A week! It's been a week?

Let's see, an update?

We delivered newspapers for the last time on Thursday. Thankfully. I'm glad, so very glad it's done, but at the same time, I'll have to think of something else to use as exercise that's productive, too.

Friday, everyone was home. Hub helped decorate Sons of the American Revolution graves while Fry and I vegged. Saturday and Sunday, more vegging with some yardwork, housecleaning, and knitting thrown in. Hub took Fry swimming a couple of times, while I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Hubs did the Liberty Memorial ceremony dressed in his Union army costume. Fry and I didn't go because of the crowds. After he was home and showered, we watched every newscast with an eagle eye to see if he'd been caught on film, but no. One of his Sons of the American Revolution guys was, though.

What does THAT have to do with anything? Not a lot. But growing up in a town of 3000-5000 people, seeing someone you recognize on TV(!) is still pretty cool.


First picture, my dye efforts. They may look ok, but they're mostly crap. The red is an over dye, while the others are supposed to be more grey than purple. They light black turned to purple instead of grey. Sigh. If I EVER get my Knit Picks order, I'll be able to test dye some more, with real grey. Scout, Dave, and Laura make it look so easy...











The mohair and lace weights turned out much better. The teal laceweight is for another Seascapes shawl. Then, the yellow is for the Summer in Kansas Shawl. Those turned out great, with subtle color shadings. Also in the pic is little Goopa's socks. Because of the stretch of Cascade fixation, they fit my fat feet wonderfully, so her finely boned feet will be happy in them. I'm an inch into the heel of the second. If I ignore everything today, I can be done with the sock today.






Look what I did yesterday! The lure of this is that it's supposed to take 5 hours to do. I'll admit, it took me 7, but! I fixed dinner, put away some laundry, vacuumed the first floor, and did a couple sinks of dishes in the meantime. I could tell you why the Kirby was clogged, but you don't really want to know. Isn't it funny how in life, you remember everything you want to forget and forget everything you need to remember?

Do we want to talk about the Watermelon shawl? We could, if there were anything done on it. Mary speculated one week in knit group that I'd be breaking the yarn to get to the green rind faster. She is allllmost right. I'm trying very hard to resist...

Why did I do the vest instead of the current works in progress? The green was just sitting there in the living room, plus, I'd had this pattern to do since 2002. You should see what's on tap for August's purple knit. It was the first 'real' knit purchase after the beginning sweater I did.

Oh, back to Mom. She'll protest, saying I need to keep this for myself, or for Fry, who didn't want to take it off while I had her try it on. I needed a mannequin to hold the sweater's shape while I blocked it. Fry is not getting it. I made the vest for Mom, in her fave color. There's already a sweater in the queue for the kid, so don't feel too bad for her. ;)

June's Project Spectrum is going to be tough. I didn't realize until yeterday just how little blue I have. It's not my favorite color, so I'll either have to be creative or go shopping.

Although...I DO have Socks that Rock in Pebble Beach. It's a little blue-ish.

We'll see.

Progress, we don't need no stinkin' progress

Oh, all right. For all you yarnies out there who live to see other knits in progress...

The ever growing Watermelon shawl. The knit group loved it. Yay! When I'm done, or maybe even before, I'll post a pattern. The only bad thing is I have no idea how much yarn I'm using. Eeek. Mary, who is adorable, caught me trying to peel back the layers on the ball o yarn for this, so I rewound it during my soaps. Ha!

Then, for the beloved little Goopa (baby sister), there's some progress on the green sock. Not much, for some reason Cascade's Fixation is a slow-mo for me. I'm thinking it's because I'm fighting the urge to pull tight and it's a stretchy yarn.






Well, that's the May Greens so far. What else am I doing? As of June 1st, I'm in the Trekking Knit a Long, provided I see something that I'm 'in'. I have some lovely Trekking XXL and an entrelac sock pattern I'm dying to try.

Whew! The phone rang, Fry needed lunch money, I went there, then Kmart for flowers, talked to Mom, took Fry to Sonic, and now am at home. Good times, good times.

Who am I and what am I doing here?

Innnnteresting title, huh? Interesting in a "Gosh! That's stupid!" sort of way.

Anyway...

This is me:

You scored as Combat Infantry. You're a combat infantry soldier,a grunt, a dogface, a footslogger. While some say you're common, you're a really a disciplined person who realizes the importantce of working in a team, and in reality you and your comrades get most of the work done. This country needs more people like you. You're a brave, selfless person. And I salute you.

TEN-HUT!!!
Combat Infantry

75% Special Ops
69% Support Gunner
56% Medic
50% Officer
50% Engineer
44% Artillery/Armor
44% Civilian


And this is Hubs:

You scored as Engineer. Military Engineer. Your job is usually overlooked, but without you nothing gets done. While you sometimes annoyed at this, and you know the only time people come to you is when there's something wrong. You understand that you are the heart and soul of any organization with honesty and nice work ethic to boot.

"I need more Duct Tape!!!"
94% Engineer
94% Combat Infantry
94% Medic
75% Support Gunner
69% Special Ops
56% Officer
44% Civilian
25% Artillery/Armor
Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

In case you hadn't noticed, the people who write quizzes for QuizFarm can be grammatically challenged sometimes. I've edited some, but don't have the attention span to fix it all. In real life, I'm the civilian and he's the officer. Obviously, not all civilians are pacifists and not all officers take a hands-off approach to leadership.

"Everything is so GREEEEN"

See? I really am at the rind of the Watermelon Shawl. I've knit so much on it during the first of the week, my left index finger is bothering me. Did working on something else, like little Goopa's seafoam green socks help? Nope. Still hurts. So, there's some mohair I've dyed in the picture. It's in the bag for today's Sit and Knit activity.

What's not in the bag is the brown bag. It's a do-over. Why? Because it's mindlessly dull. Round and round, and that's it. I'm thinking entrelac, cables, something else. I'm ripping out and redoing since I do like working with Knitpick's Wool of the Andes. I'd still like something felted out of the deal.

Roses blooming, grass growing, bunnies hopping, and kid playing. Yep, everything is status quo around here.

Green at last!

Finally! I'm to the rind on the Watermelon shawl. There's only about two rows of it to show, so I'll scan it in when there's something substantial.

In the meantime, the knit group has been chatting about socks so much, I'm going to have to start a pair. I have Socks, Socks, Socks and am dying to try something from there.

Ug. Today is newspaper day. Fry handed in her notice at the paper office, so the 25th is her last delivery day, thank goodness. I liked the exercise from walking around the neighborhood, and heaven knows I needed it. But. I think I'm going to like not having the Thursday obligation.

Now, back to avoiding mowing my lawn. ;)

Wooooooo! Woooooooo!

PARTY! PARTY!


Whew! I've not had to fix a meal for myself in how many days? What, this is Tuesday? Pizza Hut on Fryday, pancakes breakfast on Saturday, then Jose' Pepper's for lunch the same day, Sunday was the Olive Garden, and finally, da da daaaaaaaaa: The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday on Monday. Oh yeah. Thai lettuce wraps and a Tiramisu cheesecake on the plates. Toppa got me a killer cool vase and candle holder set. Gorgeous and great for showing off my roses cut from the yard. All my parents, inlaws and genetic, have or are sending money, which I'm spending as fast as I can. ;)

What? Spending? Yes! A yarn store nearby (the one in Liberty, kids), has a section of yarn on sale for 50% off. I found a lot of Trendsetter's Vintage, half off. Lovely stuff. It'll make a fantastic feeling sweater that's mine all mine.

The weekend was a blast. Time with Toppa, the SSK group, hanging out with Fry, the surprise dinner at Olive Garden, all of it was a great Mother's Day/Birthday weekend.

Today, I 'got' to go to the DMV. I take nothing for granted and brought my birth certificate (actually, two of them, one with my footprints, one without), our marriage license, and my social security card. The little guy at the bank seemed surprised when I said the marriage license in our lock box was invalid as a legal document. No state seal. Yes, it's a copy, but not legal. I think he wasn't sure about my statement, but oh well. He'll learn...


Blah blah blah, but what about the pictures???? Ok.
Here are the works in progress. Still no green, darn it all, but... the Watermelon shawl is getting ever closer to the green rind. There's even some green peeking out from between the reds. Yay!!! The brown bag to felt is monotonous, cool during new episodes of whatever tv show I love.

Sigh. I took a break on Sunday and Monday. Sadly, the housecleaning was neglected. The dishes, they call me...

This entry brought to you by the word 'but' and the punctuation '...'.

A Bleh Week

Boy! This is turning out to be a week of bed time and drugs, but not in a good way. Between a barfing kid for two days, a sick hubby, and my migraines, it's amazing how much medicine has gone down.

Dad loves his socks! They fit perfectly and he loves thick wool socks. I've got his foot size down cold, it seems, so he needs more for Father's day, don't you think? Not so much the novelty socks, but something a little more wearable.

Alas, the Sponges' noses DID spark some phallic comments among friends and family. Especially from the ones voted "Least Likely to Crack a Rude Joke Just Because It's Funny." Too funny!

My poor sick hubby is coming home early to help out with the paper route, because of my headache. The Midrin is taking effect, so I'll probably bag the papers before he gets home. Fry really needs to do this herself, since she's completely healed from her tummy ordeal.

I so need to start on something green. I have the yarn picked out and in the bag to do, but obviously haven't started. The Watermelon shawl is going great, even if I've not done anything since these headaches started. Looks the same, there's just more of it. The felted bag is going great, since it's round and round for forever.

Dishes, rolling newspapers, jotting down dinner instructions, then naptime. I know, but the meds have sedatives in them that knock me out.

P.S. I LOVE my birthday card, Chelle! You are TOO sweet. :)

Budget Hangover

Oooo, give me an aspirin, I spent way too much.

But I NEEDED it. Maybe not 12 balls of the Rowan Yorkshire tweed DK, Frolic and Revel. Seven balls of one, five of the other. Counting is bad today, it's been a month since my last migraine and I'm right on schedule. Fry is also very under the weather and over the commode. Yechhh.

Tangents. Not just for breakfast or math.

Anyway, back to the budget overload. Fryday, the child and I went to Borders where I bought Wendy's new book, and a book from the Yarn Harlot. Fingers crossed that Wendy does an entire book on shawls she's created. She didn't include enough of her original patterns in there, but then, if she'd left even one out, the amount of patterns wouldn't have been enough.

Doesn't make sense, does it? I'll be embarrassed about my lack of logic or coherence once the Relpax kicks in.

I want to read both books this instant, but, there's a stack of patterns from Drops to sort through. Knitwit's owner, Jan, whom I adore, wanted everyone to take as many as possible, all free. I obliged, grabbing up one of everything I wanted. No ponchos allowed.

Between the Heartland nursery and Comanche Acres, the budget again took a hit. But we NEEDED a new pump. I took apart the old one, and it would run a little, then quit again. The motor was burned out, so a new one. The flowing water will keep the mosquitoes at bay. The owners of Comanche Acres know me by sight and I always get a discount on pond supplies. Plus, the irises are not to be believed. Sigh. I don't have enough yard for what I want.

Fry is ill again, so I need to run up there and make sure she's ok. Poor baby.

Camie-I see you! Thanks for stopping by!!
Maenwyn-Too late! Been there, bought that.
Chelle-You're welcome! I'm glad your daughter had fun with it. How soon will we see the vanilla sweater? ;)

Tomorrow, Mary's comment on the Spongebob socks (too funny!!), avoiding reporting my current weight, and Works In Progress(WIP) progress.

It's later baby, later:
Now I'M feeling ill and Fry is feeling better.

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Yet another Fry Day

There's a sale this Saturday at Knitwit in Olathe. I'm so wanting to drive down there this minute and recon the yarns in the clearance area. If it weren't for the fact that the place is 37 miles from here, the recon would be a done deal already. So, my plans for tomorrow are, Knitwit at 9am, then a wonderful plant nursery near Lee's Summit, then the Sit, Sip, and Knit in the afternoon. Fry and Hubs have their day planned, too, so it's a total Laura day. Cool, huh?


Today, we look at Knitpicks's Butterfly and Twist, knit into a lovely-if-you-like-orange garter stitch scarf. Also included is the beginnings of what will be a felted bag made from Wool of the Andes.


Now, onto Butterfly Kisses and Twist. With both together, they're not bad to knit with, if you don't mind orange. Both are very novelty and the eyelash is every bit as good as any other in your local yarn store. I actually prefer it over any of the fur yarns. Not so much easier to knit with as the fuzzy is more subtle. The scarf is very nice and soft, but I have to say, I should have done something else. The yarns stranded together are easy enough to work that garter stitch is a bore. It's a very good project for beginners, but horrible for anyone beyond that.


Often while working this, I wondered what if I'd chosen this instead:


I'm not a fiend for purple, but these are too pretty to resist. I'll also recommend two balls of Twist and one, maybe two of Butterfly Kisses.





Moussaoui: Mr Angry speaks of this so much more eloquently than I. A virginal prison bitch. A bugger and punk in the truest sense of the words. Couldn't have happened to a nicer man. Mr. Angry IS right. 72 male virgins just don't hold any appeal for us girls. 72 men to coerce and train into doing anything? No thanks!


Oh both Fry and I are pooped from the newspaper route of yesterday. She's home today, early, and wants to go to the book store to hang out. We can do that! I'd like to run there, then grocery shop, then be back to unload and change out for us to exercise at 5:30. Fry and I worked out on Wednesday to Total Body Sculpt and she did great!!! I'm very proud of her. No whining, and just a little pooping out during the abs work. She takes after me in the weak abs department. Ah well.

Spongy Goodness

Done! Be kind. I know, I know, they're o.k., but not OMG. Ah well. Spongebob is not THE easiest thing to knit.

I'll post later if something more exciting than cleaning house happens. Ha!

Hug an Illegal Alien Day.

Note: It's obvious I'm going to have to look up differences in immigrant/emmigrant and the various spellings. I'm postive there are errors in the below, and if it weren't dinner time, they'd be fixed already. Something fun for later.


Crime comes in varying degrees. That is why shoplifting is NOT a capital offense. I think it's wonderful that America is a land of opportunity for the oppressed. However, it is NOT fair for some immigrants follow the law while others don't have to. What is the point of having immigration laws if they're not enforced? I feel for the people over here who have dealt with the arduous process of naturalization and green card bureaucracy. Are they stupid for following the law? Makes a person wonder. Why are we singling out those from Mexico? I'm sure there's more of them, but what about the other illegals? Do we crack down on them more so because they're lesser in number and more manageable? If we relax some rules, at what rules do we draw the line? If we allow the breaking of a few rules, then what's to stop the complete collapse of all the rules?

And do people who read this for the yarn p*rn really care? I think not.

Wanna know of some yarnny goodness? Knit Wit is having a sale on Saturday, 9-5. Clearance will be as much as 70% off. This is stuff that'll please the most snobbiest of yarn snobs. Everything is 25% off, everything. I'm so there. My mother, normally NOT an enabler of all things knitable, encourages me to be there early. I'm thinking, pup tent and a thermos of Diet Pepsi.

On the needles: A scarf from, what else, Knit Picks yarn. Butterfly and Twist. Then, a felted bag from Wool of the Andes and what's left of Butterfly. I still need to knit on Spongebobs' teeth and ties, plus embroider the mouths. Then, comes the more Herculean of all tasks, more so than anything else to do with Father's birthday present...the mailing. Since Hubs came home from Kuwait, my postal impairment has come back in full force. I still have a week and a day, at least 6 days before I need to panic and overnight it.

It's May! Thus, I'm needing to knit up something green and have just the thing! My youngest sister probably hates me, since I've not got her anything for her birthday. It was in January. I know. Bad sister, bad! She is getting her own pair of lovely Jaywalkers, in a lovely seafoam green. They'll be, well, lovely, of course, since that's the word du jour.

In the queue...I've charted a biohazard symbol for my new handbag. It'll be black with a red biohazard symbol, then felted. Maybe this will keep strangers from hovering around my purse as it sits in my shopping cart. They'll hover, then say, "I was 'watching' it for you so no one will steal it." Bad for them is that people tend to do this when I have PMS and want an excuse to beat the living shit out of someone.

Remember that weigh and measure thing I used to do on Mondays? It was done, but I've learned why my fat jeans are miserable to wear. We'll see if jumping back on the Beach and working out with Gilad (on tv, sadly) is going to do me any good.