Bad Blogger no cookie!

Wow I have been a bad blogger this year! Never did get photos of the gifts I knit this Christmas. Oh well.

At the moment I have no new knitting started. I have been working on the 2 Neville sock (I knit the 1st this past summer). I think New Years calls for a new and just for me project. Time to stash dive for something to cast on tonight.

The kids had a great Christmas. Santa brought a bunch of board games and we have been enjoying them. Tonight I think its Clue and Sorry. Funny that my kids love these so much. I got the same thing when I was their age. Hubby has been teaching Bunky and Bobo to play chess. Pretty cute I must say.

I hope 2011 finds you and yours safe, well and happy! I will do my best to be a better blogger in 2011

start em young

That's Bunky and Bobo pulling the spike tape from Hubby's last show. We took them to strike and they had a blast peeling tape off the floor. They had a great time running around the theatre and chatting with the cast. Bunky has already asked when she can do a show with Daddy. How many Mom's have a 6 year old who says things like "didn't my Dad kill you?" to people they hardly know? By the way did I mention the fact that the kids sat through the first 3 acts of Julius Ceasar? Not bad for 10 and 6. Not bad at all...

My Blue Hevan

Done! Pattern is The Corrugator by Paula Smith. The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock med in My Blue Haven. Knit on a US 5 over 33 sts. I love it! This baby is mine. I made it to wear with my Saturday shirt at work. Used all but a tiny bit of the skein. Might not do another sock yarn scarf for a while this one took forever! In other knitting news I have cast on the 2nd sleeve on Mom's sweater. I should make some good progress today. I also finished up the last teacher gift this week so that's a load off right there. Next on the gift knitting list is Hubby's new hat. (He lost the one I made him last year.) and GAL's gift. She asked for a shawl. I think I have just the thing.

Time to cast on!

Wow I have really let the blog get away from me. Anyhoo, life has been chugging along here. I have not had as much knitting time but I have managed to finish a few gifts and the first sleeve of Moms sweater. As most of the knitting I have done is gifts I can't show you. Sorry.


In sad knitting news I had to rip out my Juno scarf. somehow I must have snagged it and broke the yarn, big mess, very sad. I don't want to talk about it.

In better news Hubby's show opens this week so next week I can make it to knitting! This has been a tough one. He got home at 2 this morning looking grim. They have a preview Wednesday night, open Thursday. It always comes together in the end, the magic of live theatre.

Better go cast on that 2nd sleeve.

See more stuff!

I was invited to a baby shower for someone from work so knit up 2 super soft baby washcloths out of some Knit Pick's Shine dk I had in stash. I need to give them a wash. I plan to wrap them up with some cute baby soap.

I dyed this up a few weeks ago I plan to keep this and knit a sweater for myself. The sun washed out the color a bit. It is really dark blue almost black in some places. I call it Tardis 10.yes I'm a dork. I love me the Doctor. I can't wait to knit this up after I finish Mom's sweater.

Here we have the grey socks. I really like them. The yarn is from Cascade. I think it is called Handpaints. It is a superwash merino nylon blend. Knits up very nicely.

In other news:

This is a very busy 2 weeks for us. 2 big events at the school and 2 birthdays. This weekend I will have 6 extra little girls here for a sleep over. I have a feeling it will be loud!

Hello again.

Sorry to be away for so long but as you can see I do have some knitting to show off. Here we have Monkey boy in a new hat. Knit from Bunkybobos worsted wool. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmermans gnomy hat from Knitters Almanac. I think it is super cute. Not sure who its for yet.

Below we have a new scarf for myself. Knit from Socks that Rock medium weight in My Blue Haven. Pattern is The Corrugator by Paula Smith. The close up shows the best color.

Back soonish with more.

Whats Up

So it has been a busy summer here! The kids have been off doing all kinds of fun stuff this summer. Monkey Boy did not like roller skating at all. "It hurts my butt Mommy" He did enjoy bowling and spending every Friday at the pool! Bunky has been busy with her friends. My boss had given my a gift card for a pedicure so I took Bunky to the nail place and got both our nails done. She giggled the whole time. She kept telling the lady that tickles but I am not sure if she understood. She was a very nice lady and Bunky was thrilled when she was done with her bright blue nails.

Phoebe is visiting this week. She is pretty happy with all the laps around here. She just waits around until someone is settled on the couch and pounces. She can be found as I type this snuggled up with MB getting her belly rubbed.

I have no new knitting to speak of. Just plugging away on stuff. I'm in one of those ruts where you feel like you are knitting all the time and getting nowhere fast. I really want to cast on my EZ birthday sweater. Fall and winter look a lot closer this side of August 1st! I can not wait for handknit sock weather!

return to normal

So the kids are back from their week of fun with Papaw and Grandma Susan. They had a great time. Bunky caught a trout and Bobo a little bluegill. Bunky even tried some of her fish for dinner. It is nice to have a few days of peace and quiet around here I feel better having them home. As a result I have not made much progress on Juno. I did manage to get Mom's Christmas sweater started (Mom knows all about this sweater so I can blog away about it.) Making good progress on the body, I broke one of my size 7 dpns so I will need to get a new set before moving on to the sleeves. It is another EZ seamless pullover. Mom asked for one when last winter when I made mine and the kids. I'd knit anything for my Mommy. Also otn is a plain sock. The kids and I have been going to the park so plain sock has seen a lot of knitting time lately. I have finished the heel/gusset/foot. Ready fro the toe. Yarn here is Cascades Heritage Handpaints. Not sure of the colorway number. The color in the picture is really good. This is a new to me yarn and I love it. Reminds me a lot of Shepard's Sock. 75%merino 25%nylon.

Today it became too hot outside to do anything but sit in the shade and moan. No park knitting this evening or this week from the looks of things. Might be less sock more sweater. Why do I always want to knit sweaters the the heat of summer? I blame Carin. She planted the idea in my head with her podcast Round the Twist.

Time to put the MK's to bed...

There are 32 days till the first day of school. Not that I'm counting or anything...

Catch up

I finished the first Neville sock. I really like the way it came out. The earthy red color I feel suits Neville perfectly.

While everyone was away I wound the wonderful yarn Carin brought me from Spring Fling. It is Swiss Mountain Sea Sock. Silk, merino and plant fiber. Very soft and look at that shine! I cast on this:

Juno Regina Stole by Miriam L Felton. So far so good. Something tells me this will otn for a while as I really have to pay attention to every stitch at this point. I do love it so.

Improv

Improv was my favorite acting class in college. Everything made up on the spot. Much more difficult than you might think but so fun. A great way to be creative. Same with this scarf. Just made it up as I went along. Fun!

Yarn is BunkyBobo's Superwash merino fingering weight. I gave up trying to get better photos of the color. We seem to have no sun when I have time off from work.

Father's Day

To my Daddy,

You taught me to be Strong, to treat people the way I would like to be treated, to stand up for what I believe in, to speak my mind and to love unconditionally. Thank you. I love you. Happy Father's day!

To my Hubby,
Thanks for being a great Dad. Thanks for loving me. I love you. Happy Father's day!

To my Grandpa's Dale and Frank. I miss you both. I tell my kids about you all the time. I love you. Happy Father's Day!

What a mess!

I am just so sick about this whole oil leak thing. What I want to know is what kind of Asshat drills a well like that without knowing how to shut it off? How greedy do you have to be to do something you know could cause great damage? When are we going to wake up to the fact that sooner or later we are going to have to learn to do with out oil? There is only so much out there folks. I don't think we can afford to destroy the oceans and other wild places to get it. Not if it means you can't swim or fish in the Gulf of Mexico for the next hundred years. You big oil boys thinking about that? or are you too busy counting your money? I wonder how you sleep at night?

Maybe I will keep this one

The Multnomah shawl again by Kate Flagg

I gave the last one I made to Grandma S at Easter. She really liked it so I took it off and handed it over. So I made myself a new one.

Yarn is 100% superwash merino fingering weight dyed by me.

Update

So I can not find the scarf I just showed you. I think/hope it is in the house somewhere. Bummer

Still not tons of knitting. Gonna start a plain sock for work knitting. I had to rip about 5 rounds of me Nevill socks due to chart failure on my part. Note to self. get row counter.

Speaking of work and knitting. A very sweet old lady came in yesterday to pick up her new glasses. Her daughter had brought her in. She was wearing a lovely hand knit sweater. I asked her about it and she said she had knit about 20 of them over her lifetime. I showed her my hand knit socks and made her day. She told me she can't knit much now due to hand issues. She misses it. Her daughter thanked me for being so nice to her Mom. Made my day too.

That's all for now. Carin is coming over for the Doctor, Amy, River Song and the Weeping Angles. Not to worry Shells. I'll bring you the dvd next knit night.

Mother's Day

I woke up this morning to find the kids had slept in and today was just like any other Sunday morning. Happy Mothers Day! We will all go to a cook out at the theatre after the show this afternoon. Should be fun.

My wish for this Mother's day is that all us Moms learn to embrace each other. We are all so different and can learn so much from each other. I have long felt we Women are harder on each other than we need to be. So on Mother's Day embrace your Mom and remember all the things you learned from her. Also embrace the other Moms you know and remember you have learned things from them too.

To Hubby, Bunky and Bobo, Thanks for making me a Mom. Every day with you is its own adventure. I love you.

Knitting!

Here is the dipped infinity scarf. It is blocking right now. If I ever knit another of these I would use fewer colors. Finished scarf in almost 9" wide.

I think this pattern is called Sockhead. Bunky asked for this hat so who am I to say no?

How Phoebe spent spring fling

I found a new friend while my Mom was off at the Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling! I have been spending a lot of time getting petted and spoiled by Monkey Boy here. MB feeds me and get me water, but best of all MB likes to give me treats. as you can see I am getting lots of hugs and lovin.

I love hugs!

We went for a little run this evening. I love running! I also tried to paw my way into Mom's car but the lady said Mom is not hiding in there so I came back inside for a belly rub and treat. Mom comes home tomorrow. I think I will miss my new friend Monkey Boy.
I know he will miss me.

Working Mom

Not been much knitting going on around here lately. Work is great and I am really enjoying it but it has cut way into my knitting time.

Working at this optical place is turning out to be a lot of fun for me. I like the clients and the Doc and S are great. I am eating better and taking better care of myself. Seems I may have forgotten that work can be rewarding and even fun if you are lucky enough to enjoy what you do. Who knew going back to work would make me feel so much better? I feel like a better Mom too. Pretty fair trade for a bit less knitting time.

However, I am not going to have tons of time for dyeing yarn so I am going to close the Etsy shop. At least for awhile. I just need that time for something else right now. I think next Saturday will be closing day. Get it while you can!

dipped infinity scarf

I have been obsessed with this pattern for a while now. I kept looking at other knitters finished scarves and just had to make one (or 4 you know me!). dipped infinity scarf by Laura Chau. Yarn is Knit Picks Palette.in :rainforest,teal,tidepool,calypso,whirlpool,marine,bluenote,and jay.. Pattern is well written and really easy to follow. Perfect for mindless knitting.

Pictures to follow

The Baby Cardi and cap for MMM. I sent these off with Mom.

Mom Dad and the kiddos. Bunky looks thrilled to death. We did have a great time with them here. The kids even raked the yard with Grandpa.

Monkey Boy really likes playing with Grandpa. They are good buddies.

All the news

Wow so much has happened around here in the last week I will just give you the rundown with photos to follow.

The show I am working on War Paint opens in 4 days. My stuff is ready to go. I feel good about it. Hubby is very good in this. If you get a chance go see it. It's a great show.

I finished my baby hat and sweater for MMM. Pictures to follow

Mom and Dad were here. We had a great visit. Pictures to follow.

We have a clutch of baby bunnies living in the brick box around our light post in the front yarn. We have not yet seen Momma Bunny but she would not be around during the day. We counted 4 babies. We are staying hands off until we know if Momma is coming back.

I start my new job in the morning.

I got daycare all taken care of for the rest of the school year and this summer.

Bunky and I got Hubby to watch Doctor Who so now thanks to my dear friend Carin we are all Doctor Who nuts. New series starts next Saturday here in the USA. 7:00 pm here.

JOB

so in case you miss the tweet I got offered an optical job today and I took it. I start Monday. This works out really well as my folks will be here this weekend and I tech the show this weekend. Funny how in one day my life has gotten very busy. I like busy. I'm good at busy. I'm happier when I am busy. I can't wait.
By the way this is a big nation wide company with a good reputation. The GM told me today that she has only had 2 people leave in the last 5 years and one of those came back. For those of you in the know this is nothing like the last company I went to work for. Right next to Sunday knitting meet up!

Possum Watch

Friday morning before I took the kids to school the dogs chased this little guy right up a tree in our backyard. Poor little possum was so scared he/she stayed up there all day. Bunky took this photo around 6:00pm. The teenagers in the park saw her and started throwing stuff at him. Hubby had to use the big voice to get them to stop. The kids kept an eye on him until 10:00 pm and he was still up there. He is gone this morning. The kids are glad he got away. MB was worried somebodies dog might get him. I told MB I was sure the little possum was digging in some trash can last night looking for his dinner.

Hermione's Strange Brew

Note the sunlight! These are Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder. Yarn is Socks that Rock med in Strange Brew. I love them! Pattern is super easy to modify. I used 54 st and a slip st heel.

Update

With the kids out of school this week I have not gotten much knitting done. I have also been busy with a lighting design for a new show at the Shelterbelt. This is my first design in about 4 years so I am enjoying it. I always love getting back to production work. It charges my creative batteries in a way nothing else does. Light is not an easy medium for an artist to work in. For one thing you need a space and lights and something to light. So I rarely pass up the chance. This show is NOT for the kiddies. I told the gals at knitnight they were welcome to come see it, However I also warned them: Hubby stars, and well I will just say that if you do see the show you will see all of him. (yes I mean all of him) so fair warning.

Now I am going to take the kids to the park and enjoy the sunshine. I hear we are going to get rain this weekend. Joy!

Lace scarf

So I finished the Falling Water scarf for my friend KG. I am pretty excited about how it came out. I can't wait to give this to her next month, I think she is going to love it.

More Socks

My friend Carin was knitting a great pair of socks at knit night this week. I liked them so much when I got home from knitting I printed the pattern, ripped out the scarf I had started and cast on a pair for myself.

Monster Chucks

Both made from sock yarn scraps in less than an hour. Too cute!

Ride around Sally

Plain socks in Socks that Rock lightweight. Colorway Mustang Sally. This has been my knit night/pick the kids up from school knitting. I love them. The color is more red than you see here.

For this pair I cast on 64 st, knit the ribbing and about 15 rows of leg then decreased to 60 for the rest on the sock. Guess what these socks don't fall down inside my boots!. Thanks to Carin for the yarn. Are you watching Round the Twist? You should be.

Look Ma! Lace!

This here is the Falling Water scarf. Knit in a new base yarn I have been playing with. Yes the color is right. I love the look of the orange but this is not a color I wear well. I think this is going to be a gift for my friend, the outgoing PTO president. The school colors are orange and black so this is the perfect thing. As for the new base yarn it has a very tight twist. The pattern really pops. I like it. I have some in the pot right now for a christmas gift I am planing.

Invaders from Space!

Here it is! My 2nd EZ yoke sweater of these Olympics. OK so it is 2 kid sweaters but still, Go Me! He is a little kid so this worked up super fast. He loves it. I did the neck bind off a little too tight. I will see if blocking helps. It is soaking now. MB is very excited. He hopes to wear it to a party tomorrow.

Olympic Update

So I have been madly knitting away at MB's Olympic sweater. I just did the first yoke decrease so I should finish up in time. He has decided it needs to be done in time for him to wear to a birthday party Saturday afternoon. He keeps saying things like "Mom don't you want to knit now?" and Mom the Olympics are on you need to knit!"

New colors

no name for this one yet

Beautiful Boy so named for a John Lennon song

Pinky so named for Pinky from Pinky and the Brain

Big Bang Burger Bar a revamp of a favorite of mine.

All but no name up in the shop now

Olympic Love Sweater

Here it is! Bunky's love sweater. Seen here unblocked. After the picture I gave it a good soak and laid it out to dry. Yarn is Valley yarns North Hampton in eggplant. After finishing this up over the weekend MB said I had to make him a sweater to so I have cast on a pullover for him. Halfway through the 2nd sleeve. Space Invaders for him. I think I can have it done by the end of the games. I think that's a Gold for me!

A curling note

After my last post both the Mens and Womens USA curilng teams have won. 2 for the Men and 1 for the Ladies.

Olympic Update

So I have the body and one sleeve knit for my Knitting Olympics sweater. I feel good about it. Pretty sure I can finish on time. The whole family has really been enjoying these Olympics. The kids loved the snowboarding and skiing events. Hubby and I have learned all about Curling. NBC ran a great ad that featured the last USA mens curling team that made it sound pretty cool. As it turns out it is a really interesting game to watch even if teams USA are not doing well.
We had a nice visit this week with Mil and LtCol. Ltc skis so I learned a lot about that sport I did not know before. We all agree that in a way the winter games are more fun to watch. In almost every event the risk of really hurting yourself is so high. Very exciting!
On a knitting note: I have seen so many knit hats and scarves and mittens I would love to make during the games. Has anyone else noticed that pom poms on the top of ski hats are back? LtCol loves the team USA moose hat. I think I know what he is getting for his birthday. The USA women's snowboarding halfpipe team had a great hat too.(I also really loved their snowsuits! I want that plaid jacket).

Purple Rain Socks

Socks that Rock mediumweight. color Purple Rain. 56 sts on 2.75mm. these knit up super fast. The dk weight yarn helps. I love them! Soft and smooshy.