Free Pattern Friday!!!

I think I will grace you with a pattern of my own design this week... the oh- so complicated Homespun scarf shown on WIP Wednesday. I'm calling it the "Teacher's Scarf" b/c I am making them for all of Andy's teachers for Christmas.

Teacher's Scarf

Materials: 1 Skein Homespun- color of your choice, size 12 needles, size N crochet hook.

Cast on 25
Row 1: P1, K23, P1
Row 2: K25

Repeat rows 1 & 2 unitl you almost run out of yarn. use the crochet hook to bind off with a slip stitch.

that is it.... ENJOY!!!!

Lefty

As I type this, Todd is still in surgury, as far as I know anyway... I haven't gotten a call yet. They are going to repair at least 1 tendon, he's not sure if he can get both, and a nerve that was damaged. He'll have his right hand immobilized for 2 weeks, then 6 weeks of PT. All that for an apple! Hmm I wonder if he'll just use the wedger next time! ...now that I think about it, this may be a good time to work on PT with Ryan, he really is ready!

on a lighter note, we had Andy's PPT in Milford this week. he's down to 4 goals, 3 of which are really about working in a group and asserting himself to take a turn etc. he's like his dad in that way, he'll take the path of lest resistance... he is already playing well with his peers, they just want to continue to strengthen his skills. he was assesed as "age appropriate" for everything except for communication. the ST is working on the "W" questions and he still has a delayed processing time. he seems to be a bit shy when he doesn't know what is comming next. but they said he does better in smaller groups, so it looks like not only is he on track for St. Ann's, but teh small class size is another good reason to keep him there!

ok.. now I'll have to find something for Free Pattern Friday!

WIP Wednesday!!!

First I'll start off with a couple of FOs...

first up is a scarf that I whipped up in homespun over the weekend.. VERY soft. This is a Christmas gift.


next are two more baby blankets from my pastel swap. They are the last 2. The yellow one already went to help Katarina survivors and the rest are ready to go to St. Vs.



Finally.. Todd's socks... Look they got bigger!!!!! Really they did! 2 more stripes in the repeat, then I'll start the band heel...


I didn't do anything with Ryan's socks, so I didn't bother taking a picture. They may be a bit oo big, so I may frog back a few rows so that they'll fit sooner rather than later...

More news...

from the "I can't believe I didn't post that" department...

ANDY IS FINALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!!!

I just jinxed that didn't I? he has finally decided that not only is supposed to go poopy in the potty, but he will go poopy in the potty. And finally he will go all the time now. it has been a very long and difficult road, but finally, here we are.. and Ryan is not far behind. we're letting him take the lead. Once we're settled back in the house I may be a bit more persuasive, but why do it twice?

we had a "poopy potty party" for Andy on Sunday.. pics to follow...

Home Makeover Monday

First of all- yes I am aware that it is Tuesday! The remains of Rita knocked out our power right before I got to post last night, so I sat and knitted by the light of my Coleman lantern...

Anyway, the update... all the upper cabinets are down. Mike the Electrician is almsot done completely re-wiring the house! we'll still have some exterior lighting work to do and we'll also have to upgrade the service to the house over the winter or we won't be able to use the central air. Speaking of central air.. the old furnace is gone and the new one went in yesterday. I'm not sure yet if they a/c went in yet or not.

It occurred to me....

That I never posted Ryan's test results. He did test positive for Lyme disease. He had already completed a 21-day course of Amoxil, so we don't need to do anything else unless we notice anything out of the ordinary, which we haven't! Thanks for all of your prayers and kind thoughts!

I can't believe I did that!!!!

really I can't! I kept thinking that yesterday was Friday.... oh well. it really is a cute ponch... I'm contemplating one for Oreo. ya think she'd freak? Hmmm what color should I use.....

here's Martha.......

Free Pattern Friday!!!

I'm going to try a NEW FEATURE today. OK so I stole the idea from another knitting blog(thanks Erica!). I'll post a link to a free pattern every Friday! I'm thinking Knit or Crochet, but I may throw a few sewing or quilting patterns in too. It'll depend on my current crafting mood I suppose... and don't worry, I won't break any copyright laws. I'll only link to patterns that are notes as being FREE or maybe I'll post a few designs of my own... crap ....I may have to start writing stuff down....

I'm also thinking about WIP Wednesdays (also a stolen idea!) and maybe a house update on Mondays (Makeover Monday???).

OK-I'll start with a little creation I made last night. I decided to take a break from Todd's socks b/c my fingers were cramping, so I grabbed a couple of skeins of Homespun and whipped up the "Mini-Martha" poncho for a christmas gift for a certain little girl whose parents probably dont' read this... (I hope!). I did the body in Regency and the collar and scalloped edge in Modern. For the size Medium, I used the entire skein of Regency and about half of the Modern. I'll have pictures to post tonight when I get home, and If I can dig it out, I'll add pictures of mine as well, tho I know there are some in the archives...

The whole piece worked up in a few hours! the adult size is also available on Lion's site as well as a Plus size. There is even a dog (cat??) size (gasp!) and knitted directions as well.

SIPs and socknitting class

Well I finally have some SIP photos to share. I'm making good headway on Todd's socks. and I started a new SIP for Ryan at my class @ Janet Kemp's yesterday. It is a toe-up tube sock using magic loop. I am SO proud of myself- I spent all morning in Janet's lovely shop and didn't spend a dime - other than the class! of course once I'm done with the current SIPs, I'll be back for more yarn.. and maybe I try those Crystal Palace needles... anyway, I took off one of the 2 30" Addi's from Todd's socks and put it on holders, and I used leftover yarn from my purple socks. I am now a Magic Loop convert!!! I thought it was complicated, but in all reality it is less cumbersome and much faster. Sooo... I now have Todd's socks on 1 needle and Ryan's on the other... and I dont' think I go back to 2S2C again.... anyway, here are the socks...

Todd's..



Ryan's...




the only problem with toe up (I love the eastern european cast-on BTW.) is the heel. Ryan's will be tube socks which is good considering how fast he is growing, but I'm not a fan of short row heels. I really liked the K1S1 heel flap I did on my socks (and will do on Todd's) b/c it fits the heels nicely and is nice and thick so it will wear well.

WIPs

Sorry to get any socknitters excited... I need to take some pics of my current SIP. It is moving along slowly but surely! I had a lot of knitting time at camp, so now I'm halfway down the cuff of Todd's socks. I ran out of yarn for my Linus blankets. I sent the finished ones and a few others I had to a LLL in the NO area who is collecting donations for the Hurricane victims.

Camp pictures are to follow. I gave each of the boys a disposable camera to take pictures with. Andy ran with it and I ended up using most of Ryan's film (which I now can't find). anyway I'll have to have them developed and get a CD so I can post them later. We had a great time and hopefully we can go for the full week next year. It will be a week earlier, so the boys won't have to miss any school! Andy got his first fishing pole. I even let him cast wiht a hook and noone got hurt. I consider that a succes!!

I do have some progress pics of the house. the mold is totally gone!!! the electrician and the HVAC people need to finish roughing in (hopefully this week) before the sheetrockers can get in. I started to take down the kitchen cabinets and the pine in the kitchen is sanded and primed (after I took the pictures...)