I was spoiled!

Yay for spoilers! Thank you so much Honoria! Without further ado the package revealed!

The package and Bob's leg. :)

We opened the package and found a winter survival kit!

Evie helped me open my package. She really liked the paper. What a cute little helper. :)

The package in full. She got me a sock kit (Ravenclaw socks)! Candy Cane Green Tea, a wooden owl kit so I don't have to use the owls in the owlery anymore, a cute hat and fingerless mitts to keep me warm while I knit, a quick quills pen, and 4oz of yeti roving to spin! The yeti roving is so soft. I can't wait to try it out! It was an awesome package which I am so grateful for. Thank you so much Honoria you are awesome! :)

Close up of hat and fingerless mitts. Such a pretty color!

A Ravenclaw sock kit! Yay for Ravenclaw socks. I can't wait to start them.

Yeti Roving!!!! I am excited to use it. I'm not a consistent spinner yet but eventually I will be. This will help me get a little better and who doesn't want to spin Yeti fur? Its so hard to come by, lol. ;)

November is coming to a close

and quickly too. I can't believe how fast this month went by. Evie is going to be 7 months soon, yikes! As I promised there is a lot of knitting content and this post is picture heavy. :) (The post is all over the place because of how the pics uploaded, sorry.)

I love getting mail and lately I've been getting a lot, lol. Pictured above are some knitting goodies. The latest interweave knits and Cookie A's new book Knit Sock Love and I love knitting socks, lol. I can't wait to start on some. I haven't had a chance to cast on though because of all the christmas knitting, boo. Oh well christmas knitting can be fun.
I love pomegranates so I seeded 2 of them today, yum. I am going to take them to the Y with me either tomorrow or Tuesday and share in the yum (gorgeous) wealth. :)

J, Evie and I got our tree last night, yay! I'm so excited I love the smell and the look of a nicely lit tree. Christmas is so beautiful. :)
My Amaryllis Minerva bloomed yesterday. I'm so happy. It's beautiful. Hopefully I can get it to bloom a second time. This is my third Amaryllis and none of them have bloomed more than once, boo.
This is the sock I am knitting my brother for christmas. I hope he likes it. Its coming along nicely. Unfortunately its only the first and he has a size 13 foot (boo). Plus I need to knit a pair for my other brother who has equally large feet. Hopefully I can make quick work of this sock. It is a Cookie A pattern from her first book Sock Innovation called Sam.
These beautiful skeins were my one and only Black Friday purchase. I was not brave enough to fight the crowds for good deals. Plus other than more yarn what could I possibly need that badly? ;)
Finally these are my Mystery March Sock by Kristi Gerachi. I love them. My mom also loves them so if she still wants them (imperfections and all) I guess they will be hers. I love sharing my knitting but on rare occasions I actually keep some of it for myself, lol.

Thats about all thats happening here. I plan on taking Evie to see Santa either today or next weekend ( I think J wants to be there). My step-dads cross stitch stocking is coming along. I only started it 3 years ago? something like that. Anyway I might be able to finish it this year but if not whats one more year? I think we are going to Target today to get some christmas music and maybe a few more things. I like going to Target when there isn't anything to do and I want out of the house, lol. As far as the Leitmotif Cardigan goes its on hold for now. Its not a priority holiday knit. Hopefully I'll get it done while I can still wear it. I ordered the yarn for the Beagle sweater I am knitting for my step-dad. It hasn't shipped yet which is strange so I may need to call them on Monday to see whats going on. Anyway I am off to enjoy some more free time before Evie wakes from her nap. :)

Thanksgiving

We had an awesome Thanksgiving here. My friend dropped off her dog so she could fly to Cali. J made the turkey, stuffing, and yams. Evie and I played and had fun. I finished a pair of socks, yay (I needed those needles back, lol). We also went to a friends for some dessert and coffee. :) All in all it was a pretty full day. I love my family and am very grateful for them. I can't wait for Christmas so I can spend time with our families back in Ohio. :)

Next post will have more knitting content. Baby is crying, gotta run!

Ugh

and we cycle back to startitis. Well finishitis was bound to be short lived anyway. I started my Leitmotif Cardigan and have realized that my gauge must be way off so I am going to need to rip and restart...ugh. I got pretty far too so thats a little frustrating. Its not a hard pattern to get into though so I'm not too worried. I am setting it aside for now though b/c I can't look at it. It's making me angry, lol.

Instead my new plan is to take a sweater break and go back to socks. I wanted to make my brothers both a pair of socks for christmas anyway so I may as well start those. Maybe the Cardigan can be my travel project or something. I definitely need to do a gauge swatch though.... Other than all that the stash busting exercise is underway. My craft corner of the office will finally start to downsize hopefully. Not that I don't like having a nice little yarn collection but it looks really cluttered right now which is really annoying me. I don't generally buy yarn (except sock yarn) unless I have a pattern picked out for it. Otherwise it tends to sit in the basket unused....

Anyway I am off to cast on for some socks.

Blah weekend

Well this weekend kind of sucked. I taught my friday yoga class and then just chilled with my daughter all afternoon. We had dinner plans with friends to grab some sushi but that didn't happen. They bailed because they were tired and didn't want to go anywhere. We should have bailed too because I was exhausted and not feeling very well but we went anyway. I sat with my fussy 6 month old, staring like a zombie at my also tired husband. I woke up Saturday with a mild fever and vegged out all day on the couch with the kiddo. We were suppose to go to my friends farm for a bonfire and potluck dinner but by the time it was starting I was feeling worse. I tried to go to bed early but Evie was screaming and by then my fever had spiked to 103, yikes. So I laid in bed my skin felt like fire and my head was going to explode. I was having chills so I was snuggled under my blankets with a cold compress on my head and neck. J was trying to help with Evie but he had hw and other things to work on so he was just letting her exhaust herself on the living room floor. Apparently I can't sleep when I can hear her laughing or crying so I got up and fed her and put her down for the night. She woke again at 4:30am but by then I was feeling a lot better so J changed her diaper and brought her to bed so I could feed her. We slept in a bit which was good but I was still a little drained and dehydrated on sunday so I spent another day vegging out. My throat is still sore today but I am doing so much better than I was. Thankfully I don't have anything to worry about today. I'm going to go to the post office with my spoilees package and then to the grocery store (our fridge is pathetic plus I was craving cherry pie while I was sick...).

Finishitis?

Usually I have a serious case of startitis but my stash/WIP basket is threatening to take over my desk and my half of the office. So it must be stopped, lol.

These socks (Mystery March 2010 Socks) have been languishing for too long. I started them a really long time ago (March apparently). They are for my mom because she liked them when I was knitting them. I'm pretty far on them I just need to get past the heel flap and through the foot. So that shouldn't take too long. :)

These French Press Slippers were started as a stash buster. I had left over wool yarn that needed a project so I started them and never got to the second slipper. I just finished sewing this slipper together today.

My Vivian Cardigan (back view) I finished this cardigan last week and I LOVE it. I wear it all the time. Its comfortable and warm which makes me smile. :) I haven't even put in the zipper yet and I might not. I might just wear it without closure.

Vivian (front view)

Brattleboro (sp?) Hat. This hat is for my sister I knit it up in 2 days. I just need to buy some buttons and weave in the ends and its done. I really like it.

My Emmas. These socks were started before Evie was born. I took them to the hospital with me to work on. I of course never even took them out of the bag. Oh well they are FINALLY finished though and I really like them a lot.

Emmas together at last, lol. :)

Hopefully I get some of these projects wrapped up so I can start some more..... Next blog post I will write about my Leitmotif cardigan I started yesterday.

Is is really November?

It's a little hard to believe that November is here already. Evie will officially be 6 months on the 8th....yikes! I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, lol. She's rolling all over the place, putting EVERYTHING in her mouth. If she can touch it/grab it, it goes in the mouth, lol. I don't mind, actually I find it kind of entertaining. She cracks me up and makes me smile. I love her so much. ANYWAY enough talk about my little angel.

I have been busy busy with my knitting. I am on a finishing kick lately. I have been looking at all my WIP's and I am trying to make some sense of them. I have at least 2 socks OTN that need to be finished. I FINALLY finished my Emma's. I started them just before Evie was born and then I just never got around to finishing them but finish them I did last night. Yay! I started and am almost finished with a hat for my sister for Christmas. I'm not sure if I'm going to make another hat for my other sister yet. I kind of want to make a really cute cabled vest for her. It looks like it made with big yarn and needles so I should be able to finish it quickly. Oh Christmas knitting, so stressful sometimes but also so fun. I finished my Vivian cardigan, I just need to buy/add the zipper but that might not happen for a while. That hasn't stopped me from wearing it though, lol. I am going to cast on for another cardigan today. I also have a baby surprise jacket to make and a bunch of other stuff to do, blah, lol. I still have yet to make something for Evie. So that is definitely on my priority list. So much knitting so little time.... I'll add pics to my next post when I load them from my camera. Love, love, love getting some knitting off the needles. The yarn basket is a little out of control and definitely could use a little downsizing. :)

As for my spoilees package, its pretty much done. I might buy one or two more things and I actually have an idea of something else I would like to make for it, lol. Oh the never ending swap packages. I have to get it out of the house by the early send off date or I will just keep adding to it which I'm sure my husband will really appreciate, lol.

HW week 8

1. SPARSE VENUES
2. GO UNLOAD LOVE
3. A MOTH SEDAN
4. FLUSH CIGAR
5. SLICK AIRBUS
6. DUMB ANALOG
7. A DRY MOO-CALF
8. UNSNAP THE SKI
9. PIT-A-PAT RIVAL
10. AN OLD JEER

1. Severus Snape
2. Luna Lovegood
3. Dean Thomas
4. Argus Filch
5. Siruis Black
6. Ludo Bagman
7. Draco Malfoy
8. Stan Shunpike
9. Parvati Patil
10. Lee Jordan

3 Years

Well today is J and my wedding anniversary! Yay! Three years ago today we started our life together. Its been a great three years. Tonight our friend, Kaeli is coming over with her son Eli to watch Evie for us. So we can grab dinner. Eventually we will go for the couples massage but there was nothing open for us today. I feel bad about not walking the dog today but I just don't have time. Poor guy maybe after dinner when we get back I can give him some love and attention, lol. Its been a wonderful day. :)

Anyway I am off to get ready and hang out before Kaeli and Eli come. Evie is napping, yay. :)

Wedding Numbah 3

Well its time again to travel to Ohio. We leave thursday. Thankfully this time we are flying. So yet again we are going to a wedding. It seems insane to travel home for 3 wedding in 2months with a 5 month old but its what we do apparently. There were suppose to be 4 weddings but we decided to bail on one of them because that would mean back to back weddings. It just wasn't going to work.

Anyway. My spoilees package has slowed to a crawl. I need to make some stops at a few places to buy the filler stuff and needles. I have the other stuff mostly together. I need to finish making the handmade project but I am having a hard time stepping away from the Vivian Cardigan. The sleeves are attached and I am 2 rows away from the shoulders. I can't wait to finish it. I also need to buy a zipper. I've never put a zipper into a cardigan before so this will be a new experience. I really want it to be done so I can take it to Ohio with me to wear but I know this is not going to be the case. Still I can't help but try, lol.

For now I am off to finish getting the house together, the laundry cleaned and everything ready to leave tomorrow evening. I have to make sure the house is in good shape for my friend who has kindly offered to live here with the pooper and kitty until we get home. So nice of her and good for me because this house has needed some serious cleaning and I needed some serious motivation. :)

Week 5 Matching Game

1. Vine wood and Dragon Heartstring Hermione Granger
2. Walnut and Dragon Heartstring Bellatrix LeStrange
3. Hawthorn and Unicorn tail hair Draco Malfoy
4. Hornbeam and Dragon Heartstring Viktor Krum
5. Ash and Unicorn hair Cedric Diggory
6. Rosewood and Veela Hair Fleur Delacour
7. Elder and Thestral Hair Albus Dumbledore
8. Mahogany and an unknown core James Potter
9. Elm and Dragon Heartstring Lucius Malfoy
10. Cherry and Unicorn hair Mary Cattermole
11. Yew and Phoenix Feather Tom Riddle
12. Holly and Phoenix Feather Harry Potter
13. Willow and Unicorn Hair Ron Weasley

a. Ron Weasley b. Albus Dumbledore c. Mary Cattermole d. Viktor Krum e. Lucius Malfoy f. Harry Potter g. Cedric Diggory h. Tom Riddle i. Hermione Granger j. James Potter k. Belatrix Lestrange l. Fleur Delacour m. Draco Malfoy

Week 4 Quiz

1. Why does Harry accuse Remus Lupin of being a coward? He was leaving Teddy and Tonks to go adventuring
2. Who is R.A.B.? Sirius brother Regulo Arcturus Black
3. According to legend, what would a person become if he could assemble the Deathly Hallows? I think its death himself or something
4. What is Ariana Dumbledore rumored to be? squib
5. What is written on Harry’s parents’ gravestone? the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
6. Why does Krum want to fight Xenophilius Lovegood? he is wearing the mark of grindelwald
7. Why does Voldemort seek the Elder Wand? it is rumored to be the most powerful wand in existence and he wants something that can kill harry
8. Where did Dumbledore’s family live? godrics hollow
9. Whose eye does Harry see in his magic mirror shard? dumbledores brother aberforth
10. What item does Harry steal from Gringotts? hufflepuff cup
11. Where does Rita Skeeter get her information about Dumbledore? bathilda bagshot
12. What is inside the Snitch that Dumbledore leaves Harry? resurrection stone
13. Why does Dumbledore leave Ron a Deluminator? to help him find his way back
14. Why has Hermione not read The Tales of Beedle the Bard? she is muggle born
15. What is Dumbledore’s greatest regret? the death of his sister
16. Whose mail did Snape open? sirius' from lily
17. What form does Snape’s Patronus take? doe
18. Why can the Sword of Gryffindor destroy Horcruxes? it had aborsbed basilisk venom
19. What name is given to wizards who help Mudbloods? bloodtraitors
20. How do Harry and his friends enter the Ministry of Magic? polyjuice potion they take on the identities of ministry members
21. Who made Harry’s wand? ollivander

1. In what ways do the dead speak to the living in this book?

   Through the Mirror or Erisaid in book one. They don't really speak but they exist in the mirror. They also communicate when the wands connect. Harry sees the ghosts of his parents. At the end of book 7 when Harry is walking to his death, he is surrounded by his parents and their friends. The portraits also communicate with people. So in a way the dead live on forever in their pictures. Harry also has a conversation with Dumbledore at the end of the book in his head. The dead communicate in many ways.

Fun Game Assignment 3

1. Pumpkin Pie
2. Owl post
3. Leaf tree
4. Weasley twins
5. Quaffle quidditch
6. Hallow deathly
7. Mad eye
8. Dragon gringotts
9. Crystal ball
10. Trees forbidden forest
11. Hermione granger
12. Hogwarts school
13. Burrow ron
14. Dobby house elf
15. Horcrux voldemort
16. Ministry magic
17. Magic wand
18. Sirius uncle
19. Apple cider
20. Juice poly
21. Candle wax
22. Ghost nearly headless nick
23. Snake nagini
24. Wand elder
25. Invisibility cloak
26. Tent palace
27. Spell wingardium leviosa
28. Umbridge ugly
29. Dursely dudley
30. Prophet daily

That was fun and simple we need to do that more often. Off to take care of crying baby...yay, lol. :)

Busy Week

This week is going to be interesting. We are leaving for Ohio on wednesday for my sister-in-laws wedding. That should be fun. I'm not really looking forward to the car trip. Its going to be long especially with a 5 month old.

In the world of knitting we have some project progress. I am about 50% done with my spoilees present. Sorry no details until she gets it in the mail. My Vivian is coming along nicely but it won't be ready for our trip back home. I finished the body up to the sleeves and finished knitting the left sleeve yesterday. I like working on this project. It gives me a little break from my spoilees gift. Its very relaxing to knit. I hope to cast on for the right arm before we leave town. I'll probably even take it with me. Its nice to work on in the car. I still need to sew the buttons on my MIL's cardigan. I need to do that before we leave so I can wash it and give it to her this week. She likes it and it looks better on her than on me. Some how I managed to knit a more petite cardigan than I was hoping for but thats alright because I know she appreciates and will wear it.

I managed to find 2 dresses for the wedding (rehearsal dinner and wedding). I could not find a dress before my cousins wedding but I finally found 2 I really like. Its going to be interesting trying to breastfeed with a dress on but thats ok. I have such a hard time finding clothes that fit right now since I am breastfeeding. I am hoping the baby weight will start coming off a little more quickly. I am a little sick of trying to find clothes that fit right. Oh well what can you do.

October is just around the corner and I've bought some Halloween themed outfits for Evie. I really hope the weather starts cooling down some more so she can comfortably wear them. I love this time of year. Fall is amazing and beautiful. I can't wait to share this experience with her. She is definitely going trick or treating. I bought her a ladybug costume. So cute. :)

Yay for knitting!

Left Sleeve Vivian Cardigan

Main Body Vivian Cardigan

As you can see above I've been busily working on my Vivian Cardigan. The only modification I have made to this point is a different yarn. The Cascade Eco is coming out great and I love the color. I can't wait to finish. My hoped for finish date is before the first weekend in October. If I keep plugging along all should be fine. So fingers crossed. :)

Other than that I have been brainstorming ideas for my spoilees package and I think I have a good idea what I want to do. :) I just need to put the plan into action. First off I need to order yarn ASAP. The rest will begin to fall into place as I go. Little purchases here and there to make the package awesome.

For now I am off to work on my Vivian Cardigan and order some yarn while Evie naps. Shes so cute. :)

Evie got a jumper this weekend. She seems to really like it.

Finishing up Assignment 1 :)

1. Someone with the same craft as you: honoria beckett
2. Someone who was born in the same month as you: Phelia Ballycastle
3. Someone from a different country: lizzie wychwood
4. A new HSKS Family member: nicky lovely
5. Someone who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps: wisteria lovegood
6. Someone who has a bigger stash than you!: fleur sweeting
7. Someone who both knits and crochets: hermione bagnold
8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you: Delantrophy Griey
9. Someone who has the same favorite season/holiday as you: siobhan mooney
10. Someone who has the same favorite fiber as you: lavender diggory-dolohov

HSKS 12 week 1

So I am back as Minerva Wood for another round of the fabulous HSKS swap. I'm still waiting to see which family I get sorted into but until then I figured I would help people out by adding my answers to this weeks blog post questions. :)

1. Someone with the same craft as you (either those listed above or another one). knitting
2. Someone who was born in the same month as you. may
3. Someone from a different country. USA
4. A new HSKS Family member. this is my fourth hsks
5. Someone who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps. as i said above this will be my fourth
6. Someone who has a bigger stash than you! (And if your stash is the biggest, proudly say so! my stash is pretty tame
7. Someone who both knits and crochets. I can only crochet accents to my knitting
8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you. green and blue
9. Someone who has the same favorite season/holiday as you. halloween and christmas
10. Someone who has the same favorite fiber as you. i use a lot of merino wool but i do like cashmere and i love alpaca

I hope my answers have been helpful for everyone. I will post again with the answers I come up with later. :)

September already?

Where does the time go? Well my yoga training went well. Evie was great for J and we all survived 2 full days of mommy being absent. It was good for all of us. J got to see what a day in the life of a mom is like, Evie got a chance to miss me and I got to remember that its ok to leave even if I don't want to. As I said it was a good experience.

Evie went on her first car trip home to Ohio. It was a long drive there and back. It was a quick trip to celebrate my cousins wedding. It was a lot of fun. Evie got to meet my mom's family, all of her aunts and uncles and she got to spend some time with her grandparents. Next time we get to Columbus it will be for her aunt Jenna's wedding. So that should be a lot of fun. She will be 5 months then. She is growing so fast. She rolled over from her back to her stomach on tuesday. She has been doing it at least once a day since then. I can't believe she did it. I am so excited to see her crawl or even army crawl. I'm not particular. Shes just amazing. Her next great feat will hopefully be sleeping through the night. She's only done it once and we have not had a repeat performance since, boo. Oh well everything in its time. Its easy to say, hard to live.

Anyway I am off to work on my Vivian cardigan while she naps. Plus at some point I have to go in search of Ziggy's collar. He came home without it this morning, sneaky little kitty.

Ah the good life...

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen? Yeah I thought so, lol. I love my little girl and she is getting so big its crazy. I have to leave her for the first time for a whole day on Saturday and Sunday to go to a yoga training. I'm a little freaked out. I don't want to leave her. Not gonna lie I might cry. I'm sure J will be fine but its a whole new experience for all of us. So heres hoping it goes well. She turns 16 weeks on Saturday! eeek.

Ziggy got a kitty door about 2 weeks ago. He's still not sure about the whole thing. It's actually kind of funny to watch him stare at it, bat it and then finally go through it once he realizes we aren't going to open the door for him, lol. I hope he adjusts soon though.

This is my Icelandic Star cardigan. All it needs are a few buttons and a good washing and its done. It doesn't fit right now but once the baby weight is off and I am done breastfeeding it should all be good.

In other knitting news I am working on my Vivian cardigan. Hopefully I will send the other yarn back tomorrow. Its been a pain in the butt trying to remember to do what I need to, to ship the yarn back for a new color. I hope they still have the color I want so I don't have to choose a new one. Anyway the hubs is home and I am gonna go grab some food. More updates later, probably after this crazy weekend. :)

Is it fall yet?

I find myself impatiently asking this question during every unbearably hot day. Lately though the weather hasn't been too bad. A little warm but overall we have had several overcast days. I am just excited for the fall. All the warm clothes, the fires, camping and more reasons to knit, not that I need any. ;)

Evelyn is growing so much everyday its hard to believe. I love every crazy day with her. The teething sucks but she seems to be doing pretty well. I love her.

In knitting news. I got my yarn in for both of my new cardigans I would like to make. Unfortunately I don't really like one of the colors so I am going to send one cardigan worth of yarn back to switch it for another color. Oh well. I am almost done with the Icelandic Star cardigan. I just have to sew on the buttons and wash it once and its ready to wear. Too bad it doesn't fit around my chest right now. Oh well after I am done breastfeeding it shouldn't be a problem....I hope. Otherwise I will just find a new home for it. Its nice looking but I really liked the knitting part more so than the need to wear it. :) I'll post a picture later after I buy some buttons.

My car is a mess right now. It's not running and I am back to driving Betty again. J has been working on it for 2 nights now and has stayed up until midnight trying to figure out whats wrong with it. Boo. I hope he gets it running soon. We have so much traveling coming up and I figured we would take my car but its probably not going to work out that way.

Its been a busy day today. I went to my cycle class, grocery shopping. I have to teach tonight, go to a yoga meeting for this seminar and come home and crash. So I gotta get going because I need to leave for my class.

The Weekend....

It comes and goes but doesn't really seem all that different from the week days for me. Probably

because my full time job is raising Evie. Its still nice to have though because my husband is around and I love being able to spend time with him. So on to knitting content....

I finished the Sleepy Monkey Blanket for my friend who is having her baby later this month. :)

Evie modeled for me. :)

front

back

We went to a cookout tonight and had a good time eating and chatting. Evie did pretty well throughout up until the end when she was ready for bed as I am now. So I am headed to bed. :)

A break....

From the heat. Not from Evie, lol. Mother nature has finally decided to let up on this nasty heatwave we've been in. Its been cool or nice for at least 3 days now AND we've gotten some rain. We have really needed it too. My lawn is turning green again. It longer crunches when you walk on it. Going outside is no longer a horrible experience. Yay!

Today has been a pretty long day. As usual Evie needs to sleep and as usual she fights it. This has been the pattern all weekend and for the past 3 nights I have not slept well. I can't wait until she is 6 months and we are done breastfeeding and she is eating other things to keep her full. She needs to start sleeping through the night like yesterday. She also needs to be doing this in her own bed because I for one am sick of sharing. I don't sleep well and she does not share space well. Oh well its been 3 months so far so whats a few more right? What can I say I'm a sucker for that toothless grin. :)

I am suppose to pump everyday so I can save up a good supply for my weekend training at the end of the month. That way Justin can stay here and feed her while I'm gone. I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to meet this goal and that she continues to get a little easier everyday. Otherwise its going to be the longest weekend of J's life, lol.

As far as knitting goes I've done a couple rows on the baby blanket for baby bean. I am hoping that I get it done before he arrives. I'm pretty sure I will though. Unless she delivers way early I should be good.

I'm off we are going to Target and Starbucks. Maybe even the bookstore so I can get out of the house.

Wow its been a while....

So I had my baby girl, Evelyn Marie, on May 8th. She is beautiful and wonderful and also the main reason I haven't been on here in forever. I haven't accomplished as much knitting as I usually do since she's been born.

Currently I am finishing up a baby blanket for my friend who celebrated her baby shower yesterday. Yeah blanket not done but I have time, the baby hasn't arrived yet! ;) I am on the border so I am really close to finishing, yay! I love the way its coming out and will post pics as soon as she receives it because I don't want her to see it before it comes. :) I also have 3 pairs of lingering socks on the needles (yikes) and a sweater that I started way back when that really needs to be finished. Of course I have received the newest Interweave Knits in the mail and OF COURSE it would have a cardigan I REALLY want to make. I also have another cardigan from twist collective that I REALLY want to make. Alas they will have to wait as I practice self control so some other projects can get off the needles...like the cardigan I forgot to mention that I started last year....stupid startitis.... I'm afraid to look in my yarn basket I know there are other unfinished projects lingering...begging to be finished and in some cases even frogged....

Anyway aside from knitting or attempting too I am also getting back to my workout routine. Evie and I go to the gym everyday of the week. She hangs out with the child watch people and I workout trying to get back to my regular body. I think it would be going better if I could get my eating habits under control....lol. Oh well. I am hoping to at least be in better shape than I am for my level 3 yoga training at the end of august which is coming much faster than I anticipated. Oh well we will see what happens. Hopefully the training goes well and they let me pump while I'm there because I am still breastfeeding and hope to continue until she is 6 months. Its a lot of work but I think its worth it. I wouldn't trade that time for anything. :)

Wednesday we go to a dog training class. Bob is a good dog and listens pretty well but its always good to do something with him since we are so busy with the baby and its also good to keep training him. So Wednesday is the orientation where my friend Rick who runs the dog training place meets with the owners to see how they are (train the owners and then the dog, lol). Some of my yogi friends are going to be there so it will be lots of fun. So we are going to have our first baby sitter, our good friend Auntie Elyse is going to come and watch Evie. Depending on how it goes we may ask her to watch her for the duration of the class which I believe is 8 weeks. This will depend on Evie's cooperation. If Elyse is willing to keep watching her (ie. Evie didn't make her run screaming) it will make everything easier.

Well thats my boring update for now. Pictures to follow in my next blog. Knitting, baby etc. :)

Sock Madness Socks!

So I made it through round one of sock madness. We had to knit socks with an interesting construction. Pictured below the Simple Side to Side socks are knit flat and then grafted together. Then you need to pick up stitches for the cuff, heel and toe. The pattern was simple enough and created some really cool looking socks. The main issue is the lack of stretch. They will stretch in length but not in width. So of course they didn't work for my feet so my mother is acquiring a new pair of socks....again. If you hate grafting and picking up stitches these socks aren't for you. They are pretty fun to make if you have never knit socks in this style and they are great for all that wild yarn you have sitting in your stash though. The designer is working on updating the pattern to work with the fitting issues. So hopefully when its released to the general public people will have an easier time with fit. This is a competition though so socks aren't knit to necessarily fit everyone. I managed to make it to round 2 (at a much slower pace than I would have liked) but life gets in the way, travel, death and funerals. I'm just glad I finished them in time to move on.

Simple Side to Side Socks by Deborah Swift

Yarn: Yarn Love, Juliet in Robin Hood colorway

Needles: US Size 1 Circulars

This brings us to the round 2 socks which actually did fit. Cool Beans is a pretty colorwork pattern that drove everyone crazy, lol. I love how they look and I think its really cool we knit a pattern based on coffeebeans. The biggest complaint I heard was the gusset decrease went on forever, which I kind of agree but once I stopped looking at the gusset decreases and focused on the beans it went a lot faster, IMHO. It was a learning experience for most because many people had never done colorwork. I like colorwork, I haven't done many colorwork patterns but I do love colorwork. Once the errata came out for the heel and the toe problems were worked out it made the pattern a lot easier for people. Thankfully there were several finishers before me who figured out the pattern problems and posted fixes for them. I finished before the toe info came out but I'm sure its helped a lot of people. This pattern is the first time I have ever been asked to share my picture as one of the model pics for a pattern which is a huge honor, so thank you yarnyenta, you are awesome.

Pattern: Cool Beans By: Yarnyenta

Yarn: Knitpicks bare merino natural and zauberball (don't know the color)

Needles: US2 brittany dpns

I can't wait to see what they have in store for us for pattern three. I managed to make it to round three btw. So hopefully everyone knits their socks quickly so we can move on. I'm anxious to start especially with the baby's due date closing in. I want to see how far I can get. :)

Spoiled :)

First off some cute baby stuff from a wonderful friend. Baby Gap has some of the cutest outfits. I love them and she even bought a swimsuit. J and I were just talking about teaching the baby how to swim after she is born. Yay! Now I just have to cross my fingers that there were no mistakes made and we are actually having a girl because there are so many cute girl outfits now. She also got us The Giving Tree. I love this book, its so sweet and wonderful. I am so grateful I love all of it. :)

On to my next spoiling. This is from my coffee and yarn swap. I love it. She got me coffee from a local roaster, 2 skeins of lornas laces daffodil yarn, handmade magnetic chart keepers (so needed these), a little bag from the loopy ewe (awesome), a needle size measurer, stitch markers, homemade soap (it smells awesome), coffee toffee chocolate and a baby rattle for the baby. I love it all and can't wait to start using everything. The coffee smells amazing as does the soap and I can hear the chocolate calling my name. The yarn is awesome especially now that I am in the Sock Madness competition. I am going to need all the sock yarn I can get. :) Thank you so much for being so awesome.

Next post will be on sock madness, fun knitting stuff. :)

And then the olympics happened...

I was going to blog more and then the Olympics happened. So instead of sitting at my computer not blogging I was sitting in front of my t.v. trying to knit. I accomplished a lot less knitting than I had hoped. I managed to finish one pair of socks which I had to knit for my Sock Wars target. I sent those socks out and made my kill but the Baby Surprise Jacket was started but not finished. I had dreams of Olympic glory by finishing some WIP's but that also did not happen. I did manage to start a cross stitch blanket which I don't have any pictures of now but I will eventually. Its a cute little Winnie the Pooh design which may or may not be for my future child. Lets be honest here I am not so consistent with finishing cross stitch projects...or knitting projects....or projects in general but I try. I got a message from my Sock Wars assassin. She has mailed out my socks so my time is limited. I am hoping to get my SIP's in the mail before my death socks so I can at least work on them even if I don't get to finish them. I am waiting for Sock Madness to begin but in the meantime maybe I can get some of these WIP's out of the way. Too many lingering projects OTN.

I leave for home in about 2 weeks! Yay! The baby shower should be fun. I have another appt. before I leave so hopefully things are continuing on as they are and we are both healthy. :) The rest of this month will probably be dedicated to baby classes to prep for the little ones arrival. The baby room should get a coat of paint this weekend. The walls are all prepped they just need some paint. I think that about covers this update. Below are some visual goodies, enjoy.

My third and probably final kill for sock wars. The socks were soft but I had to start them from the beginning because no one had even made the skeins into balls.

My first start on the baby surprise jacket. I managed to lose my place in the knitting and had to start again. I just love the colors and am hopeful there will be enough yarn to finish it.

So much to post about

So today I signed up for Sock Madness 4. I'm pretty excited because I have never done it before and it looks a lot more intense than Sock Wars. Speaking of sock wars, I made my second kill on Saturday! Yay! My target has already sent her socks on to her target though, so somewhere along the line are my SIP's waiting to find their new owner, me. I might be able to get one more shot fired off before my assassin gets to me first. She is in Canada waiting to receive my socks so she can work on them. Hopefully Canada post works in my favor and take forever to deliver them, like they are known to do. :)

(socks I am working on until the new SIP's arrive)

(Second pair of death socks I sent to my second target, she liked them)

In other news, J and I went to Jacksonville, Fl on a little vacation. Well it was a little vacation for me, he was there for work. He had to present a paper he wrote so I tagged along and visited a friend in the area. She too is preggers but she is much closer to her due date than I am. She took me around and showed me some sites during the day and then at night J and I would hang out and eat dinner. It was fun and a nice break from the everyday but I did miss my pets and being in my regular routine. So it was good to get home. Our friends who watched Bob and Ziggy spoiled them rotten. We are fortunate to have people willing to love our pets as much as we do. :)

(one shot of our view from the hotel)

(another angle from our hotel room)

This weekend we tried a new restaurant out here called Five Guys. The food was good, it reminded me a little of a burger version of Penn Station back home. In other news we got some snow but not a lot and the rain melted a lot of it. Supposedly we are getting more this week..boo. I was ready for it to be spring because we weren't having any inclement weather out here but of course the second you resign yourself to a short season it inevitably lengthens.

We had some friends over for the super bowl on sunday. No one was really into a team in particular but we all had a great time. Eating and just hanging out talking. Lily came over to play with Bob and they had fun until Bob got cranky and didn't want to play anymore. He's such an old man. Ziggy wanted nothing to do with the new puppy in the house so we went off to nap on our bed.

Overall it was a great weekend. Tomorrow I have my next baby appt. Hopefully its routine and quick. Then the rest of this week I have a lot of yoga to teach because one of the teachers is out for the week. Most of it is gentle yoga though so thats good. Anyway I am off to get some stuff done. :)

SIP's!!!!

These are my socks in progress for sock wars 5. My target sent them out and I just got them in the mail today. I am soooo excited to work on them. Last sock wars I was taken out after one kill. I am hoping to possibly make two kills this time around. If not I'm going to get as far as I can with these socks. This is an accomplishment for me, living long enough to get SIP's. Yay! So I thought I would take a break from knitting for a minute to photograph them and update the blog.

This picture is my progress so far today. When I got the socks only the cuff was really done so I had to work from there and I am about 4" in. I have to make it to 7.5" by bedtime in order to start the heel flap tomorrow. :) You can kind of see in the edge of this picture the amount that was done on the sock when I received it.
Picture number two is of both skeins and my targets progress/my progress. She was probably doing two at a time on circulars but I don't know how to do that and I don't have size 1 circulars (shocking I know). So I am using my trusty dpns making one sock at a time.

The yarn is Regia Flusi Sock in colorway #1802. It's really pretty. The needles are brittany us1 dpns and the pattern is Jeckyll and Hyde.

I have updated so now I must return to my knitting. On to victory! :)

Updates and HOPEFULLY more posting

So I have been really bad about updating my blog. I want to try and update it more with knitting content and soon there will be baby content as well. I am about 6 months along now and can't wait for the baby to get here! :) I can wait I guess because we have stuff to finish up before it happens but I'm still excited for everything to unfold.

I don't have a new years resolution this year, not that I ever really set one. I like to try and better myself throughout the year rather than waiting for a magical time to start, Jan. 1st. I understand this works for people and gives them a jump start which is fine it just doesn't really work for me. Anyway I want to start using up my stash more instead of buying new yarn all the time. I have a bunch of idle projects sitting in my basket waiting to be finished and more yarn that fits in my basket. This is nice but it kind of drives me crazy because the organized side of my brain can't stand to see all the clutter. So I really want to work on that and maybe destash some yarns I am not using or that I don't think I will use.

As far as knitting goes. I am in Sock Wars 5. It's a sock knitting competition. You have a target and you are trying to knit them a pair of socks before your assassin knits you and pair and sends them out to you. I have managed to take out my target, yay, now I am just waiting for SIP's from her. I get her targets socks to finish and then send out. I feel a little bad taking her out because she was the youngest player in the competition, 9yrs old, and the usual age range is 20s and up. Her mom said she was ready to be done knitting the socks for her target though. So I sent her some yarn and her death socks so she could still knit socks but maybe in a pattern that was a little more interesting to her. Now I sit here waiting...please come soon SIP's I am so excited to work on a second pair. I only got to make 1 kill last year, I am shooting for 2 this time around. Ironically enough the woman I took out last year is my assassin this year, lol. Its an entertaining twist. She has known since the beginning of the war that I was her target but I just found out recently so we both had a good laugh about it. It was completely unintentional, pairing us up.

I am also doing ravelympics this year. So Feb 12th I get to cast on my baby surprise jacket and finish up a pair of socks during the Olympics. I hope I win a medal, lol! I might even work on a sweater I have OTN. My next major cast ons will probably be the sleeping monkeys blanket and vivian which is a gorgeous cabled cardigan that won't fit until the baby is out and I have lost some baby weight. Not looking forward to getting rid of baby weight but thats ok I'm sure if I keep up with yoga all will go back eventually, fingers crossed.

I am also hoping to make some progress on my spinning. I bought the book Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. It's been really informative so far. So I am pretty excited to try and use the techniques to improve my spindle skills.

I'm off for now. I might come back and edit in some pictures of knitting content. The sun has come out, it has stopped raining and I might actually get to take the dog to the park. :)