was a leak in the upper bathroom. Upon investigation it turned out to be something with the shower so drywall needed to be cut. Leak fixed but wall not fixed and this is what my upper bathroom wall looks like today.

Charlie says "Diane I don't know why he just didn't leave this open for me. It was a great place for me to hide."

Around the same time there was a leak in the hot water heater. Hubby and a friend fixed it in no time at all but apparently when the water was turned back on some scale from the bottom of the tank got into the water system and clogged the shower in the master bathroom. Unfortunately this can't be repaired and will have to be replaced. This is the wall in my bathroom. Now where have I seen this before .........

If anything happens in the main level shower stall we're up sh**s creek ..... because it's not a simple cut thru the wall. Now we'll see how long it is before he gets around to a little drywall repair. I'm not holding my breath.

On a brighter note I did finish the knitting on D#3's shawl/scarf. I'll try to get it blocked over the weekend because the longer I wait the longer I'll have to listen to her complain. I love the color.

Joey says "Can you keep it down a little. You are ruining my mid morning nap. Now I'll have to take a longer late morning nap to make up for it."

Kid stuff

W got a kid friendly digital camera for Christmas from his great uncle. He loves it. He's been taking pictures of everyone and everything. Today was his first day back at nursery school and he begged his mommy to let him take the camera to get some pictures of school. His mommy agreed but said that they would have to go a little early, take the pictures, and then she's take the camera home with her so the class wouldn't be distracted.

W and mommy arrive at school and W takes pictures of everything. It's time for class to start so mommy takes the camera and starts to walk to the door. W runs over all excited and mommy thinks it's for a quick hug before she leaves. She's correct. W grabs the camera, hugs it, and announces, "I love my camera sooooooo much."

W: Gram I've got some exciting news!
Me: Oh what could it be?
W: I've got a tooth that's loose. I was eatting an apple but I couldn't because my tooth wasn't strong enough.
Me: That's so exciting.
W: Yes and do you know what happens next?
Me: Your tooth comes out?
W: After that part. Someone comes to our house.
Me: Is it an elephant?
W: **Huge sigh and a tone in his voice like "Gram how have you gotten this far in life without knowing stuff? Thank God for me so you won't be stupid any longer" ** No not an elephant. The tooth fairy will come and take my tooth and leave me money.
Me: Oh that sounds much better than having an elephant in your house.
W: Yes it is. I can't talk any more. I'm too excited. I've got to go wiggle my tooth some more.

Traditions

Yesterday was the day to dip into my filebox of tattered paper to find this. This paper is about 50 yrs old. It's the receipe on it for kugalee that belonged to my grandmother that was given to my mom. My grandma didn't need directions. She had made this so many times that the directions were in her soul. But since this is only the second time I've made this by myself I needed directions.
Anything calling for 5 eggs and a stick of butter .... not to mention the entire package of bacon with grease that I used ..... can't be seen as a food that's really good for you. But it's part of my past. Part of my parents history and sometimes that alone makes it ok.
1.5 hrs of prep time and into the oven for a little over 2 hrs. This is the end result. Yummy!

End of the year stuff

Don't ya love blog friends? My blog friend Gypsy had a contest about your best holiday. I submitted my story about the year we had 2 little kittens who tore our christmas tree apart every night and my husband's quest to keep them away. In the end the kittens won. Random selection sent me this ..... You can see more of Gypsy's yarn in her esty shop. Lovely stuff. Gypsy's daughter got married on the 22nd so there should be some great wedding pics on her blog soon. Happy bride and the mother of the bride did nothing to harm the groom's family so I'd say that's successful.

I was playing with some new toys and made some soap for the grandkids. Crappy first attempt because I didn't read any of the directions. I was too excited to read. Next batch will be much better .... don't think it could be much worse. lol

So we finished our Christmas ham and decided to put the little left and the bone on the bird feeder for the crows. I didn't notice a single crow today but there was this Joey cat bird hanging around.
Working away on D3's shawl. Really nice.
Lovely yarn.
I think we'll be starting off 2008 with a contest. Details tomorrow. Have a safe and happy new year's celebration.

How was your holiday?

I finished my socks for Lucy christmas eve. These are Opal Neon. They are super bright and happy socks.

And of course with the left over sock yarn these baby socks materialized from nowhere.

My sister in law does some wonderful stuff with scrapbooking. She had made all the favors for my neice's wedding shower and wedding. These were some of the things she made for Christmas. Each ornament was filled with candy (notice past tense about the candy) and each one was more beautiful than the last.
So for the last 13 yrs I've been tooling around town in a 1993 Ford Taurus station wagon. I love that car. Unfortunately after 13 yrs the old ford was worn out. Leaking oil, coolant, etc. The time had come to replace my beloved wagon.


This is my new baby. Quite a difference from the old car but I'm getting to love this one. My only concern in buying another car? "Is there room for 3 car seats in the backseat so I can tote my grandkids around?" The sales guy looked at me like I was nuts but seriously that was my only concern.

Thank you Corinne

Usually I'm a good swap buddy but I have to admit I was the worst swap buddy ever for the Coffee Swap exchange. For some reason I got the mail dates incorrectly set in my brain and missed the mailing date. As soon as I did I emailed my buddy to let her know and it turned out that she was in the same boat.

So Corinne mailed off her package and has probably been wondering WHAT THE HELL!!! Well the mailman delivered this to my neighbor in error and she just got back from a 2 week vacation. Her brother was picking up everything and just moved it into the house without looking at the label. Soooooo here's what I found last night.
Charlie says: Ok there's candy, vanilla almond biscotti, coffee and a mug from starbucks, some of the silly string that Diane yells at me every time I bite it, and really pretty stitch markers that would be great to swat around the living room if only I could get them off the safety pin.
What no tuna!?!? Catnip?!?! This is an outrage. And outrage I tell ya.
Hummmm maybe I'll just chew on the box for a while .........

Thank you Corinne.

Snowy Sunday

Another storm in CT. This one is currently snow but will be changing over to sleet and freezing rain. Oh doesn't that sound like fun. At least the kids and I got a cord of firewood stacked before it started. Last year we stacked 2 cords when it was 5 degrees outside so yesterday's 24 degrees seemed like a heat wave.

If only I could figure out how to stop casting on baby socks. They are so addicting. Instant completed project.
These took a little longer. Probably for my mom.

So I finished the flame on fire shawl a while back but I just wasn't happy with it at all. Never got around to blocking it and then last week I pulled it out and started something else.

The pattern is by Alison Hyde and is called Marnie. Beautiful pattern and a good match for the yarn. I was going to make it for my neice but there's not way it'll be done in time. I've got Ray's beautiful yarn just calling out to me.

So I couldn't resist casting on this shawl for my daughter from my latest yarn purchase. D3 saw it and can't wait!

The grands were over yesterday. Little Missy A was all snug in her sweater. She and N fell in love with this old flashlight thing. It doesn't work any more but they loved makeing it collapse and expand.

3 posts in one day!?!?! $78.00

I guess I was a llittle behind. I transferred to another department a short time ago. My new boss is a doll. Actually all my bosses have been wonderful so this boss is the most recent wonderful boss I've worked for.

Using her own money she sent everyone on her teams a little holiday gift. My set is hanging in my kitchen adding a little holiday cheer.
The only upside to being homebound sick is internet shopping. I've been reading Ray's blog for quite a while and have been eyeballing his yarn for just as long. So here we have my latest yarn purchase. $78.00 and possibly the last money spend on yarn for 2007. I'll wait until 2008 and total everything. Should be interesting. Anyways .....

We have a pound cone of brown sheep fingering weight yarn in a nice purple. I'm thinking either a shawl for D1. 880 yrds of merino lace weight yarn in a color called Honeydew. I don't have plans for it just yet but the range of colors just can't be captured by my camera. Whatever I make has to be very special. And some really nice fingering weight yarn dyed Spring Green. This will be a feather and fan shawl for D3. She's been using the one I entered in the fair but I think she needs a younger fresher color more fitting for a 19 yr old free spirit. And last but certainly not least I bought some superwash sock yarn in the colors of Mickey Mouse. This will either be socks for me (since I'm a nut for Mickey Mouse) or socks for my sister in law who is a Disney nut.
Joey says: Is it possible for me to be any less interested in your yarn? I think not.
I had the little men over last weekend. We did quite a bit of running around and playing. This was N when his mommy can to pick him up Saturday night.

With his newest Gram-mades on his feet and all his treasures on the couch next to him, he was all set for a rest. I went to bed around 9 pm right after they left.