Busy Weekend!

So the boys put in a new dishwasher this weekend. Is it wrong that I'm supremely happy about a new dishwasher? It's quiet and cleans dishes. Hooray! Anyway, I've also been working on a couple projects. I've finished the knitting on the Faux Cable Sweater for my friend, I just have to figure out how to put it together, which is not as straightforward as one might think.I also cast on the Girlfriend Shrug from Knit and Tonic. I'm not sure who the recipient is going to be. It sort of depends on how big it ends up. Heh. I'm using some Encore given to me by my friend Blogless Christie. I really like how it's knitting up. Girly and yet not TOO girly. :)

Hooray Stripey Felted Bag

Dad sent me a picture of the Stripey Felted Bag. I'm so happy Mom likes it! They also sent a picture of a view from their backyard. Pretty cool eh?

What I learned while knitting the Tomato...

Thanks for all the nice comments on my Tomato! I'm very excited about it. Wear it all the time. Heh. I meant to blog about this before, but this pattern was the most accurate pattern I've ever knitted. Even the number of stitches to pick up around the neck was what she said they were going to be. That never happens. I always worry when the model is wearing the size small and I have to make the XL if the math is going to work out. And in this case, it did! Hooray Tomato! I had toyed with doing the darts from Knitting Daily but happily the Purple Princess talked me out of it and I'm so glad! As I mentioned before, I used a million balls of Mission Falls cotton and had to size down the needles to get gauge. One good thing about knitting the Faux Cable Sweater is I finally get a break from size 6 needles. It seems like all my projects of late have been on 6's.

I also finished my Mom's birthday present and forgot to take a picture before I sent it out. I'm not saying what it was since she reads the blog, but she's under orders to take a picture when it gets there. :)

Contest Results!

And the winner of the Knit Picks Dancing is.....

Prairie Mama Kim! Please email me at nicstagATyahooDOTcom with where to send it!

And since the boy wanted to help too...

Creative Process' Claudia gets some Knit Picks Simple Stripes!

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! I still haven't decided what to make yet! I really like the idea of making some little gloves as Christmas gifts but I also like the idea of a lacey scarf!

Today I took my 40 percent off coupon over to Joann's and found this:

The animals are so cute! Click the picture to check it out over at Amazon. I will admit all these toy recalls are making me think I should knit all the toy gifts this year. Heh. At least I know the sheep aren't tainted with lead. Hopefully.

Busy Busy Day

Visited my sister today and we bravely took the little ones to Chuck E Cheese. Week day visits are really pretty fun. It's not very crowded and the kids had a great time. With an online coupon it cost a total of 20 bucks for 5 of us to eat plus tokens. Split in half, that's less than it costs to eat at McDonalds.

This is the car I parked next to at my sister's place. It's hard to tell in the picture but twine is tied to both windshield wipers and strung through the windows so that you pull the string to use them. For some reason this struck me funny.

Tonight L says to me, Mom I want to be a cow girl when I grow up. This is a girl who has only ridden Shetland ponies and can't stand the smell of her brother's diapers much less animal poop. Then she points to her inspiration. Oh! A cheerleader! Cowgirl, cheerleader. You know. Whatever.

Lastly, I'll probably pick winners for my 100th post contest on Monday, so get those weekend ideas in!

In Honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day

My pirate name is:

Dirty Ethel Bonney

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

100th Post Contest!

I just realized that my tiny little post the other day was my 100th post! Have I really posted that much? What a lame 100th post. So anyway, it seems appropriate that to celebrate 100 posts, I have a contest. Recently, I acquired (ok. Scrounged out of the orphan basket) 8 44 yard skeins of Silky Cashmere by Elsebeth Lavold. It's lovely stuff but I'm at a loss as to what to do with it. I need suggestions! I need the vast knitting knowledge of patterns that many of you bloggers hold! I need to know how many people actually read my blog! Oh wait. Not really. Anyway, from those suggestions, I will randomly have my 2 year or 4 year old (depending on who's most cooperative) pick out a winner. And what shall they receive Vanna? Two balls of Knitpicks Dancing sock yarn! (Hey. It could've been a bunch of Fun Fur. No really. I have heaps from a dollar sale at Big Lots when I first started knitting.)

(Seriously, if anybody wants that fun fur, let me know. Heh.)

Hooray sweaters!

So the only up side to DD's bout with pink eye (woo.) is that I had time to be a knitting machine! Here they are!

The purple one is a Trendsetter pattern made with ScoubiDu for a good friend of mine's baby to be!


The blue one is a Debbie Bliss from Cotton for All Seasons. I used Plymouth Encore.


Lastly, is my Tomato! I used Mission Falls Cotton instead of the Blue Sky Alpaca and I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'll take a picture of it worn soon.


So here's a question. J's Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs have an option where you can play it continuously over and over. Why on earth would I ever want to do that? Seriously.

So close...

I'm so close to actually having some FO's so no blogging till I'm done! Whew.

I am sad. :(

Today I learned that Madeleine L'Engle died. I adore her books. I have all my life. One of my earliest reading memories is reading A Wrinkle in Time in the bedroom that I shared with my sister. I remember being so engrossed in the book that I didn't want to play, eat, or even watch TV. I probably read that book at least a hundred times and as recently as a year ago. I've read pretty much most of what she's written, including some of her autobiographical and religious essays, but I have to admit my favorites are still her fiction. When I was in the eighth grade, we had an assignment to write our favorite author and she wrote me back! Not a form letter, but a real honest letter, just like one my grandmother would have written me, telling me about her day and her dogs and how nice it was to hear from a young person who also liked to write. I'm still a little teary. I might be that way today.