wedding bell blues? Nope not me!

Well, they did it. My friend who never thought she was going to be married, tied the knot last night. She was a beautifull blushing bride. For all the craziness that it was befor hand, it went pretty smoothly during the ceremony and the reception. The only real misshap of the night was my dress strap breaking! Of course, with the dress how it was I didn't have any thing holding me up so when I went to hug a friend I hadn't seen in a while, I almost gave him a full show. Thankfully someone had a safety pin! But of course the night wore on!


So, I picked up a few items at the Fiber Factory sale. *(AMY I REALLY DIDN'T SPEND ALL THAT MUCH ON IT and it was a super deal!!!!) A skein of allhemp 6 to play with, a couple of skeins of Debbie Bliss silk and a skein of silk kaalund to send to my secret pal.

Speaking of secret pals... I am sorry... I was just told today that I was sent a package. My office left a note on my door and when I read my comments I saw that you had asked if I received anything.. I haven't been home when they are open so I will get it as soon as possible. I am soooo excited about getting it! YAY!!!!! I will post pics of it when I open it! I can't wait!


I am off to bed. I was too tired to finish this the day I wrote it, I had to save it in draft and complete it on monday. I wish you all a happy independence day... this is my favorite of all holidays!

Happy Knitting~

bachelorette bust...

Last night we had my pals bachelorette party. What was to be a fun night out for the girls ended up being a regular night at a game place. A few of us had tried to convince her to go to other places but she really wanted to go to Jillian's. (A game place with a restaurant and bowling alley and club.)

Five of us started the night at the restuarant and when I sat down to the table that the waitress had moved up, there was a used bandaid on the table. AAAAAAAHHHH!!! DISTGUSTING I KNOW!!!!!! We got our drinks for free and I got my dessert for free ( I was going to be one of the DD's)

We went up to the game place upstairs and about 20 minutes into playing skeeball and other games like that one of the girls had to go home cause her boyfriend locked his keys in their car. She didn't drive so one of the other girls took her home and five were down to three. Well, about an hour after that the Bride says that she is bored and wants to go home. Still sick with a horrible cold, I thought it was a good call!

I saw my grandma today. She is getting kind of senile, it is kind of depressing. My nephews just had their birthdays and she gave all of us birthday cards, because she couldn't remember when anyones birthday was. She forgot who we were a couple of times and didn't remember who Matt was half the time. My grandpa is going deaf and between the two of them it was a tiring morning.

I came home and took a nap. I don't know when I am going to get rid of this cold. It has been raging on strong. I just want to feel good again. : (

I was working on some arm warmers but I am not too crazy about them. I am thinking about ripping them out. I have one about 1/2 way done but I think that I found something better than armwarmers to knit.... HMMMMMM...


Here I was trying not to have a blah and sad post and yet, here it was.. I promise the next time I write it will be a little more upbeat!

Happy Knitting.

knitting and other stuff.

I got hit with the update your blog email. Sorry about that... secret pal especially...

I have been down with a horrid cold/sinus infection. And of course I can't do anything about it but sit here and suffer. No insurance means no meds... My Dr. charges about 120.00 bucks a visit.


I think that this cold thing is Karma. Just about two weeks ago Amy and I were having a lovely little discussion on federally paid health insurance. She said that yeah we would have to pay a little more in taxes but we would be able to be seen when we needed with out the fear of a visit costing us an arm and a leg. In my then healthy mind, body and voice, I said, " Well, I see where you are coming from, but what about healthy people like me, I shouldn't have to pay out my butt for other people's sicknesses"!

IT IS KARMA!!!!

The FIBER FACTORY is having it's first ever inventory sale and don't you know who is going to be there on the first night... THIS GIRL! I only wish that I could take off early from work to go... ahhh that would be heaven... So, withe me saying this... we all know who is going to be breaking their no yarn buying policy. (Amy, I know that you read this some times, so please forgive me for what i am going to do on Tuesday... I know that you understand!)

Well, I have to head to work this morning... I am just working on soem socks and some arm warmers for my super duper mega cold office... Will post more about that later..

Sorry about such a crappy post last week. I didn't mean to sound so blech... Happy Day and happy knitting!

There is really not too much to post about. Work is going well. I am actually starting to understand things a little bit better now.

Knitting is going pretty good too! I am working on a few projects (of course!). I ripped out a purse that I had knit from a pattern of my own design. I wasn't that crazy about the pattern and it was Noro. You can't waste that stuff!
I am almost finished with it. I have the handle left to do and then to sew it up. I am also working on a shawlette and some socks.

I had a really bad day today so I am going to keep this post short. I don't want to go into a rant about bad things and I am afraid I will do that! I will try to post later.


Happy Knitting!

I want the comfy chair...

day 2 of my new job is going well. I am getting my feet wet still. I hate the chair that I am in. It is so dang uncomfortable. Most of the people around me have these horribly comfortable chairs and it feels like I am sitting on a rock. I think that when I am there for more than 2 days I will say something about getting a better chair. My cubicle is at the edge of an open walkway, so I am free for everyone to see. I understand my positioning, I will eventually have to walk around to see people and people will come and see me but it does kind of suck having yourself out in the open like that. The worst part...it is right by a VP's office. So I really can't goof off at all. Not like I would have the chance. We are so backlogged from only having one person doing the job it is not even remotely funny.


Stash reduction

Phase 1:

ORGANIZATION

I am almost organized with everything. I have my yarn sorted out by colors and then also by weights. mostly my sock, lace and novelty yarns are seperated. I am hoping to have it completed by the end of the week. I stopped counting how much yarn I have. It was making me sick to my stomach. I think I am going to list a few things on ebay or else make a lot of stuff on size 19 needles.


Okay before anyone starts to think that knitting isn't about the process for me, they are quite wrong. I just have horrible start-itis. I will find that if something isn't working out quite how I expected then I a) leave it and move on or b) rip it out and move on.
Socks will always be there for me as process knitting. I can not find anything more pleasurable to knit than a pair of socks.

I will leave on that happy little note..

Happy Knitting

box office...

Well, I had my first day at Western Medical.
It went fairly smoothly, the person that was to train me was out sick today so, I got taught some basic stuff and worked on this and that. I got a good half hour of knitting time in today at lunch. I forgot what it is like to get a real lunch. A girl could get used to this kind of thing.

Okay, so I did something that I said I wasn't gonna do. I bought some yarn. It just kind of happened. But seriously, that is the last skein I am buying for a while. I mean it. I can't help it if I get stuff given to me though. That is far beyond my control.

Amy put me up to a challenge. She told me that if I work up 75% of my stash I can get this as a fabulous prize....







So, I have to do a count up of what I have over the next couple of days. She is getting tired of computer room being covered in yarn. I can't really blame her, it is getting to be a lovely little wreck.

The only disclaimer that she put on this challenge was that it had to all finished. No little half projects here and there... they had to be done. So, here is my game plan.

A) yarn that I know that I won't use and I am holding on to for whatever reason I don't know is going to be sent to nursing homes or the goodwill.

b) yarn that I am willing to part with for cash will be done as such

c) yarn that I will give to my sister or friends will be sent out

d) all the rest I will take inventory of that and work on getting that knit up.

See my little slyness here. I am getting rid a lot of it with little or no effort on my part... [insert evil laugh here] MWWAAAAHHHHH

well off to do the dishes. I can't see my countertop!

Happy KNitting

ouch!

I am recovering from a lovely little sunburn from Tueday. Sheyenne (my niece) was over and we went out to the pool. I haven't had real sun exposure in about 5 years so I was a little tender when we went back in. Not that I was horribly pastey but I after learning that skin cancer runs really bad in our family I decided it was better to not be in the sun all the time.

I have decided on my next knitting project. I am going to work on a lace shawl. It is from the knitting calender 2006. The South Slocan shawl. The pattern calls for dk weight but I think that i'm going to knit in lace weight. I have the yarn, and it needs to be knit up.

I really have to go through my yarn this weekend. I have so dang much of it. It just keeps piling up. MOre and more and more and more and more. Amy asked me if I had bought any more yarn since we have moved back in together and I could lie. I just said well... a few skeins. But here is the list of yarn that has entered the house since I have...

10 skeins of blue skye alpaca chunky (20.00 total)
5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca DK weight (20.00 total)
2 skeins of misc red multi wool (3.00 total)
6 skeins of Eros all multi color (I GOT THESE FOR A DOLLAR EACH!!!!)
12 skeins of Brown Sheep sport weight wool ( I GOT THESE FOR A DOLLAR EACH!!!!)
2 skeins cascade fixation ( I splurged on these)
1 skein of hand dyed cotton lace weight ( a splurge as well)
1 skein of lace weight green yarn ( on sale but forgot the price)
10 skeins of knit one crochet too 18 karat ( 20.00 total)
5 skeins of Ironstone Fun wool in (20.00 total for that one)
2 skeins of Ironstore Super Rayon Chenille (10.00 total)
2 skeins of Berroco Foliage ( 3.00 total)
6 skeins of some tape like stuff that i got a for a buck each

and 4 skeins to send over to my secret pal.

Okay So I have a serious yarn buying problem. I have made a vow that i am not going to get anymore yarn...(unless it is a smokin deal!!!) until I have at least these skeins listed above knit up. Man I gotta get working!!!!!!!!!
This won't do much for my previous stash but it will cut it down a bit... I have overflowed on my yarn stash once again... GRRR> How does this always happen to me? I do knit. But maybe I am buying more than I am knitting. I realized the other day that i have a yarn buying problem when a friend went to open up the little cubby between my two front seats and said... there is yarn in here... I without blinking said... "
"yea cause Amy would freak if she saw that I got more yarn!" Mind you there are 10 skeins in the trunk of the car being hidden as well in a dark bag.

I remeber when I was working at Macy's and I would get women in who would pay for their items in cash or partly on cards so that there SO's didn't find out. Or ask for them in multiple bags so they didn't have to bring in stuff all at once.

I HAVE BECOME THE WOMEN THAT I PITIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully this weekend I can get this all under control and live a happy yarn life.

I think that I am going to be working up a lot of scarves over the next few weeks... and purses too!

Happy knitting my friend...

I had Martha's bridal shower today. It seemed to go pretty good. The only thing that really was bad about it was that half of the bridal party didn't show up to it. One of the girls had to work. That is understandable. But the other one... I don't know. I doubt I will ever know about that one.


I have hit a full knitting slump. It seems that I do this around this time of year. I wonder why that is. Hmmmm. I have been getting a great plethora of yarn though... Which I still have to go through and clean out some things. I think that in a couple of weekends I will have my neice over to go through it all with me.

I didn't go and get the Koigu. I wanted to but since I really didn't have the time to get over there I just said forget about it.


Ahh well... that is life ... I am going to try and get a few pics of the shower up tomorrow.
I hope that life is going good for anyone who reads this...

Happy Knitting

say hello to the newly employed

I got a job offer on Wednesday and I took it. They also offered more than I was expecting, too. So that was a total bonus! I start on June 5th, and am looking forward to it. I have decided to stay working at the salon on every other Saturday. Don't know how well that will work, but hey, I will give it a try.

Had my niece's gradution today. Man does the school know how to make it quick. We were in and out of there in about an hour and 10 minutes for 150 kids. Not too shabby.


I have to send off a little something to my secret pal tomorrow. I know that she is probably waiting for something...


Happy Knitting

Finishing up the last few hours of my house sitting. Actually, the housesitting is over, I am just waiting til Amy gets off work to head back home. She and I only took 1 car out over the weekend and she had to work today.

I have a dilemma. I had a horrible experience at a certain yarn store and had told myself that I wouldn't go back there, but then they have Koigu on sale for 25 percent off. I feel that if I go I would be letting my morals down, but then again where do you find Koigu for 25% off? Oh, what to do what to do.

I have to finish getting all the junk together for Martha's bridal shower. I hope that it goes off well. We will see though.

Tomorrow Amy and I are doing a little bit of housecleaning and some dumping of material goods. We had been talking the last couple of days about getting rid of material posessions but we both know that we couldn't do that with everything. So, we both decided that we will rid ourselves of a few things at a time. Tomorrow, I am getting rid of some home decor that is just sitting in boxes, yarn (actually I am going to crochet it up and donate the squares to charity), and a lot of the clothes in my closet. Amy said that she is going to get rid of computer stuff, like games and cd's that she doesn't need anymore, clothes and books.

I think that is a good start for us. It seems lately that we have both been wanting to find a bigger meaning in our lives. Amy says that it isn't religion, cause she has had that and it didn't give her any answers. I personally think that we need to find our spiritual selves. But more on that later.


happy knitting.

My job interview went rather well. I haven't heard anything back from them yet. I hope that I get a position. I really need it. Hopefully they will call me on Monday or Tuesday. We will see, though.

I am house-sitting for my middle sister this weekend. I am in charge of watching two greyhounds, a great dane puppy that is 8 months old, 3 cats, a cow and two alpacas. I brought my little Maggie along with me to enjoy the time. It is so funny how a little 4 pound chihuahua with no teeth can whoop a great dane that weighs about 90 lbs into submission. Ellie knows that Maggie is the boss. No doubt about it.

I am working on a bag from the one skein book. I wanted something that I could get done over the weekend and it looks as though I will have it done...


I will post more later.

Happy Knitting

I have a job interview on Thursday. I am not too sure how well it will go for me. It is for a medical supply place. I am not crazy about the job, but I will stick to it. I mean Amy and I can always use the extra cash so it is better that way.

I am heading off to my sister's house today. I am helping her and my niece get a school project done. She is like all the rest of us Dewey girls. Procrastinators. She decided that she wanted to do a quilt for her extra credit project.. Although I don't know why they named it extra credit when the whole class was required to turn something in.. but anyways, she decided she wanted to work on a quilt and it has to be on the planet mars. I helped yesterday with getting it to look pretty good. We found some tye-dye fabric that looksquite Mars-esque. We just have to finish sewing it up tonight, and sew on the stars.


More to type later.

I headed off to a new yarn store today. The owner was quite nice. Not much inventory there yet, but they are building on it. It was kind of hodgepodged together with cabinets and shelves but definitely cute.

Didn't do too much today, I wasn't in the mood. I am not normally the kind of person who gets all depressive about holidays and junk, but this Mother's day was hard on me for some reason. I know i have mentioned this one before, but will remind and update for the new readers out there. Both my parents have passed away. My dad passed nearly 10 years ago and my mom passed just over 6 years ago.

My mom had a very complicated death. She did die suddenly in her sleep but she went through a lot of medical problems for about 7 months before she died. It started a few years before hand. She stepped on a nail while outside and while not normally a really big issue for most people, she had diabetes. My mom was a little bit overweight but she was taking care of herself, her diabetes was under control and had no other really main problems. But as with a disease like that the small little wound on her foot became a full blown ulcer in the matter of two months. She was working with the doctor to try and get it healed but it wasn't healing and it was seeming to get worse. The doctors thought that it was mostly beacause there was something on the nail. It ended up being that they decided to amputate. She lost all five of her toes and a little bit of her foot. It was a little strange to see but she was still able to walk and drive and do most things. But unfortunately the doctor missed some of the infection and it festered. But it didn't show itself outside at least not yet. It worked its litte heart out on the inside slowly working up the my mom's leg and when my mom went to the hospital one October for a violent case of the flu, it worsened. Not to go into a lot of details, but the wound came back to the open and by the time the doctors really took a look at it it had gone almost to her knee.

She spent the next few weeks in and out of the hospital and then 2 days after thanksgiving in 1999, my aunt saw her leg and took her to the emergency room. (again not going into too much detail) they had her leg cut from the end of her foot up to her knee. She stayed like that for over a month before they worked on it. Becauase all the tissues had dried out they had to amputate. It was heartbreaking but my mom was strong. She never let it affect her. She worked hard at rehab and was ready to take on life again. Unfortunately the wound wasn't, she had to start going to hyperbaric treatments every day for 6 weeks. To heal the wound from the inside out. My mom passed away sometime in the middle of the night the day before her last treatment. She had the appointment later that afternoon to get fitted for a prosthetic. It was quite sudden. The death certificate says that it was from heart failure but we never found out for sure. There was an issue about getting an autopsy done but it didn't matter. my sisters and I could have fought for one but one of my uncles told us that we had to think about what our mom would want us to do. We all decided that it wasn't worth it. That our mom's memory was more important to us than a sheet of paper.

I hope that I didn't make this too much of a depressing post. I was just having a hard time this Mother's day. I don't know where it came from but I had to get it out. I will leave with this fab photo of my mom. It was her senior year in high school. I love this picture of her. She looks so young and sweet. I really look like her in this photo.

Not too much to really report today. I am on my weekend today. The nice thing about being a hairstylist is having Monday's off. I get to have a full day of peace and quiet and be able to go to stores with out fighting the usual weekend crowd. I woke up quite early and got my grocery shopping done in about 30 minutes. We hadn't done actual grocery shopping in about a week or so and the cupboards were looking rather bare!

TOd ay is housecleaning day. It is also the day that i wish that I could afford a house cleaner. How two people can make so much clutter is beyond me! I have knitting strewn all across the guest bed, the couch, next to the couch, on the kitchen table, on the counter, and then my bead stuff in the corner on the dining room. Amy has her music all over the place. CD's lying here and there, a bass by the door, an amp in the living room and cords all over the place. The best thing about this that we pick up after ourselves most of the time. I can't imagine what the place would look like if we didn't.

Sometime this week I have to go out and get some shoes for this





Martha is getting married on July 1st and since she doesn't care what our shoes look like we have decided on getting silver. We think that they would look best with it! I didn't really want such a high heel on it but I don't want to have to pay to get the dress altered. The only part that didn't really fit on it was the length and I thought with a higher heel I could get away with it. Here are my choices so far.










We shall see, we shall see. I might get them on and fall on my face! That would be hilarious!

I guess that is enough here. I have to get the house cleaned cause I told Amy that I would type here paper up for her. So she doesn't have to do it and 10:00 tonight

Happy knitting

Answers... I got your stinkin' answers....

So,I realized that this title seemed a little silly but i don't really care all that much. I like it so it sticks. I have decided to join the SP 8. Golly..I know I was out of the knitting world for a little while, but it didn't seem like that much time had passed to make it 8! Ah well, time flies when you are marooned in Fabulous Rainbow Valley... I really need to get a picture of that up for people to really see how far out I really was from the Phoenix area. But here I am rambling... let me get back on topic....

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I really don't have too many "favorites". I like a good wool, a good rayon and even a good acrylic. I have no real particular tastes.I will work with things when I need them to work and always willing to try something new. Something that I have wanted to try out is a boucle but haven't gotten round to that. The only thing that I really don't like is yarn that has a little bit of glitter in it and it isn't soft!


2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

My sister and I made a few needle holders a while back and I love them. I keep my circulars in CD case and also a plastic Rubbermaid bin (when I have them torn out of the CD case)

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting since I was 15. So we are going on 12 years... I would have to say that I am intermediately advanced. I like the idea of working on hard projects and have great momentum but go quickly under when I make my first mistake.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Nope... I have a wishlist that goes on in my head but its not really anything too big.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I am better at telling you what I dislike... I ABHORE the smell of Patouchli. UUUGGGHHH! I am not very fond of Lavender. There is too long a back story to expalain either... And Vanilla i am rather picky about.. I just mostly don't like sugary sweet vanilla... as in Bath and Body Works type. Though you can't go wrong withe citrus scents for me. Lemon, lime, tangerine... like them all.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I am a super choco-holic. Milk, that is. I would say I am more of a chocolate snob than a yarn snob!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do spin. I haven't done it in a while but i have a wheel and I do like to spin. I am also into beading and cards. I am an all around general crafter. At Christmas time, I try to make all of my presents for people. A little ambitious but, I try..

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I am not really a music person. I listen to music all day at work, so I tend to tune it out. If i had to decide on something, I prefer punk, jazz (more funky than bluesy) and I must admit that I am an NPR addict and a Howard Stern Junkie... I went out and got satellite for my car when he moved to Sirius.


9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like everything. I am really fond of purples and blues and reds. I am not really too fond of oranges or anything "burnt something or other". WHile i like yellows I can't wear the color so I stick to giving it to others.


10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a partner of over 7 years. There will be a time when we get "hitched" but not anytime soon. We just moved back in together after a 2 month split and 7 months of living seperarely. I have two cats. Pepper Ann and Moose. American short hair and a teeny tiny Chihuahua named Maggie who is about 14 years old.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear scarves and mittens, but no hats or ponchos. I just look way to wormy.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I like to knit socks. I taught myself and fell in love. I also like to knit lace scarves. I get into purse binges and that is all I will knit for a while. I like to felt too!

13. What are you knitting right now?
Ohhh.. I knew this one was coming... here is the list... 2 pairs of socks, 3 scarves, a baby sweater, a shawl on size 11 needles, a couple of baby hats that need to be seemed and a few purses that have to be felted and lined.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? YOU BETCHAA!!!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Bamboo circs and short straights. I prefer the Casein straight needles

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? ahh I only wish but I like to wind so skeins aren't a bother to me!

17. How did you learn to knit? My mom taught me after she couldn't get me to learn crochet. I let it sit for awhile and then I decided to take a class and after about 10 minutes into the class I remembered everything and realized that i wasted 60 bucks!

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

I don't really know. I have a few socks from a couple of years back that i ended up not liking and haven't done the second one.

19. What is your favorite holiday? Fourth of July!

20. Is there anything that you collect? Oh, you want besides yarn... not much really. I have a friend who has started getting me German books. NOne of them are of real value but they are kind of cool. I also have started to develop this thing for sushi paraphanelia.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

No mag subs. I don't know of any real things I have have have to get. I talk about them as I see them. I know that there are a few patterns here and there that i want to try out but then I forget to link them and then forget about them until a few weeks later. Something that i haven't gotten around to getting for myself is enough lace weight yarn to do a lace shawl.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I want to do some fairisle but haven't gotten round to do it. Something that really intrigues me are Latvian Mittens but I tried to do gloves once and couldn't master the thumb gussett so that is putting me off a little bit... I am really intrigued by fancy colorwork.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I am a slave to socks. I don't even know how many I have knit anymore. I wear a womens US 9.5 to 10. (Huge feet I know, I know!)

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) The birthday is September 10th!


So, I hope that I got everthing down on this one. I have a lovely little story to tell of my day of woe when I went to the Needler's Nest sale on Sunday. But i will get to that later....

Happy Knitting

Happy Pigs in a Blanket Day!

Today was National Pigs in a Blanket Day and of course, that is what we had for dinner. I devoured mine.. Yummmmm! Amy on the other hand, had eaten too much bean dip earlier and hers are still waiting to be eaten. I have a couple extra for Matt to eat tomorrow when he comes over. I am hoping that they will re-heat decently. If not, I don't think that he will notice.. he is 3 afterall!


I remembered that Needler's Nest is having a sale this Sunday on yarn and i will be there when the doors open!







I mis-estimeated one of my paychecks and have a little extra spending cash this weekend! I think that I will be taking my sister with me. I don't know how much she will enjoy it, but I am slowly getting her into better yarn... she is mostly making dog toys but is sprinkling a few good baby items in there.... In time, In time.... i must have patience!

I finished up my Debby Ware hat, but don't have anything to put on the top of it and Amy says that it looks like a Pagoda... I just need a baby head to try it on...


Happy Knitting

Girl you better work it.

So, I had a really depressing day at work today. Don't want to go into too many details but it was pretty crappy and confirmed that being a hairstylist is not the job that I want to do right now. I have been getting a lot of crap from both sides about what I should do. Here is what is happening.

I have bills that I have to pay and with what I am bringing in right now, our money is stretched tightly. I still can afford to do some fun things and make a purchase here and there but it is still tight. Thank goodness for "tip" money. That isn't allocated in the bills so that is my fun money! But the desire to own a house is strong and while I really don't have that many problems living in an apartment I want to live in a house. To have something that is my own and not just see my money go down the drain. And to own a house one day in my life I need to have a steady income and not one that goes up and down by season, month or even week. Frustrating.

But on the other side I have those little bees in my ear telling me not to leave the hairstyling world. That I need to give it a little longer, that I am doing really well in the year that I have been there. and that what happens when and if I want to start doing hair again. I am back right where I started. With a struggling clientele base and little money coming in.

And what about my clients???? Could i just leave them high and dry? Well, no I can't but i think that most of my clients will understand and that they would want me to do what is best for me. And those that don't understand well, screw them! Okay that isn't quite so nice but hey... I says what I feels.

So here I am on this. Stuck in the middle. I know that some of this hesitation to leave is my boss. When he can't get his way, he throws a huge fat fit. It is all about him or nothing at all. I have seen other girls leave and what they have had to go through while they are doing their last two weeks and it was hell for them. He rode their butts all the time and gave them crap about how they were selfish and blah blah blah... My sister and I were talking about all this and she had some good advice for me...

1) We all need to think about our tomorrow but if you can't get through your today then there will be no tomorrow. True enough dear sister!

2) You can have Dan ride your ass for two weeks and then you are done with it. Or you can come home to Amy and have her getting on you about your job and money until God knows when. Which one would I rather deal with???? Hmmm food for thought.....


No knitting to report. I have been to bleh to want to knit!

Does the sweater curse apply to girlfriends?

I have decided to take on the "dreaded sweater challenge". Amy wants me to knit her a sweater and I have agreed. After picking and choosing for a while I have settled on Jesse's Flames from Stitch N' Bitch Nation. I am going to do it in shades of grey. That is Amy's favorite color. The first sweater choice was going to be Leo from knitty but size 3 needles and grey yarn seemed to be leaving me a bit well... unenthusiatic!

I hope that it turns out well. I had told her on her Birthday that I would knit a sweater for her...but we had to decide on the design. Design chosen, yarn chosen, all is well in the world... okay not the entire world, but at least in my world of sitting in front of the computer typing out this post...


I drove down to Needler's Nest today and stumbled across these two lovely little patterns.








I have bene wanting them for a while and was going to order them off the Debby Ware site but aha for me I got them with no shipping cost! I also picked upa little more yarn for the hats. Will get that up later...
Happy Knitting

what's on my needles

I must say that having been gone so long I didn't think that anyone still read my blog. But imagine my surprise to read two comments!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! I have been reading up on everyone elses.

To answer questions:


1) yep I am still knittin'. I haven't been very creative lately. I am just working on purses and junk like that. I haven't had real motivation. During Christmas my sister and I under took crocheting an afghan for my grandma. Of course we decided that 400 squares wasn't too much to crochet with two people working on it. Let me tell you. The only time it won't be too many squares is when you have to make less than 10. I don't think that i ever want to see another skein of mauve, rose, cream or burgandy yarn ever again!!!!!!!!
The closest yarn store to me didn't have much of a selection so I used up a lot of my stash. I have been getting a lot of really nice 1 or 2 skeins at a time and figuring out what to do with it. I knit a baby blanket. Actually I knit the Big Bad Baby Blanket from SNB The Knitter's Handbook. It was really nice... but then I got something on it and had to wash it. The label said it could machine wash and dry and of course me being so trusting, I ended up having a stroller rectangle!
Speaking of the 1 or 2 skeins of yarn. I have decided that I am no longer doing "Christmas Knitting". I have been working on things through out and have decided that I am going to just have an open house one night and have my friends pick and choose what they want.
I knit up the Leaf Cravat from one of the old Interweave issues. It turned out rather nice. I usually don't want to knit something twice... (you think I would learn this by now and do both socks at the same time...) but this goes into the definitely will knit again pile. Mind you, I only have two other patterns that I will do that with. The first one is broadripple sock pattern and the second one is a drop stitch scarf pattern!

Question 2: I am living closer to downtown. I am living near 19th and Thunderbird. Okay, I know that really isn't close but when you are living in Buckeye... This is a heck of a lot closer. I did see on the calendar about knitting on Thursdays, unfortunately I am working Thursday nights. One of these days I am hoping to be able to get off earlier and join... AAHHH other knitters.... that would be a dream come true!!!!!


So what do I have in progress right now... the better question is what am I not working on? In true Knifty Knitter fashion I have more projects that I can handle. I am finishing up the Edgar scarf from Fall Knitty. The Friend of last post about Roller Derby is wanting a purse, and of course because I can't just whip something together and call it done I have decided to chart out the roller derby logo and knit it up. The only problem is that I can't seem to get it to look right. Grrr!

What else? There is a purse that is needing to be finished and felted because I found this wonderful fabric that has playing cards and pin up girls on it and I was still in my Vegas mood. So I had to cast on right away for it! Then there are ideas that are just sitting on my head. I have a pattern idea that I think I might send in to Knitty if I can get it right. I just started really thinking about it a few weeks ago and haven't given too much real thought to it. Then there is a purse that I fell in love with and thought it would look so much better if it was knitted.... no casting on for that one yet, though. I know where my limits are.


I am watching my nephew on Tuesday nights now. My sister and her husband are taking two of their dogs to obedience class. I am so okay with this! After living with him for so long I get kind of lonely. Although I do enjoy being able to watch something other than Nickelodeon until 8:00 at night. Off to do laundry. That seemed to never quit in my life.


Happy Knitting

back again...

Hey all I am back on the interneting world again. let's fill in these last 6 months of my life... where do I start? I don't really know, so I'll go with whatever comes up.

Amy and I moved back in together in March. It is kind of strange. But a lot better. We were seeing a therapist for a little while but it was quite obvious that she was one sided and was favoring Amy. Amy even noticed this so we ditched her. But the relationship has been going well. We have both been working hard to try to talk to the other one, making sure that we have time to spend with each other and that we just don't go off into the other room. It gets a little frustrating sometimes but that is all relationships. I think that we needed this to happen in order for us to get our heads straight.

I am working at Savant still. The hair industry is not as promising as it seemed when was in school. While I am getting a lot of return clients I'm not really getting a lot of new clients in and becuase I need a steady paycheck I am applying for other positions. I had an interview with South West Trading Company as a customer service rep. I don't know how well the interview went but they said that they would call me by the end of the week to let me know. So... we shall see where that goes.

My little nephew is turning three this June and that is making me feel quite old. My neice is graduating 8th grade but what makes me feel even older is that in June my oldest nephew is going to be turning 15!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That makes me feel super duper old.

A pal of mine is trying to get me into roller derby. (YEP the real thing) and I am still debating on it. the good thing about it is that I need to get health insurance before I start so I have a reason to get out of doing it right now.

We have to go and by a table set this weekend. We had been putting it off, but we invited people over for dinner on Saturday and we realized that we don't have enough chairs for everyone to sit in... Nice...

Okay, so now that i have no reason not to blog. I will make a better goal at it. I will hold my contest once again in a few months.... I will keep my promise on that one.


Happy Knitting

The Earth is Round...

Thank god the Earth is round otherwise I would have fallen off and no one would have seen or heard from me again. I have been living in my own little psuedo-world and have finally decided to re-surface. I fell off the knitting wagon and haven't gotten much done. Sorry folks I still haven't finished that scarf. So I was thinking that I am going to have a little contest again closer to the holiday months.


Life has been a little hectic for me. I have gotten the cold from hell that won't leave my body. It is slowly taking over my brain. (or at least it feels like it)

Work has been sub par. I am trying to make ends meet but I am pulling rather hard. I just wanted to let all those who read this know that I am still alive....

shibori....

I have been working between my scarf, my purse for swtc and contemplating this wonderful little thing called Shibori.

I have some great ideas for working on a scarf done with Shibori. I am thinking of using some Noro Kureyon that I have been waiting to use. Most Shibori is worked with dyeing of the fabric but because I want to get my hands wet now with it I am going to use my Noro. I will have to do a couple of swatches to see what pattern I want to do but I am thinking waves again... I guess that it sums up how my life is feeling right now. You can find more about Shibori in the fall 05 Interweave Knits and at www.shibori.org

Contest info... all guessing is closed for the finishing date of my scarf. Unfortunately nobody picked my lucky date... It is September 10th. My Birthday!!!!


Happy Knitting.

so this is the creative process?

I have been working my buns off trying to create a pattern for SWTC? How come it seems so easy in my head and then when I knit it, it looks like junk? Grrr...

As promised I have not started on the finishing of my Flapper Scarf... I am giving two more days for votes to come in on the finishing date... I have a few dates already... I didn't read the names of the commenters just the dates... I mean I read the entire comment but I didn't focus on the name.

Here are the dates I have so far -

8-27
8-30
8-31
9-1
9-3
9-7

There is one lucky date that still needs to be picked if someone out there picks the lucky date they will, too will get the yarn and the pattern from me to make a scarf! I am not telling you what the lucky date is but it has not been chosen yet....

Oooh this is so fun for me.
I will post more later. I am going to partcipate in International Pajama day tomorrow. Although, I do have to do a little bedroom manuvering. So I will try to do it as long as I can. :)

Happy Knitting

as the world turns...

Lately it seems life my life is soap opera. Really. I am going to rant for a little bit so if you want to read about knitting then please scroll down to the asteriks. If you crave the drama... then read on, my friend...

Starting with this, one of my greatest friends in the world is going to be leaving me. Her husband has been looking at jobs all across the country and they are pretty sure that they are settling on Nashville, TN. WTF? I have no idea how to cope with this. She has been a strong pillar in my life, always seeming to know what to say or has dealt with something similar. We will see where that takes me.

My other really great friend has set a date for marriage with her boyfriend. I say that and not that they are engaged because... A) she has no ring and B) she was never really properly asked. (okay, I know that in this day and age that women don't need a ring or even have to be asked. But this gal pal of mine feel the same way about this topic and to see that she is going about it this way really irks me. So maybe there are some other reasons about this that urk me... in no particular order they are... 1) I have to wear a pee yellow and navy blue two piece item, the top having an empire waist...which will make me look anywhere from 8 to 25 months pregnant depending on the exact style... 2) The date is 2-10-2007... more than a year and a half away... and she is taking me on wedding dress scavenges next week.... 3) She has chosen me as maid of honor by default... I am the only one of her close friends that is not... a) lazy b) crazy c) controlling or d) sleazy.... 4) I have in the last week received 8 calls already about what changes she is already making to her wedding and with each phone call I am reminded that I am her MOH so I need to know this stuff.

I have decided to sit down with her tonight and talk with her about it because I was seriously making a call to Bridezillas on the Bravo channel. I don't know maybe some of this is irking me so much because I am single and feel like I am going no where.

Which brings me to my last story for today before I get to knitting. Amy called me last week and wants to get back together with it. I have really no idea what to do. We have had so many problems before that I don't know if I really want to but on the other hand, it seems as though it was mainly the last year that was really bad. And that was both of our faults. More hers but I was just as equally a culprit. One of my sisters's says no, it is a horrible idea, the other says after 6 years you need to at least try to make it work because if I don't I will be wondering for ever. Amy has told me that she is making changes in her life and trying to focus on not falling into the same old rut with herself but I don't know. I know in my heart of hearts that most people aren't able to change but I also know the good person inside her. The one that kept me happy for so many years before then. I know that this has to go slow if it is going to work but I am so afraid that it won't and here I will be again with a broken heart and more tears.
ARRGGHHH. I hate it when I don't have a perfectly clear answer.

***********************************************************************

Okay, so my rants are over and here is the knitting junk..... I have been plugging away on a few little projects. I took my test knit to Jonelle and we had a good discussion about the pattern. It may be a no go. For knitters out there, that is one pattern that shouldn't be. In return, I got three balls of Oasis yarn and am going to work on shawl pattern for moi. I have the pattern and the yarn, I just need to get some other things finished first.

I told a little bit of a project that I had in my head for SWTC. I have gotten the yarn for it and it slowly making progress. I have to felt my swatch but the pattern I have been working on with a different yarn seems to be working quite nicely. It looks like this one is good to go...what does this pattern look like.. well, I am going to keep that secret but what are things that remind of you summer in CALI?

CONTEST ALERT!!!!!!!

There is a contest I have going on. I have been working away for almost a year on my flapper scarf. to celebrate it's anniversary and it's soon to be completion I have decided that who ever guesses closest to the date that I have the scarf finished will get the yarn and beads and pattern to make one of their own! Some rules..... I will post weekly all the dates that have been chosen. There will be only one winner. If a same date is chosen the second chooser will be notified and have their date changed. You can pick any date that you want... but I will not continue work on the scarf until next week. After the winner is announced I will contact them to verify yarn and bead color and adress info and stuff like that. So here goes and hope all have fun....


Happy knitting my friends...

test knit - complete....

I finished it! It is done and well, not my favorite thing I have ever knit. I get to turn it in tomorrow and be done with it. I am trying to write up a purse pattern for SWTC but I don't know how well it will turn out. You know.. it is the whole... Looks good in the head but on paper... well that is a different story.

Everyone I know has been to California this summer and has been lounging on the beach so it will be on that theme. I want to type more but I have to chase after my nephew...


happy knitting

knitting my heart out.

I have been working on Testy for the last few weeks trying to get it correct. Now that I know the pattern it is much easier for me to knit up. I have about 10 inches left of the center band. That is only 22 stitches so I should have it done by tomorrow or Saturday.

Not much else has been going on. I have found that I am really into finishing projects lately. Actually, I have noticed a pattern with myself. Once I finish something I will tend to finish one or two other items after that. I am still plugging away at my flapper scarf. I have a date set for finishing it. But I think I am going to run a little competition for my fellow blog readers. I am still working out the kinks of the contest but it involves free yarn. soo... let me know if there is some interest.


I will blog more this week. Happy Knitting.

big fat duh for me...

I have been working and working on this test knit for SWTC and I hated it....mostly because the pattern was a piece of crap... unfortunately it was my thinking that was a piece of crap. I had been doing this pattern wrong the whole time... So, now that I have the back and one of the sides done I have to go back and re-work them correctly. GREAT!

I am working my buns off with trying to finish this tank. I have found a pattern for a shawl and I think that I can get a pretty nice size shawl out of three skeins of the Oasis.(which is what my yarn payment will be)

I am also going to find out if some felted bags are needed becuase I have a really cute idea floating around in my head. Hmmmm... we will see.


Not much more to say than that. I forgot to check out the coffee shop but will try and do that on Saturday... happy knitting

- 8+ 2 = YAY

Martha came over last night and ended up staying the night. Who knew that we would end up staying up until 1:30 in the morning looking at stars! It was so beautiful last night.

We had so much to catch up on. I didn't realize how much I missed her until we started really talking about life and stuff.

We also did a little yarn trading this morning. She needed to get a project going for a baby shower and wanted to know if I was willing to trade her for a couple of her skeins for a couple of mine. She ended up taking 6 skeins of Lion Brand wool-ease and 2 skeins of some Paton's Grace. In return I got some SWTC melody and some SWTC chenille. She had gotten then when they had their big sale and didn't really have anything to do with them and was willing to do the trade. We both ended up happy in the end so it works out!

I am still plugging away at my projects. So really no other exciting news to tell. I think I found this wonderful little coffee shop for meetings on the West side of AZ. I am going to go check it out this week and see how they feel about knitters invading the area. It is at 127th Avenue and Indian School. So, we'll see.

I am avoiding cleaning house... As always but I do want to have a little bit done before my family gets back they went out camping this weekend and I figured it would be nice to have that done for when they got home.

Well, happy knitting everyone.

10 projects and counting?

Okay, you know that last post in which I talk about me finishing up things...wrong.....

I have a total of 10 projects going and so many many more that I want to start. Some of them are really simple projects to work on, like sew linings for my purses and I think make some handles for them. I was really seriously considering selling the ones I have made. They don't have a pattern or anything, so does anyone know of places online that I can sell to or even places in Phoenix? How do I go about getting started on that?

Here is a list of projects that I am currently knitting

1) SWTC test knit... almost done (thank god)
2) black beaded scarf
3) lace scarf
4) leaf scarf (can you see a theme going on here?)
5) Grandmas blanket (not really started but more in developmental stages)
6) Sock pattern from Fall Interweave... I couldn't wait to get started on it.

Projects I need to take apart:

1) clown socks... okay it is the regia stripe yarn but my Brother in law says they look like clown socks
2) black purse
3) Regia black and grey striped sock. (they were going to be Amy's but I think I am going to rip them out and do a hat or something
4) lace shawl I have going...blech is all that I going to say

So I have made it a goal to finish up at least two projects by the end of the month. Let's see which ones make it to the finish line. I want to get them completed because I have a shawl idea floating around in my head that I want to get out on paper.

More later... Happy Knitting

Becoming me.

My sister and her husband are on vacation right now. They went off to San Diego with the babe to have some rest and relaxation. I am enjoying these days to myself. I am learning who I am as a person again. It is funny how being in a relationship, (or at least the one that I was in) who you really are. My likes my wants my dreams my everything. I didn't realize how much I was turning off or ignoring for the other person. 5 Things about the person that I am...

1) I don't like to be rushed in the morning. I like to have my coffee, sit a little bit and take in the sunshine, because I really am a morning person.

2) It is okay to "project" your feelings and thoughts on your animals.

3) Baseball. I really like that game.

4) Just because I cry doesn't mean that I am over emotional... It just means that I have feelings and I am not afraid of them.

5) I am pretty sure I was using my knitting as a subconscious hint about my relationship. I have been finishing projects left and right. Not flitting from one project to the other. Not that I was doing that in my relationship, mind you, but it was me not ending a project, needing something new and fresh and fun and exhilirating. hmmm...

Okay, enough of me being deep here. I have a few yarn stores to critique and rate...

I went to the Needlers Nest awhile back and the women in there awesome. Love them. The store is at El Mirage and Bell Roads. They do carry some rather exspensive yarns but they also carry other, more afordable brands too! Being a "young" person (at least near this area - Sun City) I was treated wonderful in there. They chit chatted with me for a while. Wound the skeins for me and put in me in there database.. spend 250.00 and get 10.00 off your next purchase or something like that... Or maybe it is 20.00, I can't remember. But anyways, if you are on the West side of town or make your way over here for some reason make sure to check them out.

I also went to the Knitters Nook yesterday and wasn't too impressed. They had mostly Plymouth yarns in there. A few from other vendors but not much. I was said hello to and that was it. A woman *much older than me* came in after me and was talked up a storm to. I walked around a couple of times, was asked if I knew how to knit but was really given a chance to answer before she was showing me acrylic stuff and where the needles were and how to knit books. I told them I knew how and then she walked off. I left. I would say that if you are in desperate need of a yarn store and have to have some Plymouth Encore on a Monday then head over here. Otherwise. Bleh.

I am hoping that some of you will show up at Coffee Plantation this afternoon. Brooke, I don't care if Jack is a grumpy sourpuss or a smiling cherub come and see me! All you other ladies too! Get your buns out to 20th Street and Camelback and seeme!

Happy Knitting

Sweater completed

I finished Matt's little sweater the other day. It is a little big, but it looks really cute on him. It will fit him perfectly this winter. I am adding a new feature to my posts when I finish a project. It will be something I learned from knitting it.

1) When working intarsia, you really do need to weave the ends of the second color into the coordinating stitches. I didn't think it would show that much but boy did it ever. I ended up wasting more time by pulling out the yarn and having to re-weave it.

2) Speaking of re-weaving ends in. When you make a mistake and cut your tail or even if you leave it too short, this little idea will help you out. Place the eye of the needle through the stitch that you want to weave your end in, being careful not to pull the needle all the way out, now thread your tail through the eye and pull the needle back through the stitch like you normally would. Voila...you have your tail weaved through one stitch. Repeat this process until you are sastified, then cut off what is left. I learned this trick a few years back, it is a little longer to weave in the ends but when you need to do it, it works like a charm.

3) If there are any parts on a pattern that are confusing or you had to change. Write them down. You will save yourself hours of refiguring numbers (or even worse reknitting) to work the other side. This is also helpful if you are making more than one or want to knit it later on down the road.

I have the afternoon free tomorrow and will be in central Phoenix. I was thinking about going to the Coffee Plantation at the Biltmore Fashion park around 1:00 or 1:30 if anyone is interested. I will post this on the SNB group too!

I am off to go run errands.
Happy Knitting

must... have...contact... with...other...knitters.....

Okay, so I am not really that desperate.. I mean I have my sister knitting but she will only do it after the babe's gone to bed...(Obviously she is not that taken with it!!!!) But I really do miss fellow knitters. I was trying to meet up with some other knitters tomorrow but it seems as though it really won't fit into my schedule. I have a lunch date with Lindsay, who I haven't seen in over a month!
Well, it is not really a lunch date I am getting my underarms and my legs waxed. She needs the practice and I got the hair to practice on.

So, I am almost finished with my Rowan sweater for Matt and have decided that I hate hate hate English written patterns. I know that I have written this before in a previous post but I feel it needs repeating. I have everything knit I just can't get the stupid sleeves to look right. I don't know what the problem is.
Hopfully the net will have some answers for me.

I am also going to see if I can find a place for people to meet up on the west side of the valley on Mondays like near Avondale or something. Maybe in the evening or even in the mornings...

Well, I have to head out for now. Dinner is waiting and I need to find out how to do that dang sweater. Happy Knitting!

Cult tally - 3

I forgot yesterday to add what I have been working on! I was having a self pity moment a while back and decided that I needed yarn. You know the really good stuff that I normally wouldn't buy for myself kind of yarn! Well, I picked up some recycled silk. 2 skeins. It ended up costing me about 40 big ones but I loved knitting with it. I made myself a cute little purse with some silk lining...Awesome!

I have also been teaching people how to knit. Last week I gave my niece some refresher courses and she knit 1/2 a wash cloth before she got bored. She then asked me to teach her friend to knit. So, when they came over on Sunday I gave her a lesson. They had fun and I am going to practice knitting with them at least every other week. Last night my sister Amy said, "okay, it is time for me to learn". So I grabbed my needles and yarn again and off we went. Amy has always been a perfectionist and within an hour she had learned how to knit, purl, do a 1x1 ribbing and seed stitch! I was quite afraid of teaching her because I thought that she would have issues with learning it. She is left handed and when she taught herself to crochet she came up with a new stitch that she calls the "oopsy" stitch. I was going to try to teach her to knit continental but, she is doing awesome with the "american method". She already held her yarn in her right hand so I figured it would be easier that way. She just had to learn to get the needles comfortable. So, I am off today to find an easy pattern for her to make that is not your standard dishcloth or pouch-esque bag. She was asking this morning about when she should learn to knit socks...I told her to at least get one project done first.

I forgot about a pal's birthday so I am going to make her a purse pattern I got off Knitty.com. I am hoping I can whip it out rather quickly. My next challenege is to make a sweater to fit a beagle. I think I will try the pattern from the SNB nation book. Well, I think that wraps it up as for what has been going on... I think I have my numbers in for the knitting cult requirments for this month! How about everyone else?

Life goes on...and so do I...

So, I am still living. Thank you to everyone who has sent me a well wishes. So, here is what is going on..

I am still working.. I am wating for my duplicate license to come in so I can take a second job somewhere. I am living with my middle siste Amy, her husband Josh and their little babe Matt. You may remember those cute little pics I have posted of him before... if not look back for previous posts. So total in the house right now there are the three of us adults, Matt, my two cats, and Maggie, their 4 dogs (a beagle and 3 greyhounds) and 3 cats, and for the last two weeks we have been watching Josh's moms greyhound. So needless to say that the house is a little full but it doesn't feel like it at all.

I carpooling twice a week with my sister and the other two days I am taking her husbands truck to work. I am trying to save up money for to get a car. It is kind of frustrating but hey, I could be worse off. I have family and friends that love and support me.

So on to what this post should really be about... KNITTING!!!!!!!!!

I am been getting a little bit of knitting done. I finally finally finally finished the first part of my flapper scarf. Wonderschon! I love it. I started putting on the beads for the 2nd part of the scarf and I realized I was about a hundred beads short of what I needed. After scanning almost every bead store in the Phoenix area I was finally was able to get to the bead store near my work... they have wonky hours but lo and behold they had my beads. They are wee bit darker but they still look good. I am moving right along on this one. I forgot the pattern I was working for my lace scarf and haven't motivation to find where I messed up at.

So, while my life is not back to what used to "normal", it is becoming a new "normal" and I like that. I think that next tuesday I will be in town so if anyone wants to meet up in the central phoenix area around lunch time I can do that. I would love to knit with people again....

Happy Knitting...

It's over.

I haven't posted in a while because life has been rather cray. In the course of a week, my life has gone from content to catastrophic. It has just been settling back down and I decided that I should let the world know where I have been.

A few weeks back Amy told me that she didn't love me anymore and that she wanted to break up. I told her okay, but I needed time to save up money to get a car and to move out. We had decided that I would leave in about 5 months. Well, that five months turned into about 10 days. We got into a riff a couple of Sundays ago and Amy told me to pack my stuff and leave. So, I did. I am pretty sure that she didn't think I was going to be gone but I left. I was tired of the fighting and the well everything.

I moved into my sister's house out in Buckeye and I am trying to get back to my normal life. Or at least what could become a normal life. I don't know how often I will be able to post but I wanted to let you all know what has been going on. The good thing about being so far away from the city is that I have my nights to myself now and I have been getting a lot of knitting done.

I wish you all the best.

happy knitting

Sandee the over achiever and Brooke the achiever...

So, Brooke and her mom are both well into swatches for the master knitting program and I still can't settle on a single type of yarn... Great!!! Thanks a lot ladies.... Hmmmppphhh! ;)

I am thinking of heading over to craft mart and checking out some yarn there. I was also going to try the last bit of Zara that I have. I figured that it can't hurt to try it out and if it looks decent I will pick some up at Jessica Knits on Sunday. The only downside to that is that she opens at noon and I have to be out at my sister's early in the day... So, we will see.... Here is the Zara.




I finally got the pattern for my "flapper scarf" again. So, I will be able to finish it and wear it this winter. I had to write to a store that gave me a copy of it and it took forever to get a copy again. I am plugging away at my lace scarf. It is about a foot long right now. I am pretty durn proud of it!

Well, off to pick Amy up from work. Happy Knitting

What has brown hair, likes to knit and hates written questions?

ME!!!

I met up with Brooke and her wonderful mom Sandee to work on my TKGA swatches. I have learned a few things from this escapade. In no particular order.

1. Encore worsted weight yarn is not the best yarn to use for making the swatches. It is just a little too fuzzy
2. Cream colored yarn is not good to knit with. It makes the swatches look like the crap ass baby sweaters you see in the goodwill. You know the ones that had the dog wee on them.
3. Jack loves me, okay he loves my pin, my glasses and my plastic page protector.
4. A knit 1 purl 1 cast on? It looks crappy at best
5. You learn just how bad of a knitter you really are when you know that others are getting ready to scrutinize your work.
6. The question's and swatches are open to interpetation. You just have to make the right one.
7. The best cast on method for swatch one is the knit cast on

So, I had a really good time. Jack was adorable as ever... he has the fattest little legs! So cute!

I also decided that I was going to get to work on some of my written questions. Before I knew it, I had half of the knitting section strewn over a desk and was well into finishing them. I have about 6 left to do. I tried to get as many references as possible but i found myself referring to the same books over and over again. In some books it is quite obvious how much the writer(s) valued certain aspects of the knitting by how much content was there for a subject.

I am going to try to get them all typed up. I can't decide on my cable pattern. I get really picking when I have to choose things... so it's a good thing I have a little time.

I am going to try a differnt type of yarn with my swatches.

Happy Knitting

ahhh yes master...

I have decided to complete my Master Knitting Level One program. Okay, I better say the truth, I have decided to start my Master Knitting Level One program. Thanks to the wonderful motivation from Brooke, I have decided that I need to get this done. We are meeting up on Monday to work on our swatches. I want to get to work on the written portion of the program as well. Knitty's new issue has a little blurb about it...

I worked a little more on my scarf. I ended up scrapping the one I was working on and starting fresh. Matt's sweater piece is still MIA and I have been to down trodden to start it over again... okay okay okay it is all just laziness.

I am off to find out some info on knitting...

Happy Knitting

Manic Mondays...Oops I mean Manicure Mondays.

Okay, so it seemed that last Monday I had a " Manic Monday" but last night I learned that I will be having "Manicure Mondays" ! I trotted over to Amsterdam with my pal Lindsay to talk to the manager about working on Monday nights for their Martini's and Manicures. They don't need someone right away but she said she would love to take both of us on! The cool thing about it is that I won't be doing a full manicure, just a file, buff and polish. I need to buff up on my polish skills some more So, that will be some nice extra cash in my pocket. The down falls? I have to be up until at least 2:00 A.M. that night Good thing I have Tueday's off!

I have no knitting to report. I have to go back a few rows on my scarf that I am working on. I was one stitch off and it set the whole pattern off center! grr! Oh, I was asked what the yarn size was. There are three different versions, but they are all done with different types of lace weight.

I am off to work my late shift today! happy knitting my friends.

weakness struck.

I knew that it would. I fell victim to some lovely silk yarn from Kaalund. It is so yummy to work with.





Of course, this doesn't give you any idea on how beautiful this color really is. I am working on a lace scarf for me!





It is the one on the far left. I had actually intended to make the middle one, but I started the wrong pattern and I really like how it is turning out, so I kept it that way.

Matthew's sweater side is still MIA. I have come to the realization that I am going to have to knit another left front piece. :(

I am working on invitations for Amber's baby shower. I have the cutest idea going right now! I am so dan proud of myself! I will get a pic of them if I can...

happy knitting

life or something like it...

I have been barely going through the motions of my supposed life. I found out why today. I went to the Doctor because it seemed that lately my heart would start racing and I would get jittery and zone out and almost want to puke my guts up. Well, I found out today, not only am I border line Bipolar (which I have known about for a few years) but I am also starting to develop an Anxiety problem. What the F&%^ is wrong with me? My wonderful Doctor (Dr. Cohen at Healthy Outlook Family Medicine Which was voted 7.7 of 10 points on City Search) tells me nothing.... that anxiety problems usually accompany depression and Bipolar, I just have to go on a different medication now. BLEH!

I had my little sweater for Matt almost finished. Unfortunately, I lost part of it somewhere. I have now idea where it is at. I am going to have to re-knit it. I am on day something for not buying any yarn. I think it has been over a month. I am quite proud of myself. I feel, though, that after today's news I might pick up some silk yarn that I have been dreaming about since I bought some for my secret pal.

Work has been good. I had a crappy day on Saturday, my boss made it all better though by telling us that we had a mini meeting he wanted us to stay for and surprised us with beer! Ya gotta love a boss that will do that!

Well, off to knit before I have to pick Amy up.

Happy Knitting

feeling quite accomplished, but...

I have gotten Matt's sweater almost done. He is going to look so Freakin' cute in it. I have decided that he will get it for his birthday. He is also going to get a sandbox from me and Amy. We have settled upon the turtle one.


How cute is that?

My nephew's birthday is a few days before his. We are pitching money in for a drum set for him. My poor poor sister... what is she thinking?????


So where does the but.... come in at?

I have decided to throw in the sweater and send back the test knit to SWTC. I just can't do it. I hate the yarn and I hate the pattern. I know that I won't finish it and I don't think that it is fair to them, for me to be holding onto something that I can't get done in time for them. Maybe in a few months I can work on something else, but not now.

Off to work on something...

happy knitting

what's going on???

I have been slowly working at decreasing my stash! Did you know that the only yarn I have bought in the last month has been for my secret pal! Cool huh? I have a few purses to show off for it but have decided to work on baby patterns. They are a quick knit and you feel more accomplished than you would with a purse.

I am working on this pattern right now. It is from Rowan Babies.









I am making it for Matthew.

I also have these two patterns lined up. The first one is going to be knit from some stash yarn and the other I am making to match the little pants I made for "baby Austin" when he arrives.
I am going to knit sweater all in one color so it doesn't look quite so girlie!









If I have learned one thing about knitting Rowan patterns it is that they run quite big. I have also found this to be true in Debbie Bliss patterns. Which will leave you to ponder this question....
Are babies and little kids bigger in England than they are in the US?

Happy Knitting

OOOOOOO yarn.....

I got my last package from my secret pal the other day.... Lovely! I forgot to borrow the camera from my sister yesterday so I will have to post of a picture of it later. She sent me some awesome stuff. Definitely things that I would have never bought for myself.

A sock making kit from Hello Yarn, in berry and purple and blue shades. Beautiful.
She also sent me some chocolate. A little happy face button that I have adorned on my knitting bag! Then there was some Mango lip gloss inside the box too! I love love love lip gloss/chapstick. I am literally addicted to the stuff. If I go out somewhere for more than two hours and I don't have any with me I have to go buy some... it is a sick habit... I also got a lovely little skein of purple yarn that was super mega soft. I had to knit it up right away. I will get a picture of that up as well. I made the shocking pink coif pattern from knitty. It is more a pastel purple coif. I love it. I can't wait for winter and it's not even that hot here!

I am sending out my last package to my secret pal. I had some family issues to take care of before I could deal with other life. It took me a long time to decide on what to send but I hope that she likes it.

I am just doing housework today. It has been put off for the last week and it really needs to be done. Oh, I finished the pair of drawstring baby pants that I knit up for Amber's baby. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to make a little matching vest or sweater for them. I look at them and realize that they are right. I am going to check and see if there is one out there for the yarn, if not I will make one myself.

Happy Knitting

Animal House.

These last few days have been filled with multiple trips to the vets office. On Tuesday I had to take my cat Pepper Ann in because she hadn't been doing her normal upheaval of cat food. It was a lot worse. I found out that she has a severe urinary infection. It had reached her kidneys! Usually something that can be taken care of, but because she has been on medications before and it hadn't gone away. She is going to be on a special prescription only diet that alters her pH for the rest of her life. Good thing I will get this at a discount!


I then had to take my little Chihuahua Maggie in yesterday because she is starting to give out milk. Mind you I told my sister like a week ago that I thought she was getting a little pudgy in that area and she told me I was crazy. Well, Tuesday night I had her on my lap and all of the sudden it was wet on my leg and there was milk coming out of her! Mind you, my little dog is 11 years old and we thought she was spayed because she has this little tiny scar on her tummy. Aparently, she isn't. So went back to my sister's office on Tuesday and found out that Maggie is having a false pregnancy. Great! So, she goes in on Monday to get a hormone shot to stop it.

I have gotten a little knitting done. My goal right now is to try and get as much yarn used up from the stash as possible. So far I have knit up three little purses. I want to make something bigger, but I don't have enough yarn to make anything but purses or socks or mittens or hats. I figured that in Arizona the best option was to make purses. I was thinking about working on a few hats to send to my cousin and his girlfriend for the winter time.

Adam and Sarah live in Kentucky so they can get use of out them. Get this, my cousin and his girlfriend moved there so he can go to professional wrestling school! Yep, we all have a little hillbilly somewhere in our families!!!!! I am just kidding. I am actually really proud of him. He has been trying out for the pro wrestling circuit and made it to the final cut the last two times. One day he will be there. He is following his dream and this all that counts right?

Well, Happy Knitting

So, what happens when you clean up your yarn? You find some roving that you had tucked away! I found some lovely brown and white roving that I had set aside for when I got better at spinning. I am going to spin this up and send it to my secret pal as she is quite fond of brown shades.

Today, I have no real plans and I love it. I am off to the grocery store, we haven't done real grocery shopping in two weeks. So, we will see how much junk I come home with. I am then off to Bookman's to take a few more books that we have laying around and are just filling up space. I am not sure how much we will get for them but we can get them out of here. After that, whatever Bookman's won't take I am heading to the goodwill and dropping those and more junk off. It is a great spring cleaning day.

I was waiting for Amy to get out of class today and think I decided what to make with a wonderful skein of yarn that my secret pal had sent to me. This is the colorway that she sent to me. As always, the picture doesn't do the colors justice but you get the idea.




I have been itching to do some cable work and was thinking about doing a thin cabled scarf. I have a book of cable patterns that I will get the pattern from. Or maybe I can find one off the net.

I was also reminded that at Christmas time last year I had said that this Christmas everyone was going to get Christmas stockings. I am not sure if want to do that this year. Although, they would be a fast knit. hmmmm.. we will see.

Oh, Finished stuff to report. I finished up my soysilk purse yesterday. My sister, great loving person that she is, helped me sew the lining. I then machined sewed it in, I am not too crazy about the way it looks but it doesn't look bad so I think I will leave it. I also have some dpn holders that I knit and felted that just need to be adorned. Those are going to my SP, too. I can't wait to send them out. I think that I should have it all ready to send out by the end of the week.

I am off to run errands. Happy Knitting.

what purple, green and yellow and hasn't been touched in days?

You all guessed it. It's Testy. I thought that the front parts of the sweater would just be smooth sailing. WRONG!!!!!!

I have devoted myself to working on a purse in some soysilk. It was one of those hanks that I picked up when SWTC had a sale. I am not too crazy about the colors after I have been knitting with it. They are just patterning kind of weird. Definitely not supposed to be a purse with that yarn. The purse is going to be a gift and I am quite sure that the recipient will approve of both the colors and the patterning.


I stopped in to get the summer issue of Interweave and got Yarn Harlot's book. I have had it for just over 24 hours and have read the entire thing... Great Book.

I am trying to find some fabric that has yarn or knitting or sheep on it. Any one out there know where I can find it let me know...

Happy Knitting

Down with taxes...at least until extension time...

Okay, so being the total procrastinater that I am, I waited until the last minute to do my taxes. I went to go get my W-2's and two of them are missing. Mind you, I have it quite easy to pay taxes. I get to still use the 1040EZ form and all, but.... I misplaced two of them. One for my school info, the other from a place of work. Grrr. So I filed an extension online. Quite easy. So, I have to go and call on Tuesday and get the new forms sent out to me.

I am pretty sure that Amy or I accidently threw them away. They were in non descript envelopes. We both cleaned the top of the book shelf off twice since I got them in. We are both to blame for this...


I have no knitting to report. I just have been working on Testy. I don't think i will take another test knit for a while. I haven't been spinning. I opted not to get any roving. Although, a big thanks a lot for the peer pressure goes out to the girls in my SNB who whole heartedly agree that it is perfectly okay to buy roving on a yarn diet... What if I was going ruin a regular diet? What about jumping off a bridge? What about doing drugs??? HHHHMMMM HUH HUH HUH??? Okay, I see it's different now... Yea yea yea whatever ;) JUST KIDDING

My secret pal left a little comment for me asking me if there is anything that I really wanted or needed. Know what is nice about that? There isn't anything. I can honestly look at my life and see that I am rather content. Yes, of course there are the things that are going to be coming later in life... Secret Pal, I am assuming that you don't wanna marry me or give me kids... ;P

(Here is where I get cheesy...) Have you had moments in your life when all of the sudden everything feels good and feels right? I am having one of those moments right now.

I guess that wasn't too cheesy. But it has been a long night and I have to be up early tomorrow for a roller set... OOOOhhh the glamourous world of cosmetology...

Happy Knitting

Time Selfish?

Amy told me today that I am a home hoarder. What is a home hoarder? Well, Amy thinks that it is me... or to be exact- it is me slightly scrunching my face or a small amount of detest in my voice when she tells me that she is going to be at home for a couple of hours when I get off work.

She had taken a few hours of vacation and had to go in at 7:30 tonight. I guess that I must have mad a sound or something but in truth, she was right. As much as I love her, most of the time I enjoy having the few hours after work to myself befor she comes home. I have found it is a great me time for relaxation and just ahhh time. It's not that I am a house hoarder, it is just that well, when I get off work and she is home I have to start dinner right away and do other misc stuff. I can't just flop and play with the dog and just goof off. It doesn't happen very often so I shouldn't complain but I am and I probably will continue to get time selfish.

On to knitting. I finished the back of Testy. I have the pattern figured out. For the front part, too. The front pieces are going by so much quicker than normal. Yay! I have to just type out the corrected pattern, now.

So, I was asked to other day if I would barter. I said sure. I am going to make her a purse. I get to choose the colors and the style. I already have the yarn picked out, but I don't know what pattern to use. If anyone has some ideas on a purse pattern for worsted weight yarn, please let me know. I have searched the usual sights... Knitty, about.com, etc and not crazy about any of them. So, please let me know if you know something that I would love...

Happy Knitting

Oh. I almost forgot... here is the tip for yesterday...

Finding that some of your rows in knitting are a little uneven. That is goes from tight to loose to tight to loose? Pull out enough yarn for the row at the beginning of each row. That way you can keep your tension.

If you don't look at it, its not really there....

I have decided to use this wonderful method on my organization. If I just don't look at the whole pile of yarn, I will be okay... I have been feeling a slight knitting slump lately.

It is nice to know that I am not alone with my boredom. Kirsten was feeling quite blah, Shannon had the non-knitting fever, and who knows who else is out there.

I am going to meet up with the girls for dinner tonight before we knit. I don't know how long I can stay to knit , as I have to go to the Fiber Factory and pick up a pair of handcarders from a wonderful lady.

I am on day4 of the yarn diet. I am wondering how long this is going to last. Get this, I am even taking some yarn that I bought last week back to the store.. I realized that I just don't need it right now. The nice thing about being on a yarn diet, is that I have been looking at all the books and magazines I have. It's funny how there are some patterns that I had passed over time and time again are grabbing my attention. So, if I don't organize my stash today, I will at least organize my books.

Question: Does buying roving to spin break my yarn diet?

Happy Knitting

off to straighten the stash

Saturday night I forgot about a party that we had to go to. I remembered at nine o'clock in the evening. So, I threw someting semi decent on and we headed over there. A good time was had. I played this game.





It is called Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot. Kind of hard to explain but you get to kill other people's bunny cards. I am so buying this game next week.

I am officially out of fiber to spin. I am awaiting hand carders for the alpaca. But everything else is gone gone gone... It is all nice little hanks of yarn. I have to set the twist in all them but it is spun. I was thinking of making some novelty yarn one of these days. We will see how it goes.

Yesterday was family haircut day and then it was off to my the movies with my sister and my niece. We saw Beauty Shop. My sister had passes that she one from work so we went and saw a movie that we normally wouldn't go to. It was alright but I am glad I didn't pay for the movie.

I feel like a have a ton of things to get done but I know that it isn't true.
Here is my to do list.

• Grocery Shopping
• Get Gas
• 2 loads of laundry
• organize yarn
• Drop off bags at the goodwill

A lot of driving today. I had just wanted to lounge around the house.. Oh well.

Happy Knitting

this and that

I worked on testy a little more last night. Nothing really new to report. I am once again considering buying the book Adorable knits for tots. I browsed through it again and falling in love with it... Maybe next week or next month.

I have also decided to put myself on a yarn diet. I am going to go through my yarn and sort it out.

I have decided to do the following sorting:

Pattern already decided
Looking for Pattern
Sock yarns
Bits and pieces

I will sub-catergorize the yarn from there.

I was thinking about the yarn that I have patterns for to put them in ziploc bags and the pattern inside so I don't forget what I want to knit. Well see, it just really depends on how much energy I have when I start to clean...

Happy Knitting

I am feeling quite testy..

So, I had to frog 4 inches on testy. The pattern was way F**KED UP! I couldn't figure out how to get the pattern to stay when I was doing my decreasing. Well, I happened to look at book that I had lying around and I found the answer to one of my problems with the pattern. With the type of rib pattern that it uses I can't do normal decreases. I have to bind off or the pattern will get fudged up way bad.

So, that was taken care of, but I still kept ending up with a purl 2 on the end and I needed a knit two on the end. Well, looked and looked and read and read and read and read the patten over and over again and then it hit me. It was off by two stitches. The math decrease was wrong. It was right for the small and the large but not for the medium. So, know that I have that taken care of I can knit my little heart away... at least until I get to the front panels of the sweater...


I got some yarn today to start working on a small fairisle project. I had to only buy two skeins, so I won't get into too much "trouble". I am going to force myself to finish the back of Testy first before I try to work on the Fairisle project...

Happy Knitting my friends

It's getting smaller....

As much as I wanted to spin last night I diligenty worked on Testy. Okay okay, I confess I did finish up a bat of roving and plied it, but I did get a lot done on testy. I worked on the decreases for the back and it is taking great shape. I am just about finished with the arm hole decreases, the next part will be to work on the neck and shoulder shaping. I don't think I will get a picture of it up.

I did learn about decreasing in a rib pattern while working on this, so that is quite helpful.

I am working until 8:00 tonight. Blegh. All my clients are later in the day, so I think I may be able to get some good knitting time in...maybe, just maybe...


Happy Knitting

Tip Tuesday and kids stuff...

Today I am feeling rather lazy about putting a tip up. So, I give you this site. It is one of my favorites. The tip that I am linking is how to decrease evenly across an row when there aren't an even number of stitches. Quite helpful. I have used this site a lot in my knitting and I hope that it helps others out, too.

I was going to meet up with Brooke and Jack today for some knitting this afternoon, but my sister called me when I was sitting inside Lux before they got there. She was stuck in a meeting and Logan, my nephew, was barfing all over the place. So, duty called. And being the safe driver that I am I was logging onto my email from my phone while driving to send an email to Brooke, hoping that she would get it before she left.... Once again, I am soo sorry about that!


Speaking of nephews, we found out today that Amy's little sister is going to have a little boy. She isn't too sure what she is going to name him yet. They just can't pick out a name that both of them like.

And speaking of babies... my aunt called me last night to let me know that my cousin's wife had a little girl. She was a month early but is perfectly healthy. They named her Jaeden (JAY-den). They couldn't decide on a middle name so they are going to fill that in later.

Which brings me to baby names... When we do have kids we have decided on the names Garrett Jaeger...(no not the liquor sillies) and Indigo Pary. We also like the name Chloe Vedette for a girl too. Brooke had challenged some of you to ask me what I wanted to name my future child. Since there was no one out there willing to take the challenge I will just tell now. I wanted to name her Ute Svetlana. (Prounonced OO-tah) I just love love love that name. Amy refuses to let me name our kid that so maybe on the third one...

Oh well, happy knitting

wind wind wind the bobbin, unwind wind wind the bobbin....

So, as my sister watched me put my wheel together she was singing that little ditty and got it stuck in my head for the last few days.

I must say that I am quite proud of myself. I decided to get an unfinished wheel to save money. So, when the wheel came I had to pick out a finish for it, then sand it, wax it and put it together. Thanks to the helpful employee at Lowe's who only muttered nope after asking if they carry a wax stain, I learned uber amounts of info on stains and finishes. When we got back I sanded my wheel down, this wasn't really a task as I used a 4" X 6" sheet of sandpaper. Then with the wax that lowe's supposedly didn't carry I waxed and polished every piece of wood. Then came the production. Quite easy. The hardest part was putting in the last two screws where I had to screw into a piece of silicone for the treadles. But it is beautiful and working and I am so dang proud of myself.

Kirsten asked if it is possible to actually raise alpaca's out here. I know that there are a few farms in Arizona but most of them are in the northern part of the state. You are supposed to shear them every 15-18 months but we couldn't let them go that long. As we were shearing them I stuck my hand down as far as I could into Joe's fluff and it was at least 10 degree's hotter than outside of his body. Poor guy... good thing he's "naked" now.

I was going to meet up with the other knittin' mom's today with my nephew Matt, but he wasn't feeling his best. The poor kid has our families immune system. He was getting over a cold, so I didn't want to infect all the other little one's out there. Maybe next time.

If anyone is interested in meeting up tomorrow around 11:00 to go knit let me know. I put a post up on the yahoo group list. But let me know either way.

I am off to work on Testy. I have got to get that thing done.

Happy Knitting

I am the proud owner of a spinning wheel, or at least my apartment complex office is... Now here is the frustrating part... I didn't expect my wheel for quite some time at least another week, so after getting my hard earned cash on payday, I headed out to some stores to see if I could find a few new work clothes... Nuthin'.... I figured that I should mosey on home and there was the little sticker on my door.... Dang it... if I hadn't lollygagged around, went to the normal bank, and went straight home I could be spinning right now. I then couldn't pick it up yesterday as the office is closed on Saturdays. So, here I am sittin' and waiting until 1:00 to pick up my spinning wheel. So close, yet so far away...


On, the spinning front, we sheared my sister's alpacas yesterday. What a sight that was to see. I didn't get any pictures, but it was a good thing. I hadn't clipped anything besided human hair in 9 years and boy was I rusty at it. Shearing alpacas was definitely not the same thing as clipping dairy cattle. They were as good as they could be, I mean how would you act if someone creature was coming at you with a motorized thing and you had no form of communication with them? I am not too sure how great the fiber is, but I am going to give it a try. I was going to send it off to be carded and turned into roving but I think I am going to pass on that one. I really have this desire to turn the big bag of fluff into some pretty little balls rolacks to spin. A rolack is hand carded fiber that looks like a great big fluffy dust bunny. Nice description huh?

I am off to work on testy..I fear that I won't be getting much done on her in the next few days...

Happy Knitting.