Friday Fill-In

I’ve been reading other people’s Friday Fill-In posts for a while now and it looks like a lot of fun. Here’s mine. :-)

1. The cake had an extra secret ingredient; it was Disney Princesses!
2. I hope no one is looking through my window.
3. Right now, I need to go to sleep, but that won’t happen until the girl-child has her next dose of Motrin.
4. Nowhere is where I went Thursday night; it was not as fun as Knit Night would have been.
5. Why does my left finger hurt so much?
6. All I can think of is the arthritis that might be forming there.                                                7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include convincing the hubby I need a Macbook and a visit to the yarn shop, and Sunday, I want to see my Mom!

Happy Birthday Girl-Child

She’s not a baby anymore.  She’s a full fledged toddler with her own little personality and a desire to do everything herself.  She doesn’t need my help nearly as much as she did 3 years ago today, but that’s okay.  It means she’s growing and learning and one day, she’ll be able to fly on her own. 

Three years ago, at 11:43 am, I got to hold her for the first time:

Man, oh man…it was amazing. To see this little girl that looked so much like I did as a wee babe and to know that she was a part of me, my mother, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother…I don’t know. It was an incredible feeling to feel so connected.

When the hubby held her for the first time, my heart felt like it would explode.  When the boy-child was born, the hubby was like a proud peacock, strutting around.  With the girl-child, it was a whole different story.  There was a tenderness there and you could already see the fierce protectiveness when he cuddled her against him.  Now she knows her daddy is wrapped around her little finger and all she has to do is look pitiful to make him crumble.  How fast she learned!  LOL

Today has been a little rough for her, as it seems she developed a nasty case of strep throat yesterday. The hubby is taking her to the pediatrician in a bit and while she’s gone, the boy-child and I are going to decorate the house so that she’ll have a nice surprise when she gets home. I just hope she’s able to eat some of her princess cake without it hurting her throat too much.

Side note:  Publix has some of the coolest (and best tasting) cakes around and when we saw this one, we knew it was perfect for her. The ladies in the bakery were super nice and they did a beautiful job.

So anyway, Happy Birthday Baby Girl!  Don’t grow up on me too fast!  :-)

Bibby’s House

Bibby has the most amazing home and her garden is something that I can only dream about having one day. Yesterday, I got to spend most of my morning there, chatting and spinning with her and Darlene, and watching the squirrels and birds. It was wonderful. I did remember to take my camera, so I get to show y’all some of the pictures I took while I was there:

I can’t wait to go back!

Thank you for the thoughts…

Miss Maggie is recovering nicely.  Big sigh of relief over here.  She slept most of the day and after she woke up we gave her the first dose of kitty Pepto.  Lemme tell you, she was thrilled about that one.  lol  Thank you for all of your warm wishes, kitty purrs, and prayers.  They’re so appreciated!  Here’s a pic of the lady resting:

Sick kitty…

Please keep Miss Maggie in your thoughts today. 

We woke up to find that she had been throwing up blood for most of the night.  The hubby took her to the vet first thing this morning and they seem to think that the lining of her stomach is really irritated.  They gave her a shot to stop the vomiting and gave us some kitty Pepto to give her for a few days.  Hopefully it is nothing more than a really upset tummy. She’s resting comfortably by my side right now, so the shot seems to have worked.

Back later with an actual post.

Paintings, Projects, and Purrs.

Well, I finally manged to get the Etsy update done about 9:00 (central time).  Sorry it was so late!  I had forgotten that the hubby had a meeting after work, so that meant I was the Lone Ranger around these parts.  There are a couple bamboo blends, lots of super squishy 3-ply sock yarns, and a couple new handspuns.  I’m hoping to add a few new stitch marker sets to the mix in a couple of days.  :-)

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Darlene wanted to know what my painting from Sips ‘N Strokes looked like, so here she be, in all her…um…glory?  LOL

The class was incredibly fun, but after spending 4 hours painting my butt off and giggling with buddies over a bottle of good wine, I was exhausted.  Here’s how it started out:

And here are all three of them at the end:

C’s (middle) was, by far, the most detailed and artistic, but then again, she’s always been a fabulous artist. :-) Definitely something I’ll be doing again in the future.

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Also, the hubby wants me to show you his latest “project”. See, we love our cats, but his big thing is his fish tank. He loves raising fancy guppies and he finally had to upgrade his tank because his small one had gotten overpopulated. If it were left up to me, I would have said “all drains lead to the ocean” and, ahem, made room.  Anyhow, here’s a pic of the latest Fishy Condo: 

At least he let me decorate it. :-) Something else that got pimped out this weekend was my pvc skein winder. The hubby did some research and found a mercury exercise counter that counts rotations. He ordered it last week and it came in this past weekend. He strapped it to one of the pvc poles, turned it on, and it works like a dream. I swear, the man is a genius!

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Oh, and did I mention that all this new pet talk had this result:

So much…

to say, so little time!  Kid-free weekend and we’ve jammed it full of adult fun.  I’m heading out to Sip ‘N Strokes with my two highschool partners in crime and the hubby is off to a surprise 40th birthday party.  I started off the weekend last night with Mexican and a big, fishbowl margarita.  Good times.  ;-) Anyhow, I’ve got a lot of stuff to show you before I head out, so go refill your coffee/tea cup and get ready for lots of pictures.

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First off, let me give Chan and her Knight a HUGE “Thank you!” for the wonderful package they sent me from their trip on the Outer Banks.

Chan did a special blog post here about their trip to “Digger’s Dungeon”, the official Grave Digger Musuem. Note: If you’re not familiar with the name, it’s a monster truck that tours around the country doing shows and races and such. The boy-child discovered the world of monster trucks about a year ago and fell in love. He loves watching the little DVDs that came with his toy trucks (Hotwheels was selling a miniature version of the trucks and a little DVD packaged together for a while) and he’s been begging me to take him to a live show. Now that he’s older, we just might do that the next time they’re in town. ;-) Anyhow, Chan and her Knight vacation really close to Grave Digger’s musuem, so they went for a visit, picked up a t-shirt for the boy-child, and took tons of pictures for her special post. The boy-child loved it. I mean, he ate. it. up. He’s decided Chan and the Knight are the coolest. Also in the package was a mini tea set and recipe for the perfect tea party for the girl-child. Chan, she’s gonna love it! Heck, I love it. *big grin* Then there was a little gift for me that Chan had warned me that the Knight had picked out (she’s decided that we’re really siblings that were seperated at birth. LOL). Here’s what he sent me:

Isn’t that the best?!? I may have to sip my wine out of it whenever I watch Deadliest Catch (can’t really do shots on a weeknight.  LOL). And eat a few of the Raisenettes. And think of Chan and the Knight. I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

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I’m getting ready to do another Etsy update, most likely this coming Monday (the 28th). If you’d like a sneak peek at some of the things I’ve been working on, you can look here. The ones towards the top are the yarns from updates past, but the stuff towards the bottom is new. Not all of it will be going in the update, as some are custom orders, etc.., but it gives you an idea anyway. :-) 

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I picked up the coolest “Kitteh Kondo” at Wal-Mart the other day.  Check the new digs:

 The little blue cube on the left is the original one that all the cats love.  So when I saw the big pink one, I figured they’d be in kitty heaven.  lol  Plus, their little mats that they like to lay on fit inside perfectly.  As you can see, Stevie has already claimed her spot.  :-)  It was super easy to put together and cost about a 1/4 of the price of one of the big, heavy carpeted things.  This one can easily be picked up with one hand and vacuumed underneath, so a big A++ in my book.  Stevie’s too. 

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I’ve just about decided in all certainty that the Central Park Hoodie is most definitely going to be a vest.  I’m going to sew it up, work the button band around (minus the button holes…just wait, it’ll make sense when you see what I’m going to do), and finish the armholes.  I just can’t see putting arms on it when it’s rarely cold enough down here to warrant it.  So, vest it is.

Speaking of vests, I found another one that I’d like to do:

It’s called the Fraulein Zipper Vest from Knit Pick’s. I got the yarn (CotLin in “Lantana”) and pattern in today. Yippee! Have to finish the “Moth” (aka Mom’s Shawl) first. :-) Guess I need to work on that, don’t I?

Okay, off to have a little fun. Have a great weekend everybody!!!

 

1 down, 1 to go.

Behold, one Purl-Free Plum Tree Monkey:

I’m already about 2″ into the second one. I could knit a million of these suckers. Seriously, I may have found my “standard” pattern for socks. :-)

Thanks for all the compliments on the weekend dyepot! The roving was gobbled up by a good knitting/spinning friend that lives right down the road (we’re constantly enabling each other), so I’m getting an in-person view of how it’s spinning up. I’ve got a few more ideas that I’d like to try out on the next batch. Only 3 more pounds to go! I’m drowning in wool, but what a way to go. LOL

Oh, and check out the new t-shirt I got from Cafe Press:

Cass, I think you need one of these, too. ;-p The hubby has a ton of Star Wars t-shirts that he insists on wearing whenever we go anywhere, so I figure if he can wave his geek flag, so can I. lol

And before you go, head over to LapDogCreations and contribute to a wonderful cause. Time’s running out, though! Contest ends April 25th!

Weekend Dyepot

Is anybody else laying in bed, looking up at the celing, and wondering, “Crap…where did the weekend go?” Blech. I hate that feeling. But, at least it was a good weekend. The hubby was off at a Trooping Event all day Saturday, so that meant that I got to tear up the kitchen and play with the dyepot. I dyed up the last of the yarn and roving I had and made way for the 12 lbs. of fiber that is currently making it’s way here, courtesy of dear old USPS.

Maybe it was all the sunshine and pretty weather, but I found myself in a really orangey/yellow mood. Of course, after I ran out of those, I thought about all those pretty purples and greens I hadn’t played with in a while. So anyhow, here’s my Weekend Dyepot:

Not a bad way to spend the day while the hubby is off galavanting with his buddies. :-)

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There has been some progress on the Simple Shawl or, as I like to call it, “Mom’s Shawl”.

It kinda looks like a big brown moth in that picture. LOL I think I definitely made a good choice with the Dream In Color Smooshy. It’s a dream to knit with and the subtle colors are so pretty.

Well, I’m off to bed. Monday will be here before I know it. Blech.

 

Favorite shows, crazy cats, & April sock club

My favorite crab fishermen are back! Not to mention the fact that listening to Mike Rowe narrate anything makes me a happy girl. ;-) So, are there any other Deadliest Catch fans out there that were knittin’ and watchin’ Tuesday night?

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Thanks for all the wonderful compliments on the BSJ! To answer some questions, no, all that garter stitch didn’t drive me batwhacky. :-) Honestly, it kept my attention with the increases and decreases and wondering how in the world what I was making was going to magically transform into a jacket. That, and with yarn that bright, how could anybody be bored? Blind after a while, maybe. LOL

Also, yes, that was just one skein of STR Lightweight. I used size 4 needles and sock yarn, so I ended up with 0-6 month jacket. I definitely have enough left to do a pair of matching baby socks. Maybe not a hat, though.

I think the other question was about buttons. I actually found one of those grab bag of buttons today at Michael’s. It should have been labeled, “Kiddy Buttons”, since all the buttons in it were bright blues, yellows, pinks, etc.. Anyhow, huge grab bag, little bitty price. I’m sure I’ll find some that will work in there.

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I have been working on the shawl. I actually cast on for it while watching the first episode of Deadliest Catch. I’m loving it so far. In the beginning, all you’re doing is the basic/body of the shawl, which is nothing but lots of knitting and an increase thrown in here and there. Perfect for when I’ve got my eyes glued to the t.v. screen. lol Granted, once I get past all this and actually hit the lace border, I might have to find something else to knit on when the Captains are fishing.

Oh, and it seems that Stevie does not care for lace. Puss however…

Puss likes lace. Or rather, she likes the way the Dream In Color smells. I don’t know what they wash it in, but this last batch I got smelled divine! Anyhow, everytime I pull it out to work on it, Puss hops up next to me and squeezes her fat self under my arm so she can see what I’m doing. Silly cats.

Speaking of silly cats, I’ve noticed something strange about the last 3 mornings. I get out of bed, take two steps towards the hallway, and trip over a ball of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. Huh? Where’d that come from? It isn’t unraveled or chewed on. It’s just laying there. Now, I know for a fact that this yarn was previously inside an open progress bag upstairs. I went upstairs expecting to see all my yarn scattered across the floor, tangled, abused, and ruined during the kitty party I was imagining in my head. But, no. No yarn was out of place upstairs. Just the one carefully placed skein in the hallway that I had found. Hmmmm….

Three days in a row this has happened. Always the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, always from the same bag, always in the hallway, never chewed or unravelled. I’m tempted to set up a video camera and catch the culprit. Because, while I’d like to think that there really is a Yarn Fairy who delivers yarn to good little knitters, I have a strong suspicion that it’s one of the two furry felines cuddled up next to me right now. Sneaky little turds.

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I also got my first shipment from the Woolgirl Sock Club! Jen did another outstanding job putting it together. I wish I could tell you what all was in it, but I do know that a few people haven’t gotten there’s yet, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise for them. So, if you want to sneak a peek, click the Spoiler Button below.

All I can say is, “WOW!” So glad I decided to join in for another year of Woolgirl fun! :-)

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Also, I must tell you about the sweetest thing that the hubby did for me this weekend. A while back, he tried to build me a skein-winder. It worked, but he still had some ideas. Anyhow, this weekend he went down into the basement, sawed and hammered around down there for a while, and then came back up with this:

Isn’t it great??? I can do more than one skein at a time and best of all, it’s PVC so it’s practically indestructible and incredibly lightweight. I even got to try it out for the first time yesterday and it was soooo easy to turn and there wasn’t any worry about the yarn slipping off or anything.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, hun! :-)

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Other than the shawl, I’ve been working on something for a dear friend.
First, I dyed the roving:

Then, I spun the singles:

Then I plied it and gave it a bath:

And here it is…Mary’s Atlantis Paradise:

Now that it’s dry, it’ll be heading to sunny Las Vegas. Along with a few other things. (hint, hint, Mary)

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I think tomorrow/today I’m going to dye up some more roving. I really liked working with the BFL Superwash. Yummy stuff.  See y’all later!