Teaching

The owner of the newest LYS and my friend, has asked me to teach a crochet class this Saturday, I couldn't be more excited. Let me share what I'm teaching: Isn't that cute! The colors are great and the yarn worked up really easy but maybe I could have put the colors together in a different way. Putting colors together is definitely not one of my strong suits. Speaking of colors, my husband and I are going to be painting out house the end of May when we finally get to take a vacation (vacation as in we are taking time off from work to work at home). So we have been looking into different ideas of what colors we want to use. Lets say this, I'm better at matching colors than him. For example, I want to paint the master bath an olive or sage green so when we were talking about it Gary makes a suggestion to paint the trim black. Oh no not going to happen. While that bathroom is very large its not that large I would really like it to remain large in apperance. No not black trim. But he did have great ideas about the exterior, so I must give him a bit of credit. I will post pictures of what we come up with, hopefully it won't be that bad.

This past weekend was a hoot. My mom and I had a carport sale I say I but really it was all her. She did most of the work while I was running around with kids. I have to say it turned out really well and I am most grateful. The city had an event for Arbor Day at the local park . My daughter and I went for a bit and I bought a couple of plants that they had for sale and we walked around a bit just checking stuff out. One of the booths that was set up was a rehabilitation center for wild animals and they had a large owl with them to show. The owl had been injured and lost a wing so it could never be released back into the wild.

What a gorgeous creature. The owl really did not like it when the helicopter started to take off.

Yesterday was a lazy day of sorts. Gary didn't get in till early in the morning Sunday but I got up early Sunday and went to Walmart for dirt and tomato plants. I have this old wash tub that I got from an estate sale so I poked a couple of holes at the bottom and filled it with dirt. I planted 2 tomato plants and 2 pepper plants along with some small marigolds. Then I also have an old coal bucket that I put petunia's in. So then I also bought a couple of basil plants, chives, and more marigolds so I took a plastic tub and put holes in the bottom, filled it with dirt and planted them also. After that I sat on my back porch and ate breakfast. It was so nice just to sit back there with the dogs with a nice breeze blowing thru. So after all the yard work I went in and showered, ate some lunch and did some laundry. Tori and I went back in the bedroom to watch TV. So I finished the baby blanket for her teacher and worked on my socks. She fell asleep and took a great nap. I looked over and Dakota had stretched out on the chair next to the bed and was just snoozing away. I couldn't help myself I had to take a picture of him.

Is that not pitiful or what? I guess I should have been snoozing as well.

I completed a second fair isle hat Sunday. I still messed up on the pattern, just can't figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong on it. Apparently I can not count. The hat is still cute and I figure once I put the pom pom on it no one will notice the mess up. Not likely anyone will anyway and really who cares the kids that wear them won't they will be happy just to have them. I will get it right eventually but in the mean time I'm just going to have fun knitting its really not that serious of a sport....er hobby.

Ok lets see what else is up, I have started a pair of socks with some yarn I bought at Kathys shop. The colors are just beautiful. I will have to take a picture and post it in the next few days. I also have a baby blanket on a hook that I have to pick up some more yarn so that I can finish the one I started. And then I have another one that has to be done by the end of the month as well. All these new babies. I really want to start knitting the pattern of Kathys the felted bag. Last night I went thru my yarn looking for the right colors to use and I think I found what I want to use. Also, Raggie crochets baby girl dresses out of the crochet thread and I want to learn how to make them. When she comes home we are going to sit down and she said that she would teach me.

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First Fair Isle

Thursday night there was a sweet lady at the after hours knitting group who had just learned to knit fair isle. The process looked very interesting to me so I thought that I would attempt to teach myself how to do it. Yesterday was a very rainy day, it rained pert near all day long and it was a good day to sit and knit with my good friend Raggie. I sat with her while she crocheted and I knitted while we enjoyed each others company as well as some wonderful conversation that caused some tears and laughter. It's a good thing to be able to sit with a good friend and not be in a hurry. While there with her I taught myself to knit fair isle. The hat is not the best in the world but its my first and I'm just impressed that I was able to work two strands of yarn at the same time. Here's a picture of what I had done as of yesterday evening.

I think I messed up on the pattern somewhere but thats ok really since it was my first. I will do much better on the next one.

I finished it!! And as promised here is a picture of my daughter showing it off.


Thanks to Bron and to Deneen for helping me out with this one, you guys rock!!


You can see how small she is, I made that sweater the smallest size because she is so small.

I was wrong I was sick all weekend and still sick today. I made it to work but I'm miserable and would really like to be home on the couch not doing anything but crocheting the last sleeve. See Here is the unfinished sweater which I hope to be a finished sweater and my daughter showing it off this evening.
I actually took this picture at work with my camera phone so its not the greatest but will at least show it off for now. I promise to post a picture as soon as it is finished and I can get her to put it on.

Not allergies...

Ok so its not allergies I guess I have a plain ole cold. My head hurts, my sinius' are on fire, my ears are stopped up and my throat hurts, in fact I feel so bad I missed my daughters last soccer game of the season last night and didn't get to go to the knitting group last night. Tori made another goal last night and I missed it but I couldn't pick up my head off the couch to go see it.
I'm going to take some medication and go back to bed and maybe I will feel better and not be sick all weekend.

Allergies....so much fun

Up until the last couple of years I had never had allergies of any sort, now is a completly different story. Tuesday afternoon when I got off from work Gary and I went out back to cut the yard for the first time of the year. All the dead grass, dirt, pollen and whatever else was under all that caused some of the most sneezing I have done all year long. My nose is now running, my head hurts, I'm sneezing, and my throat is raw from the drainage. Yuk!!! It's all allergies! I took a Clariton this morning but its not touching it either, well I say its not but really it is. I'm also so sleepy. The dogs kept Gary and I up from about 3am to 4:30am. Sucks. Dakota was coughing (he's not sick he has allergies of the sinius' too and he hacks up well you really don't want to know) till he woke us up. I got up to let him out of the house and then to get some water. I got him settled down then London wouldn't come back in the house. I can't leave her out because she is a great escape artist, finally I got her in the house. Then Indigo started up cleaning his paws and one of the cats started scratching on the bed. I finally yelled out will you animals stop it and for some weird reason they actually did.
I took a half of day off today to get the front yard cut, now I'm feeling worse since I'm stubborn and couldn't wait until Gary got home. Tori has her last school soccer game this evening and I have to be there but gosh I need to go to bed and stay there.

Just another day

Gosh that title seems so glum. Not really feeling all that glum but in desperate need of a vacation from this place. I really shouldn't be bitching to much because I have gotten 2 raises in the last month and no I'm not that good they were just to put us where what we should have been making. See we didn't get a cost of living raise last year. Normally every year at budget time they would give us a percentage across the board for a cost of living raise but they were not able to last year so they made up for it now. I am very happy to have gotten it and have no complaint it will be much easier for my family now, but even still I need a vacation away from here, a solid week that I don't have to worry about here and I can work in my flower beds, knit or crochet or hang out with my kids somewhere. I do have a vacation coming up in May but geez that's May and the end of May at that. I really just need to hush because I'm lucky to even have a job and a good one at that.

On to fiber related things, I still haven't sewn the sleeves in that sweater I will eventually but I just don't want to right now. I'm still working on the other sweater and the Charles Tahki sweater as well. I'm having problems with the Tahki one and might need some help...**wink wink Deneen**. I'm following the pattern but somehow I think I'm not reading it correctly. I also received some wonderful wool yarn from a swap I did on Crochetville from my partner. All of it is wonderful and I can't wait to find something to use it for. Last week my daughter and I went to the new yarn shop in Hernando to sit and knit with the owner and some other wonderful ladies. I had so much fun and can't wait till tomorrow to get to go again. They are all so nice and so very interesting to talk to. Learning new stuff from them is going to be great!!

Die - T

Yea you know what a diet is, it is DIE with a T!! Garfield had it right the first time around. I'm not really dying I just know in order to loose this weight I have to control what I eat. Oh I can eat anything I please just as long as it comes to the number of calories that I have limited myself to. I'm not starving or hurting myself I'm eating well and making better choices and nor am I beating myself up when I screw up but a cheeseburger and fries sound like a dream right now. To be perfectly honest I will be not eating so well this weekend because we will be driving to/in South Carolina for the weekend which means road food and eating out a lot. I refuse to give up and will make the best choices possible while I'm on this trip but I know it w0uld be stupid for me to assume that I won't make a bad choice.
I have lost 13 lbs so far and have a long way to go but can do it no matter what. Gary has been a wonderful support partner in this. He knows how important it is to me to loose this extra poundage that I have put on and been to lazy to get my fat butt up and loose it. I found a great website that helps count calories, fat and the whole shabang for you all you do is enter in what you ate. I love this site and recommend it to anyone that wants to loose some extra. Its:

www.my-calorie-counter.com

Check it out if you want its pretty cool I think.

After I posted this morning, I went and got in the bed. I was freezing so I had sweat pants on, covered up with two quilts and still was cold. I didn't wake up till around 12:30 and decided I needed to get up. I ran a low grade fever for most of the day and my head is still pounding. Ahh the joys of feeling like crap. No matter what I have to go to work tomorrow even if I'm dying.

Monday Blues

I swear I feel like poop. I stayed home from work because my head was pounding and my nose stuffy but now...dum dum dum.....dum my throat hurts and I feel like warmed over poop. I know that was really a gross analogy but it is the truth. It's been a rather hard weekend to tell the truth. The man that married Gary and I, is dying. He has had heart conditions for a long time and has a pace maker. He had been in the hospital about 3 weeks ago and got out of bed, fell and broke his foot. They got that fixed up so about 2 weeks ago he got up out of bed, fell again this time breaking his hip. He had surgery week before last for that. But he is slowly going down hill. He's about unresponsive and they took him off his meds which they say was keeping him alive and have only given him about 4 days. He's 93 years old and his lived a good life. I have known this couple since I was 6 weeks old. Raggie was my babysitter from 6 weeks till about 12 years old so I spent my entire childhood with them. He was 86 in the picture with me on the day he married us. Oh and thats my shadow, Shelby he was about 4 there.

I have almost finished that sweater that I started weeks ago. I have to put the sleeves in then its pretty much done. I screwed up, when I bought the yarn I didn't check lot numbers (I know how stupid). When I bought it, the yarn had been intended for something else I guess that was about 2 years ago. Anyway, the color is a not a big difference but it is noticable. Everyone that has seen it thinks it looks cool because of the way the color changes so I guess its ok for my first. I have no plans to frog it because my daughter thinks its cool that way and she said she would wear it. I will post a picture later of it, after I get the sleeves in.

Same ole Same ole

Its the same ole song and dance around these parts. Work, school, cook, clean, let the dogs out, clean some more, drag the kids where ever, etc. The best part is when I actually get to sit down and knit or crochet which ever I have going at the time. But the rest of the drudgery is driving me nuts I love the cold weather, not the bitter cold but I like it cooler than the normal 102 degrees you get down here in the south, but it is starting to warm up which means I'm gearing up getting ready to work in my flower beds and create more flower beds but it is not quite warm enough and it probably is going to get cold again before its over with. So, I really can't start planting or working on the beds just yet so I'm basically still stuck in the house waiting for the day that I can get out and dig in the dirt. Oh speaking of digging in the dirt, I bought two huge, do you hear me huge seeds that will one day be an elephant ear plant. I really don't know if that isn't the correct term, maybe they are tubers or pods are something other than seeds but jeez Louise they are huge. My plan is to dig up the area around on the side of the house where my rose bushes are and plant these monsters close to the fence line. Then dig up around where the air conditioner units are and put down some pea gravel around the units to get rid of the weird weeds there. I want to dig around where the roses are and fill in with some good dirt and out line it with timbers or the stones that I have around the front. I also have to get the stones to finish the front and a truck load of dirt for that bed. Oh yea and the bird bath I am putting out there. I'm looking at all kinds of plants and flowers for that bed. I really want it to be bird and butterfly friendly as well. Then the other bed in the front has to have some work as well. Plus I want to dig up under the bay windows for an herb garden.

I'm still working on that sweater that I was working on the last time I posted. I am about half done on the last sleeve. I can tell you this I'm about tired of this sweater. I'm tired of the squeaky acrylic yarn, I'm tired of the color I'm just ready for this sweater to be done. And I'm sure hoping that it turns out OK for my first one. I'm using Lion Brand Jiffy to knit this one and it doesn't look bad and it doesn't feel bad but I hate the squeaking. I will post a picture as soon as it is done. Then I'm starting on the Tahki pattern for my daughter. I went to the LYS and bought the yarn needed for that one. But they were out of the soft yellow so she ordered it for me and is shipping it to me since I'm in MS. Very nice of them I can tell you. I wish I had more time to go and hang out at the yarn store when I'm in Memphis that would be great. I'm hoping when the new one opens down here I will get to go and hang out with other knitters.

OK will write more later when I have the chance maybe next time I can post a picture of the sweater.

February already

I can not believe it is February already, I mean dang wasn't yesterday Christmas? And why is it I can't I remember to write something in this place at least once a week? I know its been a month almost since I have even darkened the door of my blog don't know why, don't really have a good excuse. Maybe I will do better.

Ok on to what has been going on around these here parts. Lets see where to begin? We bought a new washer. Not any washer but GE Profile Harmony. I know they dang thang set us back a bit but we got it at a discounted price because it was dented on the back side. You can't see the dent and the dent does not affect the washers ability to wash clothes but we got it for about $250.00 less than retail. I swear the day we put it in the entire family including my mom stood around and watched it wash clothes. See it has a clear top so you can see what you are washing, it provided some very interesting entertainment for the family. I love the it and we are thinking on buying the dryer also if we can get it for discount as well.

I am knitting a sweater. Yes, I Carol the one who was so chicken to knit or crochet a sweater is actually doing it. I'm working on one of the sleeves right now. It is a dark blue and I am using a Lion Brand Yarn, Jiffy. That was the only yarn I had on hand in the amount that I needed to make the sweater. So far it is looking alright and so far it hasn't been to hard to follow. But I'm wondering which stich should I use when I get to the point of seaming it together. I guess I will figure it out when I get there. Also I have an Alpaca scarf on my other needles. Thats for when I get bored with working on the sweater. As soon as I finish this sweater I'm working on I have 3 that I want to work on. Lets see, 2 are knitting and one is crochet,

This one: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTthermal.html

This one: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=2050

And this one: http://www.tahkistacycharles.com/Patterns/patterns_detail.asp?CatID=16&ID=797&New=SP&pg=17

Plus I have a few baby blankets to work on. One of them I have to get to pretty quick because I think she is coming up due soon.

Monday I ended up in the doctors office because I was sure I was having a heart attack. Turned out to be possibly a hiatel hernia. They are not sure that is what it is but it sounded like it. I'm having problems with food feeling like it is stuck in my throat and I can't swallow sometimes. I wound up staying home that day because the doctor said I needed to relax so I stayed in the bed and rested. What I really need to do about it is get this weight off of me. Then I wouldn't have some of these problems I have.

The kids are doing great and I can't wait till I can post a picture of Cody on here all dressed up in his new suit. He looks so good.

Ok thats all I can think of at this point but I might write more later.

Whoo Hoo its the Flu!!

This weekend has been something else. Friday Cody stayed home from school running a fever, aches, pains, sore throat.....etc. I came home for lunch to check on him and we wound up going to the doctor to get him looked over. The doc said he had the flu and an middle ear infection and that was only the beginning. Saturday he was the fever had broke for him so I went running around for a bit doing some shopping and heading to the yarn store in Memphis. While I was out wallowing in all that wonderful yarn at the yarn store, my husband calls me and now he has the flu. His throat was hurting and was begining to run a fever. Now I have two with the flu. Gary ran a fever from Saturday to this morning. I had kept Shelby staying at my moms trying to avoid him catching it as well but that didn't work, they called me this morning and he had 101.2 fever this morning and as soon as I got off the phone with my mom Tori calls me from her friends house. Toris throat hurts and she is running fever. She will be the one that gets the sickest from it she always is. So far I haven't even had the first symptom but I'm having to stay home from work tomorrow to be with the youngest ones. We have court tomorrow but I can't help it my kids come first.

First FO's for 2007

I have finished one of Deneen's Bubble Blanket and a Sweater. I used the SLK pattern for most of the sweater but some of it I just added on. I had so much fun crocheting this for the couple I'm giving it to.

I am still working on a scarf that goes with a hat that I gave my coworker for Christmas. I wasn't able to get the scarf finished in time but I'm finishing it this weekend and giving it to her next week. Then I am going to make me a scarf. I haven't made myself anything since I started knitting or crocheting. So I bought myself some alpaca and I'm going to learn to cable by making me a scarf. Whoo Hoo!!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! My family wishes everyone a safe and prosperous new year. In other words we hope that ya'll are healthy and wealthy all year long.

I made my very first sweater today. It's a baby sweater Baby It's Cold Outside sweater. It was pretty easy to do. Since I had never made one before I thought this one would be easy enough to give a try for the first time. I don't think I quite did the the buttons right but it looks pretty good to me I think.

Done!!

I did it, I finally finished shopping! I didn't think it possible but it finally happened. Well, I finished running all over town buying stuff but I have 2 other things I'm waiting to come in the mail. They should have been here a couple of days ago but you know the US Mail service is rather slow. I just hope they get here tomorrow or it will be next week before they do. And one of mine that I bought myself, yes I bought myself something, hasn't gotten here either. But I'm sure that it will probably be here by Tuesday and that's fine. I bought myself another camera. I now will have 2 film camera's and a Digital. A Nikon and a Minolta 35 mm SLR and the Nikon CoolPix P4 digital. Now I'm looking at a Canon to go with the collection. I have to get the Nikon fixed which I'm going to do after Christmas. I thought I was going to be able to do it before but money ran short. But thats ok no problem, I will get it done very soon. I love the pictures the Nikon takes so I can't wait to see what the Minolta does.

I hope that everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Christmas pictures

The city had Breakfast with Santa last weekend and I took Tori and Shelby to see him. Yes I know the are a bit big for Santa but being a mom I wanted pictures again this year with him.

Shelby wondering if this was a good idea or Santa telling him to get off his knee because he is to dang big.

Tori hamming it up for the camera. And she does it so well.

Shelby decided he liked Santa.

Then there was Cody who wouldn't get out of bed that early to go with us, well he is 16 and God forbid he is seen sitting in Santa's lap. The world would come crashing in. So I made the boy stand in front of the tree at home and take his picture.

Cody making his mom happy by taking a picture not making a horrible face or wearing the dang earring.