almost a done did deal

We did the final walk through on the new town house yesterday, signed all the paper work tomorrow, by tomorrow afternoon we will no longer be homeless. Moving day is slated for Saturday, on schedule. I will likely be off line until we get our internet connection up and running in the new house, no dial-up either since we'll be getting a digital land line through the internet connection, which is schedule to be hooked up and installed next Wed, the 3rd.

On the needle. After the holiday knitting madness, 6 pairs of socks in as many weeks, I'm knitting for me right now, so Rogue is OTN and flying beautifully. Peace shawl is also OTN, but it's taking a back burner to Rogue. The pair of socks I'm reknitting in a bigger size is OTN and ITP (in the purse). DH's Cardi is on deck behind Rogue.

The final Yule Gift

The last thing I finished, and the last one to be photographed. Here's Daddy proudly showing off the sweater I knit him in 2 weeks. It would have been a quicker knit if it weren't for all those socks. Daddy spent the evening showing everyone his sweater and proudly telling them "My daughter knit this for me"

Yule Roll call

And the Yule knitting fest is done. Out of 6 pairs of socks, only 1 pair didn't fit the intended recipient, little boys grow quickly. But all is well once we're moved and I can find the sock yarn, I can whip out another pair in no time at all, he may grow quickly, but he's still got small feet.

6 pairs of socks, one pair of Fetchings and Clapotis.


Another pair of Fetchings that didn't make the final roll call picture.

There is a sweater that hasn't been pictured yet, but I'll get it posted soon.

Happy winter holiday of your choice!

Done and done

Yule Knitting List:

socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done
socks for his 4 yo sister - done
socks for my cousin - done
socks for his GF - done
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done
sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else
socks for my brother - done
Fetching for my aunt - done
Fetching for my cousin (well mom's cousin, so I'm not sure what that makes our relations, if anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me)- done
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog -done
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year (this really isn't going to happen this year but I'm holding out hope)

Ok, so I just put the last button on the cardi, and it's heading to the box. Roll call to follow recipients receiving gifts, so keep posted for the finaly roll call either on 12/25 or 26.

Happy holidays!

I left sleeve island :)

I left sleeve island today. Shoulders are seamed :). While I was hoping for a seamingly peaceful day, I decided to knit the button band before putting the sleeves on. Much easier to work with right? Well yes it's easier to work with, but there are over 500 stitches in this button band. I sat there picking up stitches thinking only an inch, no sweat....I'm only half way into this button band and I'm bored with it. another half an inch and I can put the finishing touches on this sweater and put it to box.

I've been tagged

Mehitabel tagged me, so in the spirit of good fun and because I can't thank her personally for tagging me here goes:

6 weird things about ME.

1. I sigh everything ME and when they ask for my name at Starbucks or something I give them ME. Really it's my initials, so I use it quite a bit.

2. I lose words, stutter and have a lisp (I know hard to believe huh?) so everything I can't think of the word for or can't say becomes a "damn thing"

3. I love my sandwiches squished, especially cheese sandwiches.

4. I think in 2 languages, if I can't find a word in English but I know it in Tagalog or the other way around, I'll substitute words without thinking about it.

5. I love the rain! I think it comes from being raised in Seattle ( have I mentioned how great it is to be back in Seattle after living in So. Cal for 6 years? There's weather here, ok, so it's a little more than I expected but it's weather)

6. I still chat with my last ex boyfriend, he's actually the one who told me I'd marry my husband...he and I were still dating when he told me that. (he just chatted me while I was typing up this list, otherwise I would have had to find something else.

There are a ton of weird things about me, I just can't think of them when I need to.

Yule Knitting List:

socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done
socks for his 4 yo sister - done
socks for my cousin - done
socks for his GF - done
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done
sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else
socks for my brother - done
Fetching for my aunt - done
Fetching for my cousin (well mom's cousin, so I'm not sure what that makes our relations, if anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me)
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - So I missed the boat, I'm getting closer to the dock, I'll catch the next boat off and take a leisurely cruise down the Isle of Finishing.
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year (this really isn't going to happen this year but I'm holding out hope)

Now the reasons I'm still stuck on Sleeve Island, We lost power briefly Thursday night to the wicked windstorm that blew through here. I say briefly, but it was really for about 12 hours. Considering there are still people here that don't have power, 4 days later, 12 hours is nothing. Anyway, when we lost power, I was doing fine on the sleeves, then I got to an increase row, and knitting in the dark, which usually doesn't faze me one iota, got me off track. I picked up the socks and finished those, no increases to confuse me. Then I got side tracked to fetchings, My mom's cousin showed up needing to be thawed out and since I haven't seen her in 5 years, we caught up. The sad part is she lives in San Diego, just a few hours from where we were living in Azusa and haven't seen each other in that long a time, I had to move back to Seattle to see her. I know these are all just excuses, the fact is I got bored and something else jumped onto my needles, I think I have all of an inch left to go on the sleeves, so I should be finished with the sleeves tonight, unless that last pair of fetchigns jump on my needle first.

And the sock knitting goodness spreads.

I've done it again! Another knitter is born (well ok born again), but this time she's learning the joys of knitting on circular needles. This is my Mom, she tried for years and year to teach me how to knit, but since she taught me how to crochet first, I just never quite got along with straights. She's tried with circs before, but never could get the hang of it. I actually started her knitting socks on DPN's but that lasted 5 or 6 rounds. So here she is knitting her very first sock on a #2 Addi's, using a magic loop. She'll learn to knit socks one at a time.

Oh update on the Yule knitting list. Another pair of socks done, I'm not going to do the Peace shawl, there isn't enough time to finish it and have it blocked in time for the family dinner. We had a brief knitting interruption on sleeve island, it got real windy and the power was knocked out for about 12 hours. Yes at this point I know it's an excuse but the end result is I'm still on sleeve island with a pair of sleeves about half done. The sweater will be done in time. Oh I've also added a pair of fetchings to the list, it's not a make or break item, but it will add variety to these sleeves.

I'm scared to count my stash...

Knit Devil inspired a moment of insanity, she counted her stash ball by ball, skein by skein and found she had accumulated 600 balls/skeins in 3 years. Going with her average of 200 balls/skeins a year, that would put me at...800 balls/skeins a year since I've been knitting for at least 4 years. Mind you most of my stash is in storage and inaccessible. Well a few weeks ago I got a bug and actually inventoried 2 of the bins of stash I could access, and well I only got through 2 bins before my stash started blowing my mind, and that was without totals. I pulled those sheets out this morning, did some quick math, and found that in those 2 bins, there are 340 balls/skeins of yarn. I have 10 bins of the same size, 5 smaller bins, a mountain of yarn that I has mysteriously grown since arriving in Seattle. Not to mention the various balls of yarn hidden in boxes used as packing fodder (yarn makes good packing fodder). If I remember right Dad even used several garbage bags full of yarn to make sure my glass cabinet didn't break in the move (it worked, no glass breakage). Oh yeah, there are at least another 50 skeins hiding in my car waiting to work their way quietly into the stash. I can't forget the 200 to 400 hundred balls/skeins that have managed to populate my mothers stash, her stash comes from mine, as she doesn't see a reason to buy yarn when she can get it from me.

Oh my! My stash is like tribbles! I know this won't stop me from buying more yarn, but this post is enough to make me really wonder how much there really is left in my stash, not including what has enhanced mom's stash over the last 4 years. Maybe I'll do a complete count once we've settled into the new house after the New Year.

So I've turned the heels on Bro's socks, and the sweater is progressing, so it's back to sleeve island for me.

Progress Update

Yule Knitting List



socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done

socks for his 4 yo sister - done

socks for my cousin - done

socks for his GF - done

socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)

Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done

sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else

socks for my brother - OTN

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - WEEEE! The fronts are done and I'm off to Sleeve Island

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year



Sorry no pics, but I am making progress on the sweater. I left for Sleeve Island this morning. Hopefully I'll be back by the end of the week, with 2 sleeves and a pair of socks :).

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and another sock is complete

but no pics, since the recipient has been known to read my blog and I'm not giving away the surprise.

Instead, let me send you here. This is how I've spent my day today instead of knitting on the sweater or the last pair of socks on my list. Many thanks to January One for such a wonderful site, I just wish she had waited until I had finished more of my holiday knitting.


Yule Knitting list

socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done
socks for his 4 yo sister - done
socks for my cousin - done
socks for my brother - OTN
socks for his GF - done
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/3rd done (both sides at the same time)
Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done
sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year


I know I know, I really do need to do this, it helps me figure out how much I need to knit to get to my Peace Shawl....18 more knitting days.

and another sock is complete

but no pics, since the recipient has been known to read my blog and I'm not giving away the surprise.



Instead, let me send you here. This is how I've spent my day today instead of knitting on the sweater or the last pair of socks on my list.





Yule Knitting list

socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done

socks for his 4 yo sister - done

socks for my cousin - done

socks for my brother - OTN

socks for his GF - done

socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/5th done (both sides at the same time)

Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done

sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year


I know I added another ticker, but it's set for a countdown to my Mom's b-day so no one else need feel any holiday knitting pressure....it's not my fault my Mom was born on 12/25.

Back to knitting

3 pairs of socks, all Koigu on Addi Turbo's #1

Updated Yule Knitting list
socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done
socks for his 4 yo sister - done
socks for my cousin - done
socks for my brother - OTN
socks for his GF - done
socks for someone who reads this blog - 1/4th of leg done(2 socks magic loop)
sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN 1/5th done (both sides at the same time)
Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done
sweater (cardi) for DH, No longer on Yule Knit list, he's getting something else
Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year

Ok, so now it doesn't look so bad, especially since DH's cardi has been removed. I'm down to 2 pairs of socks, and a cardi. Maybe I will get the Peace Shawl done.

20 knitting days left....

Knitting Interuptus

Ok, so I took a day off of knitting through my Yule knitting list. But here you can see why. DH and I got new toys via the lovely FedEx man. What are they? A pair of Toshiba Notebook computers. Oh yeah, can't forget the pair Creative Labs Zen Vision W, we picked up on Friday. You can even see the socks I cast aside when the FedEx dude showed up. They're almost done, I'm working on a tubular cast off. I should be done by tomorrow some time, if I can tear myself away from the new toys long enough to finish that last row and graft the socks done. DH isn't getting his sweater for Yule this year, it'll be a BDay present. He's getting one more toy, but I won't post that here, just to be on the safe side. I'll pick that up later this week while he's at work. Good thing I grew up in this house, I know all the secret hiding places.

Tomorrow or maybe at some point later this week, I'll be back to regularly schedule self imposed knitting deadlines.

Yule Knitting list

Here's the current tally on my Holiday Knit list:



socks for my cousins 22 mo boy - done

socks for his 4 yo sister - done

socks for my cousin - heel turned, leg 1/3rd done (2 socks magic loop)

socks for my brother - not yet started

socks for his GF - done

socks for someone who reads this blog - heel turned leg started(2 socks magic loop)

sweater (cardi) for one who may read this blog - back done, fronts OTN (both sides at the same time)

Clapotis for someone who reads this blog - done

sweater (cardi) for DH, he may get it for his b-day in February

Peace shawl for me to wear to the family holiday party - maybe next year



To be updated as I make progress.



24 days and counting...

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snow and and an FO

Ok, so shortly after I posted this morning that it was snowing, the snow decided to stop, so DH and I went out. Well, while we were out running errands, the snow started again. The forcast for tomorrow is more snow. DH starts his new job tomorrow, so I'm hoping it doesn't stick, or at least he can make it to work safely. Seattle drivers react to snow the way So Cal drivers react to rain....no one is quite sure what to do, so they drive the way they normally do. *sigh*

Here's what the backyard looked like when we got home. I know it's not a huge amount of snow, maybe 2 inches, and it's likely to be all the snow we see for a while. It doesn't usually snow in Seattle, maybe a couple times a year, and rarely before the end of December (usually in time to just miss Christmas), it's not usually supposed to snow in November.


I did manage to get a little cold weather knitting done, and now I have a hat to wear to keep my head warm, I'm really not used to the cold anymore, living in So. Cal. has made me soft.

A quick 2X2 rib, knitted in the round on #10.5 Options Needles, out of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande.

ummm, it's snowing

One of my favorite places

One of my favorite places is Deception Pass. On the north end of Whidbey Island WA, this is one of 2 ways onto the island, the other is the ferry on the south end of the island. My MIL lives on Whidbey Island, and that's where we went for turkey. On the way, we simply had to stop and drink in the natural beauty.


This picture is taken from the south end of the bridge, it was 37 degrees outside and windy on the bridge, we didn't venture far out on the bridge on foot. The view is northwest, towards the Pacific Ocean. Beyond the smaller islands, you can see Canada in the distance.


Same place, but a different angle. The view is of the north end of the bridge, or the main land. This pic is straight down from were were standing admiring the view and freezing our hands off.

The underside of the bridge from the south end of the bridge.


Oh and in case you didn't realize it falling from anywhere along the trail near the bridge can be deadly.

Escrow closed

On day 65 of a 45 day escrow, our So. Cal. house has officially closed, and with it our last physical tie to CA. There are many friends I wish I could have brought up to Seattle with me, but alas, Seattle is not for everyone.

Another not so local LYS

I was getting antsy today, so DH sent me off to a yarn store. He told me to go to the one up in Mount Vernon, which is a good hours drive away, but I didn't quite make it. This one is about 20 minutes away. Great Yarns in Everett WA.


And they lived up to their name. Another cute little shop in a house, with rooms full of yarn.

Far be it for me to leave a great little yarn store without yarn. The damage?
The purple and black? Prism's Kid Mohair in the Midnight. The bright stuff that is kind of hiding behind all that purple and black mohair goodness is a hand dyed machine washable merino sock yarn. I know it's not my usual color choice, but the recipient of those socks will adore the colors, the name of the yarn...Fly Super Sport. Hand dyed by a local artist Pat Fly.

Fiber Enhancement

DH and I went out looking at paint ball parks again today. I got so bored, I made DH take me to a little store called Lamb's Ear in Tacoma, WA along the route to Mt. Ranier. Just to look, honest, I had no intention of buying anything. Well I found just 2 things to help me out.


The drop spindle is handcrafted by Jonathan Bosworth of Journey Wheel out of Acton MA, and it spins beautifully, and spins and spins and spins. Now I get strange looks when I knit at the paint ball fields, but those looks are nothing compared to when I'm spinning at the paintball field. Not much got done, but that's because it's been a while since I've used a drop spindle, none of the ones I have make happy enough to get much drop spindling done, but this one, it's a beaut. I for see lots of happy hours with this spindle, after I get my Holiday knitting done, which should be some time in January LOL. Oh the fiber is merino.

On the knitting front, Clapotis is coming along and is much more behaved this time around. I'm through the first ball again. The socks have been finished and I'm on to the 3rd pair in that group. As if I didn't have enough knitting going on, I cast on a sweater for my Dad, he was complaining that I had all this wool and he still didn't have a sweater, so guess what he's getting for Christmas. DH's sweater will probably be done in January, but he totally understands. Oh and I cast on some more lace, Fiber Trends Peace Shawl, I'm aiming to get it done in time to wear it to Christmas dinner, but well see. Also on the needles are some much needed mittens, living in So. Cal. for the last 6 years has made me soft and the temps in 40's and 50's are much too cold, so my hands need a bit of help keeping warm when they aren't knitting or spinning.

Knit Devil reported back to me that my blog entries aren't being picked up by Bloglines. I updated to the Beta and it looks like something went screwing somewhere in the update, but I've checked and reset the feed, so hopefully that will take care of that.

*Edited to add: Because of the beta version, my site isn't feeing in RSS format, but it is updating the Atom Feed.

FTP blogs are not publishing their site feeds in RSS format. Until this is fixed, either use the atom.xml feed instead (most feed readers that accept RSS accept Atom as well) or use: http://www.blogger.com/feeds/blogid/posts/default?alt=rss to get your blog’s feed in RSS format

exciting news

We're expecting to finally close on the house down in Azusa this Friday, I'm not holding my breath at this point, even next week is possible, closing has been pushed back a few times, but now all the papers are in place it's just a matter of funding.

DH got a job, it didn't take him long at all he starts at MS after Thanksgiving, since everyone is on vacation next week.

I'm officially a WA resident. I have my WDL and WA license plates.

Plea to the Knitting Goddess

To the Knitting Goddess

And yet another UFO has gone to the frog pond, and another one is threatening to jump in after it. In the last week all my Holiday knitting has decided to rebel. The latest in this streak of rebellion is Clapotis. Granted I was tempting the fates with that one in my arrogance by actually thinking I had memorized so simple a pattern and knit most of it while in the midst of an interstate move. Did you have to wait until I was 3/4's of the way done before showing me the error of my ways?

I really am not sure what I did to tempt you and the fates. It seems I must have done something big, since I can't seem to finish anything these days and am spending quite a bit of time sacrificing my almost completed UFO's to you at the frog pond. Was it the 2 week sweater? The 10 Pacific Northwest Shawl? The rash of recent FO's? Please hear my plea and let me know how much more I must sacrifice before I can complete an FO. I am pushing deadlines here, must I brave the last minute rush of Christmas shoppers this year? If that be the case I would prefer to know now if I will be allowed to finish any of my holiday knitting before I be forced to brave the Holiday Mall Crawl.

I will promise to do my best to understand that I am fallible when it comes to knitting projects. I do ask that you give me a pardon at least until I get my Holiday gift knitting done, as I am facing deadlines here. Or have I bitten more off than I can chew, given the time frame and the circumstances. I really had planned to start my Holiday gift knitting much sooner than I did this year, however my life happened. Next year I will try not to wait so long to get knitting started.

O Knitting Goddess hear my plea
Let my needles sing to thee
So that I may have knitted gifts to share
With those for whom I deeply care.

Blessed Be.

Frog Pond!

I so hate the frog pond these days. The socks I turned the heels on had to go back to the frog pond, they were way to large for the tiny little foot, they fit my mom's little feet, but even her feet weren't as small as the feet they were meant for. No worries, it's back up to the heel again, just set me back a little. I also started a pair of X-stockings, or Yule Stockings as I prefer to refer to them as. One stocking is still going strong, the mate, in the opposite colors is heading for the frog pond. Earlier today, I discovered I had turned one cable wrong, near the beginning but decided that since it was to the Wall (or not public side, it would be fine). So on ward I went with it, only to discover that there was a cable that I completely forgot to turn. I tried to fix both cable turns, and well the whole stocking is now in the frog pond, patiently waiting for me to finish it's mate which is turning out wonderfully, before it gets ripped and re-knitted.

Weekend.

Saturday we went on a road trip to visit the MIL. And knock me over with a feather, she was actually nice to me. Those of you who have heard tales of my MIL will understand the shock factor involved here. She treated me like I was a person, and not only listened to me like I had something to say, but we had some nice conversations. Not the stilted conversations of 2 people where one person isn't interested and is actually dismissive, but actual conversation where both parties are interested and have something to say. Either she's really happy that DH and I are back in the PNW or she's actually listened to DH. So much better than being treated like a non-person. I never asked her to be friends with me, all I ask is that she acknowledge that I not only exist but am married to her son, who knows maybe that's just a bit much to ask of a person. I am truely amazed by how much this woman has changed in her attitude towards me.

Sunday morning, we went to sign some more paper work. Basically we have until the end of the November for one of us to get a job, or to decided to go with a Stated Income loan. Either way, it looks like we'll be welcoming the new year in our new home.

After signing the paper work DH and I went on a scouting out the local paint ball scene. I confess to actually enjoying watching paintball - DH's hobby. I like the strategy involved, and quite frankly it's fun to watch. We were both disappointed by the 2 indoor paint ball parks we saw, the one didn't look safe, and was unky (is that a word?) Anyway, just watching from outside the nets (the fields are surrounded by nets for the protection of those watching) the astroturf was a sticky gooey mess, needless to say we didn't stay long at all. But accross the street, we found this:

I took one look at the Autorized sign and noted the name on the sign and the door, turned to DH and asked, "so if we park there they will tow our car where? to where it's parked?" LOL.

Lots of knitting did get done this weekend, nothing got finished, but I've turned the heel on another pair of socks, once this pair is complete it will make 3 x-mas presents done, I won't post a pic of this pair of socks until the 3rd of the pairs is done since it's a family present and the colors all go together in a family kind of way. I did also make quite a bit of progress on Clapotis, which won't be posted here until after X-mas since the recipient reads my blog.

Seattle is very wet and a bit on the cold side of what I've become used to....but....I love it. We're in the 3rd of 3 storms that are blowing through. We are expecting 2 days of no rain, or minimal rain Wed and Thurs, but then the rain will come back just in time for the weekend, and I've never been happier about the weather :).

promised pics

I so love the fall in the Pacific Northwest and the drive up here did not disappoint. The colors were much more spectacular in person, but I was driving, and this is my favorite shot of all the pics my camera took of the fall in the PNW.


Nothing quite like 2 ferry's approaching each other in the night with the Space Needle and the rest of the Seattle skyline in the background. There is an anchored tug in the shot too, that's the one in front, the ferries are slightly to the left of that and behind. This shot was taken from a park in West Seattle.

The truck, was packed, here's DH's friend, who drove the truck and Dad starting the unloading process. It's a 26 ' truck to give you and idea of the work that was done to get it loaded and unloaded.
Truck half onloaded, and storage is partially full, but there was still quite a bit of work to be done when this pic was taken. No more pics after this, since we were trying to beat the Seattle Rain....we won, everything was safely dry in storage before the rain came.


Here's a sneak peek at our new place. We do have pics of the inside, but I'm saving those for another time, since we're waiting for new everything to be done inside, they're doing a complete remodel. We are hoping to be in by the end of the year, but we were told Janurary for sure, possibly sooner.



Edited to add: Stash is handy, very handy, it's at the other end of the house, sharing a room with the cats, they are gaurding my stash very nicely.

Hectic

So after loading up the truck, we realized none of us wanted to spend the night in an empty house. So we hit the road at 8:30 pm, drove to Bakersfield and spent the night in a hotel. Jumped back on the road around 6 am. DH and the truck took the longer way around and went back to the I5, I'm still not sure how that happened. I chose to continue on up the 99. By the time I got to the I5 DH and the truck were a good 2 hours behind me.

I decided to push it all the way through to Seattle, since my GPS gave me an estimated arrival time of 10:30 pm. The guys decided to do the same thing and arrived 3 hours later at 1:30 am, and suddenly we were a day ahead of schedule. Spent the next day unloading the truck, and the last few days settling in to Mom and Dads. Things are still a bit up in the air, but hopefully we'll be back on broad band soon and I'll be posting more.

We're here, we're safe, it's cold, but it's wonderful :).

Progress

In the Master bedroom we have a bed and a bunch of little things that still need to go in boxes...
Remeber yesterday, this room was full of boxes.... well looks like we've found the walls. Lots of little things, again more boxes, but the bulk of this is gone believe it or not.
Where'd it all go.... That's where DH's car would normally go, I guess the boxes have kicked him out of the garage until we get the truck tomorrow.


I know, it's making it quite hard for some of you to be in denial, seeing all these boxes and half empty rooms, but it's really true, we are leaving for Seattle this week.

I will miss you all, but I will keep posting on the move when I can.

Sorry not much knitting going on around here right now, but I did finish a pair of felted clogs and socks....hummmm wonder which box they went into?

boxes boxes everywhere

I'm surrounded by boxes! Yess all the one's in this picture are full, but we've also got a ton of empty boxes that still need to be filled.


We did make a bit of progress today, with the help of these 2 elves :) No I didn't kidnap them, their father is sacked out on the futon, it's been a long week for all and he's got a lot of work to do tomorrow before he goes to work. We get to keep the elves all day tomorrow. The one on top is 7 and the one below is 10. Very good packers they are.

Oh the Irony of it all

You Belong in Summer

Energetic, creative, and very curious about the world... You're not going to let anything hold you back, especially a cold day. Whether you're chilling out at the beach or partying all night, you live for the warm weather.

What Season Are You?

2 Week Sweater

I finished this sweater in 2 weeks. I had no intention of knitting it in 2 weeks when I started. As a matter of fact I had no intention of turning it into a sweater immediately when I bought the yarn. I purchased the yarn to add to my stash for some as of then unknown sweater.


Pattern: Symbolic Knots by Melissa Leapman (from the book the Best of Knitters's Arans and Celtics)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, Kiwi Colorway
Needles: Options #8

I absolutely loved knitting this sweater, even the miles of endless seed stitch. I developed a rhythm rather quickly. I do knit English and throw my yarn, even though I know how to knit Continental, I am working on evening out my stitches ( I purl tighter than I knit). This sweater will be perfect for my upcoming move to Seattle, the weather there will actually allow me to wear it quite often.

As I was getting ready to leave SnB this morning, Beth saw a picture sitting in my lap. Currently, all my projects go perfectly with my purple Jordana Paige Satchel, so Beth and I felt the need to capture the shot to share.

A sick boy and his kitty...

DH did have the drains removed today and is resting quite a bit more comforably. His energy levels are up as well, and he is on the road to a full recovery.

YIPPEEE!!! HE'S HOME!

DH is home, what more is there to say....

good news... I hope.

DH may be coming home tomorrow, it all depends on his blood work. Doc says if his white cell count is down and managable with oral antibiotics he can come home :).

By Special Request

Since Mary was not able to join us knitting this week, for a better pic of Lady E, she'll have to go to Annette's blog, yes I know she's been there already, I saw her comment, but there it is in all it's glory.

Triple tagged - a meme

Tag you're it.

Tagged first by Annette, then by Marie, then by Madge so I'm spreading the love. I'm only doing 10!

10 knitterly things you didn't know about me.
1. I alter just about everything I knit for me to make it shorter, otherwise I'd have things that drag on the floor, or hang at my knees.
2. My favorite color is purple, but you couldn't tell by looking at my stash.
3. It took me 14 years to learn to knit, by the time i finally got it it took me about 14 min once Marie pointed me in the direction of Circular needles. I started crocheing 33 years or so ago.
4. I currently am in posssion of over 5o pairs of Addy Turbos (ok, so maybe you knew that)
5. I collect purses that are big enough to hold my knitting, current count is scary, but I know I could easily go a month or more without ever using the same purse 2 days in a row.
6. I have yet to use a life line when knitting lace, and I still haven't planned to use one.
7. I am a process knitter, I will knit anything and everything I possibly can.
8. I spend too much time knitting, I really am not as fast a knitter as everyone believes, I just get into a groove and have been known to knit as much as 12 - 16 hours a day.
9. I am an ADHD knitter, and I have at least 2 dozen UFO's to prove it.
10. I will be knitting in Seattle by the end of October, if I have my way it will be by the 25th of October.

DH and house news :)

Well DH is doing much better since they drained the rest of that "crap" from his stomach. They took him off the liquid IV's and he's down to just the IV antibiotics. He's eating great. Doc says another day or 2 and he can go home. Both DH and I figure they'll keep him there until Friday.

On the house front, Inspection was Monday, and we passed with flying colors. Appraisal is tomorrow, and we will know for sure that the loan is funding by next Tuesday.

Note to the fates: This is just an update, please don't take it as anything but, I'm really not trying to jinx my life again, just sharing good news.

Knotting and knitting

DH is still in the hospital. Remember I said that they had found a couple pockets of fluid, one found it's way to the drain and is now gone. The other one, they added another drain this morning, and now it's draining. DH is feeling a lot less pressure but is very tired today, they inserted the 2nd drain this morning, so he's resting much more comfortably today. We still don't know when they'll set him free, but things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully he'll be home this weekend and I'll be sleeping again by Monday.

Last night I went knotting with Marie, she knit while I knot. I finished Lady E, much to my surprise, I didn't realize how far I had gotten with her while waiting in the hospital.


Pattern: Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
Yarn: 6 - 7 balls of tapestry by Rowan (I started with 10 balls and have 3 full balls and 3 partial balls, so i'm not sure how of the 7th balls is actually in Lady E)
Needles: 10's


Moebius returns: this was knit from start to finish in DH's room. I brought up a skein of yarn the day after the surgury, balled it by hand off my knees, cast it on, knit several rounds, figured out that I had misstitched by about 15 stitches, ripped it and started it again. Pattern: Thrummed Moebius by Cat Bordi (I know there are no thrums on this)
Yarn: It's a kit that you can see here
Needles: Denise #13 and #10 condo style
Alterations: I wasn't sure about the thrums, so I started to put them on, DH looked over, frowned shook his head and gave me a thumbs down, so out they came. I'm glad he did because I wasn't liking the look either.

And off the wagon I fell. Well I wasn't really on the wagon, but this started the first night DH was in the hospital, remember this post. The mystry yarn is on the left, it's the blue Araucania yarn. In the middle is some wonderful Prime Alpaca, yardage is over 600 yards, this will go with the yarn that mom brought me back from Peru and become a sweater. The Lamb's Pride worsted, that was picked up after I dropped off all the Escrow paperwork and in a fit of I need to buy yarn, it's destined to become a sweater and has already jumped on the needles.

sorry no pics today, maybe tomorrow

I thought DH was getting better. Well he is. Blood transfusions helped quite a bit. He's even eating solid food. We even went for a short walk today. He is getting frustrated with not being able to come home, so I guess that's a good sign too.

So the results of the CT scan took me for a big loop. They show some pockets of fluids that aren't draining. So he didn't come home today. Tomorrow the doc will figure out what to do, he's thinking they can be removed with a needle, if not, they may have to go back in.

I just want him on the mend enough to bring him home without having to worry about him so much, at least then maybe I could get some sleep.

here's hoping...

DH got 2 pints of blood yesterday, he's doing much better today :). He had a CT scan this afternoon, good results could mean that I get to bring him home in a day or 2. Today, for the first time since he was admitted, he determined that he was ready, physically ready to go home. he's feeling much better. Lots more cuddle time, a couple of sponge baths and DH is on mending path.

I did buy yarn yesterday, but simply haven't had a chance to take any pics. I'll try to take pics before heading out to the hospital in the morning.

Updates and rambiling

DH is doing better today, they removed the stomach pump, and depending on how he does today, he'll be taking liquid meals tomorrow, at least 2 and if he handles that well he'll be moved to semi liquid/solid meals, at least 2 of those and if all goes well solids. They're letting him up and walking without a nurse or aid present, but he's not getting very far right now, but it's progress. Still no idea when he'll be sent home, but I'm hoping it's once all goes well with the solids, so if you count the meals starting tomorrow, Sunday would be optimistic at this point.

He is still very cuddly, and we took a long nap together today. He's ready to leave but he knows that he can't until he can handle solids. I did leave the GameBoy with an assortment of games with him today.

On the knitting front, because DH is being cuddly and alert, there really isn't much time for me to knit at the hospital, but I'll gladly give up my knitting if it helps him heal faster.

Times like this you learn who your true friends are. My SnB group, has been incredibly supportive, following his progress here on the blog and in sending their support via the comments section, as well as at our weekly group "therapy" meeting. My friends on Fertility Friends, my family, and yes even DH's family (who don't think I'm right for him) have been very supportive of both of us. Members of DH's paintball team, have send their well wishes, and some have even come to visit him. But there is one friend in particular who I would like to metion.

I have a very dear friend, who has been incredibly supportive of me during this time, and I am absolutely amazed by her strength. I know this is a very bad time of the year for her, frought with very sad anniversaries, including the anniversary of the loss of her DH and oldest son, yet she has been extremely supportive of me, and has let me babble on endlessly and generally helped me to keep a foot on the ground. She reminds me to eat and to at least try to get some sleep. I really don't know what kind of mess I would be if it weren't for her constant support, whether it be time to knit over coffee, in chat, email, on the phone, she does manage to find the time to listen to me even when she is still grieving her losses. To her I send many many thanks, I can never express how thankful I am for her support during this time, and I will always remember it, even if we do end up on opposite coasts. I will miss her dearly when I move to Seattle, maybe I can convince her she needs to move to Seattle too. To that dear friend, you know who you are and I do want you to know how much I do love you and appreciate your support, and I do wish I could be there more for you during your time of grief.

I am a sock knitter....

Yes, with pair #3 I will admit I am a now a sock knitter.

But first another update on DH. They had to pump his stomach because his body wasn't absorbing anything he had taken orally. The are taking the pump out tonight and he'll be on liquids tomorrow. Hopefully, this time his body will start doing what it's supposed to do. His heart rate is good as is his BP. His white cell count is nearly back to normal today, so the antibiotics are doing their job. He is at the point where he is one frustrated patient, but that's a good sign if you ask me, it means he's better enough to be frustrated. Today, he even insisted on some cuddle time. So I climb up into his bed and cuddled, and actually got in a short but restful and much needed nap in his arms :). I know it's a bit mushy, but considering it's the first time we've been able to cuddle since he got sick, it's a wonderful step. (The latest update as promised to Dim Sum Knitter)

And now back to the knitting content:

Yes another pair of socks. I put them on the only model available to me at this time...ME. The are a little on the big side for me, but they will fit the intended undisclosed recipient.


Pattern: It's the Cat Bhordi sock pattern in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, which I can't find right now, so I cant find the name of the pattern. They are toe up socks.
Yarn: A little over 1 ball of trekking XXL knit double stranded.
Needles #6
Alterations: I did follow the pattern but I stopped the repeats after 2 repeats, said recipient doesn't like long socks, so these will work beautifully.

No I'm not really speeding along on the knitting, these were actually off the needle before I cast on the PNW shawl, it just took me this long to get around to sewing down the picot edging on the cuff. I am terrible at getting around to the final finishing, and these are a X-mas present so there was no hurry, but after giving Knit Devil advice to just do it, I had to finish these socks just to set a good example. That's a hint Knit Devil, do the finishing on that sweater, I know, socks are not a sweater but ya know what I mean *wink*

Pacific Northwest Shawl done

First an update on DH. He was moved to a cardiac unit Sunday morning, he is looking better, he has color again, even the doctor commented on it :). He is able to get out of bed on his own, but they want him to keep that particular activity down to only when he needs to go to the bathroom because his heart rate is still high. Doc says maybe Friday he can come home. Is it Friday yet?

Many many thanks to the wonderful stitchers in the Pasadena Day timers, this is what the Little Knits GC ended up as:

Here's the PNW shawl in all it's glory, being stretched to within an inch of it's life. It's a big one, that is a double bed it's spread on.

And a close up for more detail:

Pattern: Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest shawl
Yarn: Sea Silk 2 skeins Colorway: Lily Pond
Needles #6

This one took me a little over a week and a half to finish. I really can't believe that's all it took, but I've been in a knitting groove this last week. The edging, all those shells, well 75% of those were done at the hospital. Still not quite sure how I managed to knit so much lace under so much stress, but there is the end result.

I jinxed my life!

Ok, so after that last post my life went on fast forward and high stress. We got 2 more offers on the house, one we rejected, the other we countered on. We went into escrow on Friday, looks like we'll be moving by the end of October. That's not the jinx part, that's the good news.

Now the jinx part, I spent the better part of last night first in the ER then in an OR waiting room. DH's appendix ruptured, and had to be removed Friday night, just gotta love emergency surgury. The up side to this is I've managed to make some major knitting progress, well ok, it would have been major if I hadn't been tinking or ripping every row and reknitting it 2, 3 or 4 times. The sea silk PNW shawl would have been done, but again with the counting thing. My advice and lesson learned, don't work on lace while in an extremely high stressed situation. Same thing goes for Lady E, she's been knit on and reknit on and reknit on. Take all that reknitting and add it up and it would likely equal 2 FO's. As it is, they're still UFO's.

All I'm asking for here, is that you keep DH in your thoughts, and prayers to what ever god you believe in. I'm sure everything will be fine... but... it can't hurt right?

Oh when does that mysterious order from WEBS count against my ticker. I found an email receipt from about 2:30 am this morning, when I checked my email after a dismal 2 hours of sleep. Does it count when I get it? Does it count from today? Do I not count it and just chalk it up to the delerium of having spent a good 6 hours in ER waiting to find out what's going on, then another 3 hours waiting to find out how the surgury went?

Nothing new

I know I've been negligent in posting but there really isn't anything new to post. My life is in a holding pattern until we sell this townhouse.

There has been knitting, but no new FO's. No new yarn purchases. Really quite boring to be me right now. There simply is nothing happening, so please forgive me for not posting, I'm sure something will happen soon.

On the UFO front, I'm working on Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest Shawl and I'm using Hand Maiden's Sea Silk the color way is Lily Pond and considering I'm desperately waiting to sell this house to get to the PNW (Seattle to be a bit more specific), it's an appropriate project to be working on now. The bulk of the shawl is complete and I'm working on the edging, so there should be an FO posted soon, I hope.

I'm also working on Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style using one of Rowan's new yarns, Tapestry in colorway 123, whirlpool. So far this knit has been an absolute delight. I love the way the colors are coming out, this yarn is perfect for Lady E. SOFT...This yarn is so soft. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one, again another FO soon.

It's just a matter of which one is going to be done first. There are several WIP's going on as well, but these 2 are my main ones for now.

My Seattle Haven

I totally forgot that I didn't post these pics. This is my father's pride and joy, his back yard.

I particularly like this section. When I was growing up there were 2 big Fir trees back in this corner. You can still see the stump from one of them, it's got the basket and shells on it. It's a wonderful place to photograph yarn, to bad I didn't think of that while I was there.

Same corner of the yard from a different angle.


There is this lovely patio that dad is in the middle of redoing to sit on and enjoy the the view and just plain relax.



And here is a close up (well closer up) of the bench of plants along the lower portion of the deck.



Such a relaxing back yard. The grass is a bit on the brown side, but it's August and it costs a fortune up there, just as it does down here, to keep a grass green. The rest of the year it's green, but I'd rather see it green 9 months out of the year and see my parents conserving water.

FO's from my trip to Seattle

Yes I'm back from Seattle and now have a real connection to the internet. Granted I've been back for a few days now, but it's just occuring to me that I haven't posted at all since I got back.

The Manos that DH bought me on our Anniversary trip, or was it my B-day trip, either way, I finally plowed my way through the Marigold, which was a chore in itself, since it's not a color that I was fond of, but it did turn out rather nice with the green, if not a bit 70's'ish.

Here's Thelma trying out the bed before I could get it felted.


Here's Thelma after the felting. Louise wouldn't touch the bed pre-felted, but then it took me a couple days to get her to "allow" Thelma to jump in so i could take a pic comparing the bed with the same cat in it. I think this one is definately Louise's bed. Thelma is scared to go near it when Louise has decided to use it. I have a feeling there was a little bit of Louise exerting her Alpha feline position over this bed.

For my cousin, I knit up these beaded cuffs, they were a very quick knit even on size 0 needles and fun to do, despite the stringing of the beads. She loved them :) Happy B-day dear cousin.

Mom went with me to Hill Top Yarns East and oohh'd and ahhh'd over the choker sample, so of course I had to go back to Hill Top Yarns (the Queen Anne store is closer to where I was staying) and buy the yarn and knit this choker and bracelet for her without her knowing, not an easy feat since I was staying at their house, but I got it done behind her back and she loved the set. I did get a nice surprise, because the yarn was 50% off when I went back to pick it up at the Queen Anne store.


And last but not least, the first FO, yes these are listed backwards, Jay Walker socks from Mag Knits Sept '05 issue. When I found this sock yarn in my stash, I couldn't remember buying it or why I would buy these particular colors, they are not my normal color combination choice. But when I was knitting them, I figured out they would be perfect for my mother, and I was right. I cast them off, she tried them on and despite the fact it was 75 degrees in Seattle at the time, she proceeded to find shoes she could wear with them and went out wearing wool socks. I do believe she likes them.... a lot.

That's about it for the FO's from Seattle.

I did put up a new yarn buying ticker, but it's been reseet after 10 days, since I found the perfect yarn to go with the alpaca that came back from Peru with mom. I did pay for it, but it's on order and will be shipped as soon as it comes in, so no pics of that yet. Since I did pay for it in full today, my yarn ticker will be reset. No goal in mind this time around, just a means to keep track. It will probably be rest tomorrow since DH is playing in a paintball tournement, so I get to go yarn shopping, hopefully on him, but we'll see.

I was driving up the I5 and lookie what I found...

I know I know I haven't been posting, but this DU is so slow, I was going to wait until I got to a faster connection before taking pics of all my stash enhancements, a couple FO's and some general vacation pics and spread that out over a short period of posts.

But this was worth waiting for the DU connection to post.

I was driving up I5 today, about 45 minutes North of where I'm staying, half way to the Canadian boarder, well ok maybe 3/4ths the way. Anyway, I'm driving and look over, and what did I see on the side of the freeway:


Misty Ridge Alpaca Ranch to be exact.
A little blurb about Alpacas posted in front of these littles guys.

They must have thought I had food because they came right up to me, the little beggars.

This guy is in another paddock, he saw me coming from a bit aways because he was waiting when I got there.

This one was a little slower, must be all that fur slowing him down, but none of the others came up to say hi.

They have quite a few Alpaca and I wasn't even out looking for Alpaca, but I know where to find them now if you're ever up this way. I'm sure I'll be visiting them a few times once we're moved up there. The farm even sells their own fiber, both raw and in yarn form, of course I had to buy some, but you'll see that later when I post vacation yarn porn.