It did get me thinking that this would not only be ideal for some of my leftover bits of Sugar N Cream or Peaches N Cream cotton but also make a great gift bag for one of my handmade soap bars. So, I casted on another one.
I definitely think it will make a great alternative to a washcloth and a great gift for soaps.
Anne and I received an email about Jessi's Mom and I just got off the phone with Jessi. They think her Mom might have had a heart attack but they aren't 100% positive.
Please pray for Jessi’s mom and send warm thoughts to her and her family - her Mom is in the hospital right now and they are running all kinds of tests. Jessi promises she will call me when they find out anything but, I will try to call her later.
Keep them in your thoughts.
The Princess has off from camp this week to we are doing mini-trips if and when we can. Today we met up with my mom at the second largest mall in the United States and did a mini shopping spree. The Princess got a new Webkin, clothes for the fall and got to lunch with the ladies. Then we dashed back to pick up Miss Sunshine from camp.
Still working on the candy bag which, believe it or not, the Princess really likes even though it is shades of blues.
I also got my confirmation that I am in Secret Pal 11! YEAH!!! This will be my very first SP swap... so exciting.....
Not too shabby for my first ever DPN project would you say?
Took the camera back to Best Buy this afternoon for them to help with the camera they sold my husband. Even though he is the technology person, I am the one who has to deal with the camera. Go figure. They told me my best best was to get a memory card, since we were using internal memory, and a card reader. So, that is exactly what I did! And it works!
This is the Soy drawstring bag before I add the drawstring I-cord which I am still working on.
I won a FANTASTIC prize from Chan, specifically two hanks of Cornucopia in lavender which I have oh so wanted to try!! it arrived today and Chan didn't think it would arrive on Saturday. Silly Chan ;-)
I also received my second and final package from the No Sheep For You Swap. My Pal, Marisol, who is FABULOUS and has a great blog so check it out, has sent me another great yarn that I have never tried. She sent me two skeins of Craft which are Organic Cotton and Milk Fiber. Can't wait to see what they grow up to be.
Also during my "outage", my alternative Plain Strawberry yarn arrived. When I decide to re-cast on, it has now been bumped in the project list unfortunately. I received some CotLin Moroccan Red. I really like the feel of it.
I hear my herd of wild elephants upstairs. I guess I better go tame them
What a whirlwind week! Remind me next summer not to schedule the Princess and Miss Sunshine for two separate things at the same time in two different places with two different start times and two different pick up times. What on god's green earth was I thinking!?! I have to do this again another week this summer when the Princess does her sports camp. At least it is a tad closer to the house. OY VEY!
I have realistically not been able to do jack till I get Miss Sunshine and bring her home which is around 1:30 PM. Who the heck can start their day at 1:30 PM?!
At least I got some serious knitting done on my soy drawstring bag and it is almost finished with just the i-cord to do. However without a digital camera, no pictures, bummer. I need to figure out how to fix that or I am getting a disposal one and getting a CD made because I have a tone of pictures I want to take!
At least I am gearing up for some fun on the Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap site, LOL
Went today for my monthly appointment at the neurologist for my migraines. Same ole same ole. He did change one of my medications back to one I took before Miss Sunshine was born so we shall see how that works out.
At any rate, today the waiting room was jam pack full, a first. Doc was running late, as usual, so I of course I had some knitting with me, my soy drawstring bag. No sooner did I pull it out and started a couple of stitches did a few people turn and look and the gentleman across from me asked, "So, what are you making?" Then everyone turned to look to see. I told him a drawstring bag and showed everyone and a few people said it looked great. The man who asked said it could also be a hat, which is true. It sort of looks like one but its a bit long for one. I told him soy isn't that warm for a hat. You should have seen the amazed looks on every ones' faces when I told them it was 100% soy yarn. "You can make yarn from soy?" " Wow! I had never heard of that" "How cool!"
I also got a few "I could never learn to knit" I had half a mind to pull out extra needles and yarn and show them in the waiting room right there, LOL. This is the office where the doctor's assistant knits so we chatted about about knitting too and then it was my turn. Made the time go by so much faster. Well, I will be back in a month.
Miss Sunshine's playgroup still meets about once a week. I think it is very cool. The kids will all roughly be pre-k this fall and in school everyday. Three of them will be in the same kindergarten the following year, fall 2008, which I think is awesome. Everyone is doing different things this summer but, we all try to get together sporadically when we can. The Moms have become, over the years, some of my closest friends.
We decided to meet at the playground at the community center. I packed some snacks, juice, water and my knitting because it is a great playground for me to be able to watch the girls and knit at the same time. If you remember, there is a camp going on at the community center and ALL OF THE KIDS were outside when we got there. The Princess was excited but the playground was a zoo. No knitting for me because I was busy chasing Miss Sunshine. She was busy relay racing the older kids. Each grouping of kids went around once, she went around at least 10 TIMES. I am thinking distance runner. Once the camp went inside, I did get a few rows of knitting done but by then Miss Sunshine's cheeks were so rosy, I felt is was time to go home.
I also got nominated by Devon for a Rockin' Girl Blogger! I feel so honored!!
This is, of course, before it was wound to knit. It was sent to me by Jessi, who was my pal in the KTE, the very first blog related knit swap I was in and how Jessi and I became such great friends. I don't think there is a day that goes by now that we don't email and/or call each other. Even on vacation.
Just proves those swap friendships don't have to end when the swap does.
It's a backpack and we do have some fabric markers to finish it at home (of course we do. We have an entire arts and crafts store at home). This was one of the projects they did in the two hour time allotment and it was raining today and this is an outside camp (they have a pavilion they sit under).
Miss Sunshine, from what I could tell, had a great time at camp too.
As for me, I finished HP 7 late last night and still numb. Was that really the last book? I guess I have to wait till the Princess is ready to read them and start all over.
Yes, my husband, the crazy nut he is, went out last night before mid-night, got in line with a bunch of other crazy nuts and waited to get his copy of "The Deadly Hallows". No, he refused to pre-order because what was the point. He could just run out and get one.
We bought just one copy so his job today is to finish reading the book so I can read it when he is done. I told him he is only allowed bathroom and food breaks, LOL Well, he is the one that doesn't like spoilers and likes it all the be fresh and likes to be surprised and is a much faster reader. Plus he did start reading the series much earlier than me so it seemed only fair.
It is sort of bittersweet really. Although, my oldest is just about at the point where she will be ready to read the first book so, I will get to do it all over again :-)
Thank you all for your well wishes! Miss Sunshine came through her surgery with flying colors. Currently she is 1/2 her usually nutty self, 1/4 cranky and 1/4 keeps falling fast asleep which is par for the course for getting general anesthesia.
Mommy is feeling so much better now and I hope we both get a much better night sleep tonight.
Anne and Jessica already know this but, I don't think I posted about it on my blog. Little Miss Sunshine is having oral surgery tomorrow. She has 7 teeth that need some serious work done on them and because she is a tad hyperactive she is going under general anesthesia to have the work done. It will all be done at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), one of the best hospitals in the country, in my opinion if I do say so myself, but, I am still quite nervous about the entire thing.
This morning Miss Sunshine and I posed all my yarn and snapped pictures of it. I didn't think I was going to do it but, she was having fun handing me different yarns so, we snapped pictures and I entered the yarn into Ravelry this morning.
Then they called to tell me what time we have to be there for her surgery tomorrow and I got extra nervous. So now I am clicking on all the Knitter's Virtual Vacation Swap Tourist's blogs and seeing if they are in Ravelry and if they are, I am friending them. At least I am getting to see which of the swap's tourists are in Ravelry and checking out their "About Me" sections which is very cool, btw. It is giving me something to do that I won't have to frog some knitting later because I messed it up and is very mindless and keeps me otherwise occupied.
Isn't she pretty? Wick!! It is Oh So Soft!!! And Squishy!! I was feeling it all day yesterday!!
Thank you Cass!
Ravelry yesterday and got into the system last night since I was at my parents' yesterday and, well, if I were organizationally obsessed and has this necessity to know all my projects, needles, stash and what I will be making, this would be the tool for me! This thing is a time vacuum and a creativity drain and I see why so many people disappear into the vortex.
My friend Devon must be loving this thing because she LOVES to be organized.
I will slowly put my stash into the system and slowly put all my projects and books, etc. However I rarely knit a pattern straight off the sheet so right there I am off the beaten path. I rarely knit a pattern with the yarn from the pattern so that complicates matters too.
Don't get me wrong, Ravelry is definitely a unique tool that every knitter should eventually sign up to do. You will definitely get something out of it. What that is will be up to you. It will mean something different to different knitters and crocheters and will be different things to different people.
So, no, Cass, I am not disappearing from blogger
The Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap is having another contest! Boy do I love me a good contest!
This is a blanket my husband and I received from a family friend for our wedding. It has slowly become the entire family's comfort blanket. The snuggle blanket, the play blanket, the sick blanket, the make a tent in the living room blanket. It has been there for every stage of life so far and we hope it continues to be there.
This is Tuscany from Amy Singer's Book, No Sheep For You. One of these days I am going to knit one of these. First I need to find a good alternative fiber for the silk since I don't knit with silk. Next, i have to wait for Miss Sunshine to no longer jump on me when I knit. It will happen. One day.
There comes a time when a knitter really does not like what she is knitting or making and no matter how much she struggles on or pushes herself, she just doesn't like something about what she is knitting. I have been royally struggling with my Plain Strawberry that I am making for the Plain Vanilla KAL that Cass has set up. I really love the pattern and I really want to make this sweater for my sister but, I just can't get into this yarn. It keeps fuzzing on me, I can't see details, it splits, and is uncomfortable to work with. I have finally found a cotton that I am not liking, not one bit. I am finding this quite sad actually.
I truly need to decide what to do. Do I put it away with the fear I might never pick it up again which I have the tendency to do? Do I try to find an alternative yarn for the project? Do I suck it up and just knit on even though I am hating it more and more with every stitch? I don't want to end up taking a "knit" break because of hating this project.
Right now I am procrastinating it so much and find odd and end small knit projects to put off knitting it that in essence I am doing the first one which really isn't fair to the sweater. Such dilemmas.
I have been suffering with migraines since I am 16. It totally SUCKS. They have gone from awful where I take handfuls of medication to manageable with no medications to just needing herbal supplements to back to needing handfuls of medications which is where I am now. I have done all the allergen testing, the CAT scans, the MRIs, the battery of testing. It really sucks.
Last night I had one such horrible, no good, very bad, migraine. I still have some of the remnants this morning. I took some of my medication and thought I would try to knit. Boy was that a bad idea. Ever try to knit when someone was jackhammering your head? Probably not but, it felt like that. I had to put the knitting away :-(
I will try again to knit later today. Migraine, Migraine go away come back NEVER!
You'd think the girls would be mellow but Ms. Sunshine just finished round 5 of her exercise program and the Princess and her father are wrestling over her Nintendo DS and I think I need to go referee that battle. She is actually right.
We do need to do more of the outside meal thing though. The girls really loved it.
Miss Sunshine had an appointment last this afternoon so, we picked up the Princess from day camp and off we went to the Pediatrician's office. They are usually running late so I took stuff for the girls to play and something simple for me to knit. We didn't actually wait in the waiting room too long but waiting in the exam room was for almost half an hour!!
Ms. Sunshine played jungle gym in the exam room so it was quite difficult to concentrate on knitting. Thankfully, the project was very simple. I did managed a few rows and I don't think I have to frog any of them! I am definitely liking my new policy of taking knitting every where I go :-)
Big long fancy word, isn't it? LOL. Paraskevi means Friday, dekatria means thirteen and phobia means phobia. So, it means a fear of Friday the 13Th. A lot of people have it and a lot of people have a fear of the number 13. When they build a building they will skip the number 13. When numbering houses or streets, they skip the number 13. Airplanes also skip the row 13.
For all the superstitions I have and all the fears I have, amazingly, the number 13 is not one of them. I have the fear I will run out of yarn. I have a fear that I will be close to the end of a project and be running short on yarn and can't find a matching dye lot any where. I have the fear that cotton will become extinct. The fear that Miss Sunshine will pull out my knitting and ruin days worth of knitting, which she has done in the past so it is a good fear to have. I have the fear that I will never get to try corn yarn or those fancy yarns from Japan. I fear I will always be a slow knitter and it always take me forever to finish a project. I am sure there are more knitting fears I have but, I don't want to make the rest of you nervous.
On a lighter note, today is my cousin's birthday so wishing him a very Happy Birthday today!! (poor guy having his birthday occasional falling on Friday the 13Th.)
Isn't it gorgeous? I found this great company that has a shop both on Etsy and Ebay called Yarntopia Treasures. The above is a skein of mercerized Egyptian Cotton, worsted weight, approx. 315 yards, handpainted in a blend of Iris, Lavender, and Purples. Simply Heaven. I just had to buy it.
You know what else they do? They will custom dye any of the yarns they offer in any of the colors you see on any of the yarns they sell. How awesome is that?! Hmmm... what do i want to custom dye....
Ever buy yarn, take it home, have the perfect project for it, cast on, knit a few rows and then go, "what was I thinking"?!? I had such a moment this morning. I bought two skeins of this yarn that is cotton candy pink and it looks like cotton candy too, very fluffy. I thought it would be perfect for a baby girl item, specifically a baby poncho. I even bought it on sale. Keyword there I guess is S A L E.
I cast on last night with the recommended needles of US 8, knit 5 or 6 rows and it was awful! I hated the feel, I hated the way it looked, I hated the entire project already. I put it down and figured perhaps I'd find the love in the morning. SO, this morning I picked it back up and knit another 10 rows. Guess what?! I still hated it!!! It is AWFUL!! It does look like cotton candy but it is no fun to knit at all. I pulled the entire thing out and switched to larger needles. 10.5 US. Maybe that would make me happier. I do prefer the larger needles after all. Cast on, knit my rows to get me back to where I was and you guessed it. I STILL hate it.
I have two skeins of this cotton candy crap that I hate. Need to frog what is on my needles, select a new yarn for my poncho and hide this yarn deep down in my stash or find a taker for it. Terrific. Oh the yarn is called Sirdar Snowflake Chunky Magic and each skein is 137 yards. Just cause I'm not a fan doesn't mean you won't.
Let me start off by saying I rarely ask for anything. When it comes time for my birthday, the holidays, Mother's Day, any gift giving occasion I usually say "Be creative, whatever, a gift certificate, some free time to knit and relax, I really don't need anything" So when I find something I really want it is a rare anomaly, few and far between.
I saw a circular needle case by Lexie Barnes called Kitty. It does have a hefty price tag at $50 but it is not only gorgeous but also has something like 20 pockets and looks more slick that it's competitor, The Que by Della Q and much sportier too. Most of the others I have seen have something like 12 pockets for circulars. Plus, The Que is silk and I don't do silk. Knitter's Review did a review of both cases so you can decided for yourself which one you like better.
I am definitely putting this on my birthday wish list. I only have like 3 months to wait. That isn't too long to wait, really it isn't.
I can stand to have my circulars in little baggies for that much longer. Really I can.
If only my left eye would stop twitching ;-)
Personally, I think this is the coolest of cool concepts. Of course I would since I knit non-animal fiber. Cass and her friend Ellie are bringing back the Vegan Pal Swap. You don't have to be vegan, you just have to be willing to send and receive vegan goodies and yarn. Yes, of course they will help you along the way if you aren't a vegan.
Both Cass and Ellie have the same little surveys up about the swap so go to either one's blog to fill it out.
If you have ever been interested in alternative fibers like new and exciting cottons, soy, bamboo, corn, banana fiber, linen, nettle even hemp this swap will definitely be right up your ally!
Of course you can't pass up a good contest. My good friend Jessi hit 100 posts on her blog so head on over there and congratulate her and enter her fabulous contest while you are over there. She finally posted her 100 things about herself too. Its a good read ;-)
The hubby took the Princess to the cabin in the mountains this weekend because he wants to go white water rafting and she wants to see Grandma (MIL) so it is just Miss Sunshine and me home for the weekend. We watched "Return to Neverland" and I did some knitting on a quick project, a chunky hat. Perhaps I will get a chance to work on Plain Vanilla a little this weekend as well. All depends on Miss Sunshine :-)
Smell the Contest in the Air.....
Someone who crochets: Ingrid
Someone who's never made a dishcloth before: Madonna
Someone who has been knitting\crocheting for less than 2 years: Chan
Someone who has been knitting\crocheting for more than 5 years: Abby
Someone who is from a non-US country: Marianne
(okay so I brown-nosed a little, LOL)
Do not cast on a new project when you are entertaining a house guest, Miss Sunshine wakes you three times in the middle of the night and you are being torn in a bazillion directions during the course of just the morning. I have already frogged Plain Vanilla three times and it isn't even noon yet. Maybe I will try later on this afternoon again or perhaps this evening. At least my gauge was correct. Sigh.
Wow, I can't believe I didn't post yesterday ;-) I took the Princess to see Shrek III while the 'Rents jetted across the country to Hawaii. They made there fine and are enjoying Hawaii just fine. They went to pay their respects to Pearl Harbor Today.
Being the swap addict that I am, Jessi was ever so kind to let me know that Secret Pal 11 Has begun sign ups!! I have yet to catch one of these things at sign ups so I have jumped at the opportunity to try my hand at it once. Deadline to sign up: July 31, 2007, Matches will be distributed: On or before August 15, 2007 and Secret Pal dates are August 15, 2007 though November 30, 2007. All completely manageable for me and best off all no holiday theme!!
I am almost finished a drawstring bag made out of the lovely bamboo I received from Cass and am probably going to cast on my Plain Vanilla very soon. I also promised a friend I'd make him a hat for the winter. He's doing all this work at my parents' house so it is the least I can do ;-)
I really can't believe it is already July
