WIP Wednesday

I decided that my FREE ball of disco was a sign that I needed to make something for me! so I grabbed a skein of homespun from my stash (which I'll have to replace for one of the "teacher" scarves..) and started a scarf.


I've made great progress on Todd's Sock. one heel done! Normally, I'll leave both otn and work 1 at a time, but I wanted to do the full round and pick up the stitches along the heel flap so that he could try it on before I did the other one. looks like it'll work.


A close up of the profile of the band heel. I really like it! I think I could have made the flap longer tho... the pattern called for the rows to be s1, k to end and then s1 p to end, but I did s1,k1 and s1, p1 for the added strength and snugness at the heel.


this is the bottom of the heel. I could have made it wider for him, but the fit does seem to work...it was tough fudging the numbers to fit my stitch count....

Home Makeover Monday!

• the HVAC system went in. we'll need to upgrade the electrical service to the house before we can use the a/c, but we can do that once we're in.
• the knotty pine in the kitchen is primed adnready to go! yippee!!
• we've loaded yet ANOTHER dumpster but alas there is more crap to come! but I'm prety sure that the neighbors are happy.

sorry- no pictures this week :(

Disco Inferno

When I got home today I found not 1 but 2 packages on the table for me!!! I was expecting 1- Andy's big boy present fprm the Potty Fairy(don't ask!) which is a case for his Leapster. he will be allowed to play it when he isn't on the potty.

the other was FAR cooler!


It is a ball of Bernat DISCO in Aqua Velvet...oh yeah.. it was FREE!!! yes, that's right FREE!!! I'm not even sure how/why I got it.. It was in an envelope w/ a Mary Maxim catalog and a $5 off coupon! I did sign up at the Bernat site for their e-mail newsletter, but I don't think I put in a mailing address, and if I did, it would have been my address, not my Ils... hmmm... hey- dont' look a gift yarn in the skein... now what ever shall I do with it???? all the project cards call for 2+ balls and I only have 1... I'm thinking a black homespun ponch with the Disco trim.. or maybe jsut a scarf... any ideas???

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...)

Mike the Builder

Among our many errands this weekend, we met the builder at the house to give him the key. I had the boys with me.

Ryan kept asking him about his tools:
"do you have tools in your truck?"
"do you have a hammer?.. wrench? .. saw?.. nails?.. wood?? .."

Andy had a very amusing conversation with him:
A: are you Bob the Builder?
M: no, I'm Mike the Builder.
A: can you fix our house?
M: I sure can!
A: I love you! (hugging Mike)

they also got to pee in our potty and I let them go inside the house for the first time since the fire. I didn't let tehm go upstairs to Andy's room b/c a) the walls are open and they could fall through and b) the fire charred the floorboards pretty good where the bed was and I didn't think Andy needed to see that. the house looks amazing now that it is clean. other than the charred floor in ANdy's room, you'd never know there was a fire! no mold, no smoke smell! the contracor was excited b/c it is now easier for him to work in and the demo is complete. he should be starting in the next couple of weeks and FIL will start painting the kitchen tomorrow!

Saturday we ran errands, sunday we went to the zoo, and yesterday I played hookey and we went to Quassy. tomorrow Andy starts PDS, and we go to camp!

Yeah... OK... sure..

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com/

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Say a prayer for Ryan..

It appears that he may have Lyme Disease. He's on antibiotics and it looks like we got it early, BUT it will be 2 weeks before he can be tested and at least 3 weeks of antibiotics! I had completely forgotton about the tick I pulled off of him last month until the Dr asked me if he'd been bitten.... FYI the health dept will test tics for free. so next time I pull a tick off of one of us (or even the cat!) I'm going straight to the health dept. hmm they do somehting other than setic systems? Who'd a thunk? I'll see if I can get him to let me take a picture of the rash tomorrow. he is sleeping now and I'm npt waking him up! he hasnt been sleeping well this past week and therefore is EXTRA cranky!

Put me in the ZOO

So Andy had SO much fun at the zoo last weekend he diecided that he want ed to play zoo as soon as we got back. I convinced him he needed a bath first, that explains the towel on Andy and the naked Ryan. He put his stuffed animals in the garden and Ryan pretended he was a duck and Evan was a monkey! Gotta go back! we're trying for the aquariun tomorrow...

FOs & UFOs as promised

The green blanket is the currnet WIP. finished the white lattice, and now I'm working on the edging. The blue one still needs 3 more squares.

Good Question!

Andy has been asking the most interesting questions lately.. "Why do we sweat?" "Why do we eat?" He was asking Fr. Tom if he lived inthe Church and what he was wearing. Observant little bugger inst he?

we took them to the Beardsley Zoo last week and they had SUCH a good time that we're going to the Maritime Center in Norwalk tomorrow.. adn back to the Zoo for a Barnum festival picnic on Wed. I PROMISE to bring my camera this time!

I've got a bunch of photos to upload .. mostly boys playing and such...

I also want to take some progress pics of my WIP. I've got 2 of the 4 Linus blankets done ( the yellow/peach and the pink) and I'm edging the 4th square of the green blanket. Not sure what I'll do for a border. I'm making headway on Todd's socks, but they're going to take a while... I also signed up for another swap. this one is 1 10" square in purple per person. I may take the opportunity to practice some knitting stitches... I also had a GREAT find at AC Moore last week. they had bundles of 3 end run skeins of homespun for $5. Somehow I managed to control myself and I only bought 2 bags. No dye lot on them adn they aren't all full skeins, BUT I found some nice shawl, mitten and hat patterns at the Lion Brand website. I smell Christmas presents! I stillhave that sweater that I cast on and didn't do anything else with.... I dont' like the needles I have for it - I'll have to get some new ones! h yeah I also decided to sign up for a sock knitting seminar at a local Fiber Festival sponsered by my favorite LYS. it is a toe up toiddler tube sock (for Ryan) done in the Magic loop method. so I need to pick up ano ther new circular and some more sock yarn. I'm thinking I'll get 2 skeins so I can work 2 at a time easily and have some left over for mommy. I hate to leave projects hanging... I want to finishe whipping up the Linus blakets first, but the socks are FAR more portable!

ah well not enough hours in the day... maybe I'll get some knitting done at camp....