Sorry!! Really!!!

Knitters who are on Ravelry.com and have me as a friend, sorry! I've been adding like a fiend to my queue. I already had a queue of projects in Word, but spent this evening correlating the two. Some patterns were in Ravelry, some were not. These were the ones not in their database already:

The Cat’s Meow,Family Circle Easy Knitting Winter 2001
Summer Garden Throw, Knitting Digest July 2004
Tri-Finca leaf shawl, Knit N Style 8/07
Think Pink, Knit N Style 8/04
Summer Stole, Interweave Summer 2003
Splitz top, Knit N Style 8/05
Soft Cable Sweater, Ericka Wilson’s Knitting Book
Short Sleeved Sweater, Vogue Sp/Su 2001
Shaped Tee, Heartstrings pattern
Setesdal Stole, Two old bags
Run for the Roses, Knitting universe Spring 2006
Painted Desert, Knitting universe Summer 2005
Mini cable pullover, Heritage Fiber
Leaf pattern scarf, Magazine copy (what did I mean by this???)
Knitted Lace tablecloth, Better homes and Gardens Crocheting and Knitting
Irish Mist, Lavish Lace Book
Free and easy pieshaped shawl, Helen's Laces Ball band
Diamond Relief Shell, Knitting universe
Cancun Tee, Knit N Style 4/03
Cabled vest over tunic, Knit N Style 10/02
Bling bag, Simply Knitting December 2006
Autumn Throw, Lion brand website (I've made two of these already, our Moms have one each.)

Things are pretty quiet around here. Fry is staying with her Aunt Toppa for a few days. It's sorta nice, sorta not. We get to take her dog for his training tomorrow, which wouldn't be bad if she'd worked with him at all this week. She's a much nicer 'mommy' than I am. I make the little guy mind me, Fry lets him do as he pleases. That's ok, I pretty much let HER do as she pleases, too.

After Christmas report.

Fry loved her Christmas presents!


She made me hold her lion while she snapped the picture...


Then, she made me hold her beagle...


Then, I had her take a picture of the lovely necklace she gave me.


The rest of the presents we gave each other would seem odd to anyone not in on the reasons. Gift cards to Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Home Depot, Starbucks, Quick Trip, and the local beauty college? Not 'the' chi chi places, certainly, but the reasons why are sweet. Fry and I love Red Lobster, Hubs loves Olive Garden, so we exchanged those. Hubs gave me the Home Depot just in case I wanted a power tool for a project. We have a Starbucks, McDonald's, and Taco Bell moving in a block from our house, making me feel claustrophobic. Fifteen dollars worth of mocha coffees does go a little way towards easing the pain. ;)

The Quick Trip, our local gas station and c store? A 'gift' certificate for that? I love fountain drinks, but we always have cans of soda in the house. Why should I stop by a c-store for one thing when I can just toss a can in the purse? With pay at the pump, I don't even need to stroll inside for a drink. The gift card forces me to treat myself.

The beauty school gift card will be fun. Hubs doesn't know it, but I'm planning on doing something to 'get' him. Right now, I'm going with putting in a blue hair rinse, and telling him the beauty school messed up big time. I don't mind too much it's from a beauty school. There was one time I'd spent $70 on just a cut, only to end up looking like Carol Brady. It's ok in the seventies, but not in the late nineties. Sheesh.


Toppa is doing great, no cookies were burned during a phone call, and Happy New Year to everyone who reads this! Our family is celebrating Christmas on January 18th, which means I still can't show off all my recent finished objects knitted. I'm working on a sweater for Fry, so I'll have to get a decent picture of it, soon.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is a novel.

The lions are Fry's favorite animal. She was not happy that I didn't bring her home one of these. All I'm saying is, I wasn't getting two of them.



Fry wanted me to check out her 'grill'.



Very nice that it's not permanent.



Oddly enough, these trees should be upright. This was during the ice storm a week or so ago, at the side of our house.



On the other side, this. I love that pathway.




We drove through a holiday lights display. It really was a holiday display, not a Christmas display renamed for the overly sensitive. Very nice and very sleet/rainy.


There was swimming during our Branson get a way...


A tour of the Titanic...


And browsing through the Bass Pro Shop. Fry tried out every ATV and tried to convince us every kid in suburbia had one. Riiiight.


We went to a craft mall, me thinking there might be yarn hanging around, but no. It was a mall of already made crafts. All I can say is, there's a lot of crafters in China. So much for American made craft, hm? Still, the quilts were lovely.

There was excitement once home, and not of the good kind. My younger sister, the ever-popular Toppa, had to be rushed to the hospital. After the heart and lungs checked out fine, the tenative conclusion is an allergic reaction. Sounds trivial unless you're allergic to stings or nuts. The throat closing off the air supply is never a good thing. She's out and being constantly visited by her friends. While the three of us left her hospital room to let her sleep (she only had 2-3 visiters while we were out), we visited the nearby Home Depot for our dream bathroom.

Some people thought the sink plungers were 'sweet'.



What else? Cookies! I've been baking this week, and there's lots of cookies around here. They all taste good, I've had to check every one for 'quality'. Good excuse to eat the sweets, right? Most of them are presents to everyone else. :)


Finally, our Christmas tree lights. There's a few presents under there, but none of the ones I've bought are wrapped, yet.

Dumb thoughts...

So we're all cozied up in the house, since most of our utility lines are underground, and I'm thinking, I should email friends to see if they're ok.

Riiiight. If they're ok, chances are they've emailed or updated their blogs already. If not, they've probably lost power.

If I'd been thinking, I'd have taken a picture of the same scene below, only this time, the lattice roof had tons of icicles. I had to break them off the ceiling fan before they broke off the blades itself. Why is the shot ruined, now? It seems Fry is very impressionable. After I cleaned the fan with a broom, she cleaned the room, herself. She and Lucky played on the ice this afternoon, until they both froze out. She spent the day here, as all the schools are closed. Fry hogged the computer while I hogged my Kaffe Fassett books. I had three from the library and his latest from the bookstore. I'd like to do a classic Kaffe Fassett, and then maybe one of my own. We'll see. I'm almost done with Toppa's Christmas, which makes me restless to start something new.

Hubs is already home, Claude is asleep on his Kitty Pi Bed, and all is right in our world.

Cabin Fever

We've been hit with a major ice storm here. Really, it's minor, not enough to snap power lines, but enough to make driving around an adventure. I've been sending the Husband out on missions as little as possible. While the Advanced Dog training class went on as usual Saturday morning, by the noon hour we were socked in. So, no knit group, Sons of the American Revolution Christmas lunch, or Sons of the Union Christmas dinner, either. From the snow on Thursday, Fry's orchestra concert was cancelled that evening, too. I'd run around shopping on Thursday morning, and by the time I got back to the pickup, there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground already.



Look at how crisp and lovely that photo is. It was snapped with my Christmas present to me, a new Nokia 5300 phone. It's a camera, phone, and MP3 player all in one, just what I wanted. I spent the rest of Thursday and most of Friday loading my songs on it. Fry was not happy with me, she wants a cell phone, too. She'll just have to wait. We'll probably get her one next year, since we already have her cool present for this year.

On tap for tomorrow is a checkup for the Jeep and me slinking over to the Old Mill Stitchery to buy yarn. Like I need it, right? Still, one never knows what they'll have on sale. After that, I'm taking advantage of freedom to stop by the grocery store for canned goods. Fry won't eat vegetables unless they've been tinned. I've not started up the Christmas Cookie factory, yet. It'll happen, though. Fry and Hubs have been grousing about the lack of cookie around here, so I'll have to do something to hush them.

On the political front... Does it bother anyone else about Mike Huckabee spouting off about how Christian he is? He's now obtained the support of the Evangelicals. Everyone else in the running is a Christian, too. He's counting on all the flock blindly following whatever the preachers' leaders tell them to do. I just don't like his "I'm special because I'm a Christian" attitude. If he's special, then so is everyone else in the running. We have no other faiths in the race, they all came from the same root religion, Christianity.

So, to me, when they start talking about their particular religion, it ticks me off, because I'd rather hear what they'd do for the country.

December, The Silent Month

Why? Because no one can spill about the presents. I mean, who isn't knitting something for Christmas? Every year I say I won't inflict knitted crapola on my poor family, and every year, they talk me into doing just that.

Let's go on to updates...

The house was perfect for the Black Friday party. If it wasn't, and it wasn't, really, I was prepared with an open bottle of wine. Plus, I know the Jedi Mind Trick, even if it doesn't work on Hubs and Fry. My guests had a great time, matching my own. Lots of fun, food, and yarn all around.

NaNoWriMo, what to say? If a person wants to be harsh, I totally failed on the 50K words in a month. Yeah, I could be down about it, wearing the same flannel jammies for days, eating cereal out of the box, and drinking orange juice out of the carton. On the other hand, I'd written more in that one month than I had in all the five years before then. I used to be a contender, once, and this gives me tons of hope that I may be again. The attitude change is a major plus. Now all that needs doing is me dusting off my writing skills.

I've been ignoring the pond. Gah. There's been one thread of silicone to join the two liners, now I need to fuse them more.

I love my yarn room. It's not quite there, yet, but what is? I have way too many patterns but can't make myself throw them away. I think everyone loved the room, and loved it that Fry had a toy cash register set up for their 'purchases'. Silly kid.

Let's see, Mom, Goopa(baby sister), Mother-in-Law, and Toppa (middle sister) were on the knit list. Toppa's project is 30-40% done, and I'm wanting to get one more project done. This one is for the Husband, a sweater, and I swatched while hanging out at Honkerbean's last Thursday. Yumma, that place. Italian ice creams and coffee, such goodness.

If you've read this far, I'm rewarding you with nonsense!

38 Things About Me That You May Or May Not Want To Know......
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night. My darling Frygirl. She makes me laugh every day.

2. What were you doing at 0800? At the grocery store buying decaf coffee and dairy products. Lowfat lowcal yogurt, shredded mozzarella, 2% cottage cheese, if you really had to know.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Eating Triscuits.

4. What happened to you in 2006? I'm doing good to remember yesterday, never mind yesteryear. It's why I blog and keep archives.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Goodnight, see you in a little bit," to the Husband.

6. How many beverages did you have today? A cup of instant coffee, two Diet Cokes, a tall glass of green tea, and at least three tall glasses of instant tea, all of the drinks were decaffeinated.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Simulated wood.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? See question 2. Um, wait. Patternworks has a bit of a sale on their grab bags, then Hubs had me order gifts online for his family.

9. Where were you last night? Hanging around the house.

10. What color is your front door? Burgundy.

11. Where do you keep your change? In a little white piggy bank with "Yarn Money" painted on the side.

12. What's the weather like today? Chilly, but very nice.

13. What's the best ice cream flavor? All of them except eggnog. :D

14. What excites you? Good report cards from Fry, happy news from Hubs, emails from my family. And a really good yarn sale.

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes and no.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Very.

17. Do you talk a lot? Always. It's the bane of my existence.

18. Do you watch the OC? No...

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? I knew several, but now, no.

20. Do you make up your own words? As often as necessary.

21. Are you a jealous person? Depends on the situation.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A".

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "K".

24. Whose the first person on your received calls list? A friend of Frygirl's.

25. What does the last text message you received say? Ravelry killed...

26. Do you chew on your straw? No!

27. Do you have curly hair? Yes!

28. Where's the next place you're going to? Um, the ladies' room, then to sleep.

29. Who is the rudest person in your life? Is? Other drivers on the road.

30. What was the last thing you ate? A handful of Triscuits.

31. Will you get married in the future? Probably not. Hubs will probably croak long after I do.

32. What's the best movie you've seen in the past two weeks? I'm ashamed to admit it, but 'Dead Man on Campus'.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like lots of people. If I were twenty years younger, I'd giggle and name names.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night. After breakfast, the dishwasher will be full enough to run.

35. Are you currently depressed? No.

36. Did you cry today? No, I should have after paying bills. ;)

37. Why did you answer this post? Because Susan did and I'm a sheep with my friends.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey....I tag you.

Your Passion is Purple!

You've got a ton of passion, but you don't always wear it on your sleeve. If something truly excites you, you let your inner intensity shine through. But otherwise, your passion tends to morph into energy ... which you never lack. You're a balanced woman, knowing when to turn on the fire in your heart.

What Type of Passionate Woman Are You?

I said what?

Party at my house on Black Friday!

What was I thinking? My house was too much of a wreck to invite anyone but..., no, no one could be invited to this. It IS clean, under the clutter. At this point, I'm tossing it if I don't want to find a place for it. Probably what I should have done to begin with. The others here are scared. I'll carry around a large trash bag, telling them, "I don't mind cleaning up your stuff for you."

Ah, the NaNoWriMo. It'll have to RIP. There's no way I can get to 50,000 words by November 30th, but, I have a GREAT beginning to what's turning into a fun novel to write. If the past few days, today, and tomorrow had been freezing outside, there'd been a lot more written. It's too nice to stay indoors all the time.

The pond's been leaking from SOMEWHERE. I have no idea, but do have stuff to fuse the two liners together. In a perfect world, I'd have the liner glue on and cured, the rocks set in place, and the water running by now. Maybe I'll burn off some Thanksgiving calories on Thursday by hauling rocks. If I stick to the schedule, the house will be totally spiffed by then.

I finally bought the neatest wire basket-like shelves for the yarn room. It looks like a mini yarn store in there. Still a little messy, but another couple of hours and it'll be great. I sort of gave the spring cleaning a miss, so it'll be great to have the fall cleaning done.

Did I post that Mom's Christmas present is done? The baby sister's present is done now. One for my Mother-in-law, one for my younger sister, and maybe a couple of other knitted presents and I'm so done.

I'm saving my words for NaNoWriMo.

What does that mean? Pictures!

First, the boy. He gets hyper when Fry's school bus is in view, so today, I took him for a walk. Lucky looks so cute, how could I resist?



After the walk, I filled up the newer, bigger pond, and turned on the pump. There's a leaf skimmer. That'll have to be checked a couple times a day during fall.


Finally, this is where we'll spend our weekend. The new chairs are so comfy, and we're training Lucky to NOT jump on the table. I think he jumps up to be told 'down' and get a treat when he jumps off. Stinker.


There's yarn things going on, but it's a Christmas surprise...

Socktober Update!

Do I expect a lot of myself? Yes. Do I deliver? Oh heck no! Never!

For Socktober, I expected more than three pair of socks, for sure. At least the two socks below have their wearable mates. Could always be worse.

I'm thinking of changing my company name from QuickKnitted to Turtle Knits. Or maybe plain ole Molasses.

This week is shapping up to be a part two of last week. The cold I had last week is still hanging around. It's good, because there's been a lot of knitting on Mom's Christmas present. She reads this, so I can't post progress just yet. Ravelry users will be able to see, though. Hint, hint.

I'll get to feeling great, run around and do things, then tire myself out. Still, the pond has a new liner, it just needs the rocks around it. There'll be a picture as soon as I clean out some of the leaves. There are some very shallow parts, perfect for bog plants. It doesn't look as good when the water's not running. Putting all the rock back will help a lot.

There could be more in today's post. Lots of whining about doing the National Novel Written in a Month thing and how I'm too stoopid to write anything. I've started and have nearly 700 words! Ooooo! <-sarcasm

Maybe I'll just lay around the living room, cooped up with a tall glass of orange juice and a super large bowl of chicken noodle soup. Sounds fun, hm?

Random update stuff.

I was goofing around in Walmart today and found an el-cheapo dog sweater in medium for our boy, Lucky. My thoughts were, as much as he tears up his stuffed toys, what would he do to apparel?

After I wrestled him into the sweater, and after everyone made over how cute he was in it, I think he loves it. Putting on and taking off is a struggle, but the results are worth it. Lucky doesn't even act like he's wearing anything. Now I feel comfortable in knitting something for him, knowing it won't end up in tatters after a few seconds.

The weekend.

Carol and I had such fun on Friday, cruising around to at least 5 yarn stores, then having lunch at The Bronx. We visited Florilegium, Urban Arts and Crafts, Stitch Knitch, The Studio, and Misknits. You'd think there'd be a lot of yarn brand overlap between these five, but there's not. It's great. Plus, Joann's had a ton of their yarns on sale for less than two dollars. 100% wool that was $7, even. I bought as much as I could push in a basket, and almost elbowed one gal that picked up one of my hanks o' yarn.

Saturday was the usual sit and knit. Fry came with me, and it's always fun to have alone time with her during the drive. She's a doll. A lot of people were there, Jen, Mary, Carol, Carla, Lorenia, and Sherry. There was tons of knitting done on the Goth socks for Fry, with me finishing them up today (Monday).

I'd wanted us to go corn mazing that evening, then hiking in Weston State park on Sunday. Instead, I caught a cold and didn't do much ring-leading. After laying around all day on Sunday, letting myself be sick, I hit the ground running today.

A dentist appointment for perio maintenance and a filling, shopping at Walmart (see beginning), then harsh housecleaning. Tomorrow will be in the mid seventies, perfect for finishing up my digging of the pond.

Just the pics, ma'am.

Sock one of the Blue Moon Fair Isle socks.


Sock one of the Girly Goth socks.


Gratuitous Beagle shot.

You say "Immature" like it's a BAD thing...

Just a quickie,

My New York age is 24

This New York age puts you-generally speaking-into the young category. That's what you were hoping for, right? Run and tell your friends. Then get drunk (as usual). Then sleep it off. Then pop an Adderall. Then come back and consider experimenting with a more mature type of New York life (just once in a while). Have you ever been to the Village Vanguard or the Living Theatre? Eaten at Elaine's? Taken a date to Michael Feinstein? Before you laugh, check 'em out and see what old-school NYC experiences you can add to the new.

What's your New York age? Take the Time Out New York quiz and find out!

This is not a surprise. When I took the baby sister, Goopa, to New York, by the end, I was thinking, "I don't care if your feet are bleeding. Let's goooooo!" We walked EVERYWHERE in Manhattan, tons of fun. Whatever flaws Giuliani has, he did make the city a lot safer for us at the time.

Is it any surprise that last Friday, when the Fry was in pain from her heel, I was thinking, "Pop a couple of Tylenols and let's hit the Mamba, m-kay?" We couldn't go home just because of some measly pain. Where's the fun in that? To be fair to Frygirl, she was a super trooper on all the thrill rides. Went on and enjoyed every thrill open, some twice.

Happily, migraines tend to distort a person's sense of what hurts. "It's just a flesh wound," actually makes a lot of sense. :)

Pictures on Thursday, I promise. I have two different socks to show off, and neither has a mate of its own.

Lots of fun!

Today and yesterday I've spent laying around the house. Somehow, I caught a bit of a cold. A fever, tiny bit of a sore throat, and that was all. Just a lot of sleep the past two days and I'm fine, now.

Thursday was a blast. I love Lone Jack's library. Their Sonic is a little slow, I had to leave my little order of chili cheese tater tots in the pickup during class. The students there were so good, we did the four biggies and then some. After casting on, knitting, purling, and then binding off, there were some yarn overs (intentionally!), and color fun. Adding in new colors, knitting with two yarns at the same time, yes, it does get crazy during class.

Friday was even MORE fun! My sister, Toppa, the Frygirl, and I went to Worlds of Fun with a few other people. There were 9 of us in all, running around an amusment park completely decked out for Halloween. The fog machines made our throats hurt after a few hours, but the rides were killer! We did all the open adventurous rides except the Ripcord. On that one, they haul you up on a cord for 180 feet, then let the harness you're wearing go. It's a freefall swing, exciting and terrifying. I've already done it once, and it's $16-$22 extra to go on it. The price range is for how many people you can con into falling with you, one being the higher, three being the $16. If I'd not been on it already, I wouldn't mind paying extra above the admission price. It's just been there-done that, and I'd rather spend the money on funnel cake. There were haunted houses and the park's attention to detail on the ghouls was great! This needs to be a yearly habit.

Saturday, I broke down and went to Sit, Sip, & Knit. I know. I go back to Lee's Summit today, but didn't want to miss out on the group last weekend. Knitting, fun, croissandwich, it was great. We were going to go to a cornfield maze with Toppa and the group again, but with the fog the night before and a real cold hitting us girls, we skipped.

Sunday was Fry's Children of the American Revolution meeting. The house was perfect, I made butter cookies, and then slept upstairs through the meeting.

There should be pictures, I'll update this later to include them.

What's up with this once a week blogging?

I admire people who can blog once a day. They either have a lot to say or actual lives.

Yarny stuff first. Fry's first Girly Goth sock is done, and once the grey sky is blue, I'll take a decent picture of the sock. Progress has been made on the Fair Isle sock, I'm just past the heel. Again, when there's sunlight, I'll show them off. To avoid the tense knitting from Second Sock Syndrome, I'm doing a sock from each pair at a time. Although, I'm dying to cast on for Fry's second Girly Goth sock, just so she'll be thrilled.

I taught a full house on Tuesday. Beginning knitting for families, which I thought was Thursday's class. Ha! I wondered why all the really small frys were showing up with needles. Everyone from Grannies to Girlies were there and I hope they had fun. Since this is a two-parter, there wasn't as much pressure to get cast on, knit, purl, and bind off in during the two hours. Thursday is plain ole Beginning Knitting, which is also a full house. My max class size is 15, and not everyone shows up sometimes. Then sometimes, more than that will show. After last night, I already need more kit supplies.

Which is why I must go yarn shopping during our pickup's oil change. Buh wa ha ha haaaa! Even if it's raining, I can use an umbrella for the short walk from our mechanic's to the Old Mill Stitchery.

We're all waiting for this weekend, which is action-packed. Worlds of Fun, Pumpkin Patch, Corn Maze, Children of the American Revolution meeting at our house, all promising to be adventuresome. I'm wondering if, or how I'll fit in Sit, Sip, and Knit.

A week of migraines.

But, thanks to better living through chemistry, it's not been too bad. I'm functional, managed to teach a beginner's class on Tuesday, but that's it. I use the migraines and resulting drug fog to excuse myself from housework. Despite that, there's been dishes washed, laundry done, and dinners cooked.

There's also been yarn bought. Yes, I'm on a yarn diet of sorts, but... This is such a good sale! Knitcraft had a great sale, the dregs of which I bought today. There's still tons over there. I spent $94 on $300 worth of yarn.

You might think the more budget minded of us, the Hubs, would poop a cat at this. Not after he got these beauts! Every so often, I have to make him something to prove the yarn IS being used and not stored for a nuclear winter. They're the same dyelot, on the same needles with the same stitch count. I always knit tighter on the second sock, my own personal second sock syndrome. Still, he loves them. Isn't that sweet? We can save for Christmas later.

No sooner had I cast off those, I cast on these: When it grows up, it'll resemble something like this:

I'd not read through the pattern before casting on, and maybe I should have. It's a 'cafeteria' style pattern, you mix and match the fair isle designs as you go. No two pairs, or even socks, can ever be the same. Even if the patterns are identical, the color variegation won't let the anal retentive of us make them match. I'm surprised at how far I've gone on this sock already. Especially since I had to rip back six rows to pick up a dropped stitch. That's my only complaint about the Socks that Rock yarns, they're slippery. I suppose that also helps with the speed, too.

Today, I drug (or dragged, I'll have to review) Fry to a yarn store. Today was the last in a week's worth of sale time at Knitcraft. I think I've been very good, not going there day after day, spending Fry's college money on sale yarn. I bought a couple of patterns thats use stashed yarns, and then added to the stash. I did really try not to, but... This beauty, Muench Yarn's Cleo was $2.50, a LOT less than everyone else's $14.35. I bought all of this color they had, 18 balls. There's tons left, sad to say.


Then, I had this in the stash already, 4 little skeins. Then after seeing a lovely sweater on Elann.com, I had to get the matching skeins left. The first 4 I found at Urban Arts, the second 3 at Knitcraft, and they're all the same dyelot. Weird, huh? But, 7 is enough for a lovely blouse.


Finally, Fry wanted me to make her some Halloween socks. She picked out a sparkly black and silver tape yarn, and I found some Regia stretch sock yarn for the body. I'm making her Girly Goth socks, where they look like baby doll socks, but are black. It'll be great.

Einstein was right!

Time IS relative. As I get older, the hours get shorter. How else could I explain not blogging for nearly a WEEK! My only excuse is it's PMS time, and who wants to read my apostrophe peeves?

Tonight was parent/teacher conference with Fry's 6-7 teachers. Everyone loves her. Nice to know my bias is reality based. She's sweet, sensitive, social, and is a happy child. I personally think she's my greatest achievement, even though all I did was carry her around for nine months.

It was fun seeing her locker and the cute boy posters she has in there. Her Communication Arts (English) teacher and I commiserated the stupid comma rule allowing this, that and the other as proper. To us, it should be this, that, and the other. Never mind the horrible and public misuse of apostrophes. Even the newspapers don't get that it's equals it is and you're equals you are. Gah! Fry's Comm Arts teacher said they're just now adding more minutes to the class and even then aren't emphasising grammar. I didn't mention that I used to LOVE diagramming sentences. No need to fan the "She's a weirdo" fires, right?

In everything she does, Fry excels, except... Science and math. Toppa, my beloved younger sister said today that I could help Fry, me being a brainiac. Isn't that sweet? I always thought she was the smart one. Yeah, I could take tests and ace them, but it does no good to do so when I couldn't remember what name to put at the top. I've had to work hard to have a decent memory, and even then, it's pretty spotty. Toppa also has these mad athletic skills. She can, get this, walk AND chew bubble gum at the same time. I know, a miracle. She could probably write a check and talk at the same time, too, because I can't do that.

I'm much better at tangents, too.

Yeah, me being the one most likely to die in a lab coat, was horrified when Fry came home from school one day saying "I hate science." I asked, "Do you know what science IS?" She explained it was the measuring kicking her brain, not the science part. So, on our parental to-do list is getting down measuring in metric and factors of prime numbers. If I can teach knitting to the masses, I can teach this to the Fry.

Speaking of teaching, I'm having a bit of a break this week. Nice, because it's...Socktober! I'd thought to start this on the first, which I did, but didn't blog about. It's all socks, all the time. I've started on a lovely one in Bernat's Camouflage. The sock is a standard one from Ann Budd's Book of Patterns, done for the Hubs. Never mind that while they match his ACU's, he's so retired he should never wear the uniform again. Maybe if/when they throw an official retirement party in January for him and a host of other oldies. :D (Good thing he doesn't read this.) One of his Knights of Columbus cronies called, wondering why he wasn't home. I had to explain that Army Reserve retired is different from civilian retired. Hubs is only almost 48, a far cry from 65. Not only that, most of his coworkers think he's a good ten years younger. Even the Army Reserve kicks them out after a good twenty plus years. Old and wise means too smart to blindly follow the leader, I suppose.

Another tangent.

So anyway, after spending all day last Friday on Ravelry, I burned out. There's no way I'm putting in all my stash. It's 15 pages on a Word document, I'm not redoing and taking pictures of every bit. I'll do the projects as I get them, the yarn as I get it, but that's all. There's this thing people keep dragging me into called, "A Life" and they expect me to live it. For the Socktober festival that probably only I am doing, there's tons of sock planned. Embossed Leaves, Simply Lovely Lace Socks, and a bunch of plain ones are on my list. Also the beloved Jaywalker in all of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes' colors. I'll have to buckle down and take tons of pictures, just because a blog is more fun with lots of pics. Otherwise, it's a bunch of dreary, navel-gazing words.

Speaking of navel-gazing, I'm actually losing weight. I know! Weird, huh? Are there massive amounts of workouts involved, starvation, lobbing off of excess body parts?

Nope! I found "How the Rich Get Thin" by Jana Klauer, M.D. on sale at Barnes & Noble last Saturday. Thinking "What the heck?", I bought it and started the diet yesterday. Even with massive amounts of cheating, my calorie count is staying at or on 1000 calories a day. This is usually a painfully low count for me, but it's not been bad. The cravings, too have been for good food, not so much the sugars. She recommends an hour of aerobic activity six days of the week, a pretty good idea if you're motivated. I currently do about 30 minutes seven days a week and call it good. For now.

There's a couple of caveats about the book. A middle-class person has to look past the "If you have to ask you can't afford it" mentality. Caviar is never going to sound good to me, no matter my income. Plus, not a lot of us live next to Manhattan's Central Park, recommending walks there does me no good. I'm also very suspicious of the dairy overload she seems to push. Calcium is ggreat, but I'm leery of any study in favor of the industry financing it. There's too many lactose intolerant people in the world for me to be comfy with the Got Milk campaign. Having low fat cheese once a day is fine since I love cheese.

Essentially, the diet is very similar to the South Beach, and a more low fat version of Atkins. More fruit is allowed than on Atkins, but not as much as South Beach. It also includes a lot of green tea, also ok with me. Gets me away from the diet soda. We'll see how it goes after a few more days. A week is as long as I can stay on any diet, even with allowing Saturday cheat days.

I'm IN!

Ha! I'm with all the cool kids on Ravelry! I spent all day uploading, annotating, all that. There's very few finished objects on my Ravelry website because there's so many of them. It asks for yarn, needle size, pattern info, yech. I finished some of these several years ago, how can I remember all that? Heck, the brain hurts while thinking of what I had for lunch yesterday, never mind years. At any rate, here are all my finished objects I have specific pictures for, then a group shot of even more. Some have already found new homes, others have been worn out, while others are just gone.

The deck is DONE! Joe the Deck guy did an excellent job, mostly. Construction great, cleanup crap. I have a lot of work to do. So does the Husband. So should the Fry.

And now, for some Friday fun:

Word Search It's fast, it's easy, perfect for Friday!

Cool Picture time, too. The red line is the route we walk Lucky. We usually go clockwise and when it's late, we'll skip the bottom two cul-de-sacs. Along the top is the latest neighborhood addition. Almost all the homes there are done and most are sold. They're lovely starter homes, so clean and clutter free I want to move in. There's one home with a sunroom and lots of flowers, gorgeous.

Last summer, Lucky and I wanted to explore and found a secret valley. It's peaceful and is a great nature walk along a creek. A bonus is if we walk during dinner time, there's always someone barbequing. Good smells, good smells.

It'll happen one day, I'm sure.

What will? Me making my Biohazard handbag. I used this picture:



printed on a piece of graph paper for the symbol. Sadly, no fabric stores has the symbol stamped all over the fabric for the lining. Happily, pirates are in vogue, so there's tons of black fabric with white skull and crossbones as a pattern. Yay!

I don't chat much about the knit stuff lately, do I? Non-yarnies can look away now.

Ok, all the cool kids are signed up or are in Ravelry. Right now, I'm about 315 places away from being 'in'. I've noticed, once a person is in, they... never... blog... again...

::cue the scary music and ghostly sound effects::

So, I finished a lovely cardigan called Boxy Jacket made out of Rowan's Summer Tweed and is from Knit It! Fall 2006. Since Knit It! is published by Lion Brand, so I can'd find a picture from the magazine. I'll have to fix the collar, then model it.

Collar? Yes, the bane of my existance are collars. But, after the Collar Obedience class during Stitches Midwest, I know how to beat it into submission. Once I get the nerve to look at the brown tweed, I'll fix and show off the jacket.

Remember this?


Well, Fry is getting a lovely hoodie jacket made from this:


The pattern is in the latest issue of Cast On, from The Knitting Guild of America, number 40.


Is it just me or is number 16 full of bad colors. Ewwwww.

Friday fun!

The deck is 99% done. Right now, Joe and Hubs is working on the underdecking. Hubs has this crazy idea that the lawn mower and other lawn care items should be dry and rust free. Weird, huh? At any rate, don't you think this BEGS for a party? I think so. Something Halloweeny, I think. (Weeny, ha ha ha!)

There has been some progress on the pond. The cold fronts and promise of rain has been disappointing. I'm waiting for the rain to loosen the clay that passes for soil around here. Then, the cold fronts should keep me from sluicing sweat while digging. When it's this humid, the sweat never freakin' dries. If I don't have to be in drenched clothes, I don't. After about 20 more wheelbarrow loads of dirt, I'll be able to put down the liner.


This pond is displacing a LOT of dirt. Where is it going? Filling in the holes a bored beagle digs. I fill them in, he redigs. It's ok for now, but I can see the little guy needs more exercise. He's the little white speck near his doghouse. Some people, like Frygirl, need to pick up the guy's toys so he can drag them out again.


The brown cardigan is alllmost finished. I'm working on the collar. After that, seaming up the sleeves and sides, then attaching buttons. Yay! I don't know what I'll work on next for sure, but can tell you it'll have COLORS.

A lot of mothers, probably every mother in the world, has a(n) exceptional child(ren). I am no exception. Yesterday evening, after we'd spent ourselves silly on Halloween candy, shoes, and other fun things, Fry surprised me. We were chatting on the way home and I told her, "I'd always had the feeling that I should have done or will do something great, something very important."

Fry replied, "You have, you've done a lot of great things."

"Yeah, personally, but I mean really great, really important." She and I both know I consider her to be one of THE greatest things I've ever done or will do. We also knew I meant something like writing a bestseller/blockbuster, discovering a new universe, or curing cancer. You know, the normal, small goals everyone has.

Then, my tiny child astounded me. "Mom, it doesn't have to be global to be great."

Wow, huh? Such wisdom from a 12 year old. The women in our family are like onions. We take the layers from our mothers and add our own.

You can't be sick of hearing about the deck, can you?

It's all about the deck these days. These two are the slotted roof going up.


Then, a picture of the pond as it's being made bigger. After the fifth wheelbarrow load, I wondered what the hell I was thinking, messing it up like I have. But then, bigger will be better, right? I've bought a lot of bulbs to plant around, the lazy girl's way of lovely color without lots of maintenance.

Here's a distance shot so everyone can appreciate the lovely railing.

And finally, the gratuitous Lucky shot. He's shaking my hand, isn't he so cute! Gah. I've turned into one of those annoying dog owners. This in addition to those annoying cat owners (read: future crazy cat lady) and annoying worship-their-kid moms. Still, though, don't you just want to love on him? Me personally, I don't, but then, I happen to know he rolled around on a dead baby snake yet again today. Yecchhhh.


I'm on the sleeves of the brown cardigan. Ok, correct that, the first sleeve of the cardigan. With the weather so suddenly cool, it's been tough to stay in the house unless a migraine grounds me. Even then, a Relpax keeps me going, mostly pain free. In the next couple of posts, I'll have to show off the knitted stuff, instead of just the deck. I've found that if I line up chocolate chips and eat only one per row, it's a wonderful bribe to keep going. Until Fry runs by and grabs a couple, anyway.

But wait! There's more!

I'll have to find prior pictures, just so readers will know how good the new stuff really is. The deck is going to turn out better than I'd thought. It'll be like having an entire new room added on, even during mid-summer. Very nice!





Santa-Cali-Gon was a blast. It's a festival of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails' beginning in Independence, Missouri. A lot of craft tents are set up, along with a lot of carnival food (read: funnel cake) Mary invited me, and having never gone, I had to go. The crowds were a bit much, but aren't they always? We had lunch at a great Italian place, and shopped at a kitchen/gourmet store. I love those places. I found a real live chef's jacket (stolen off a fake dead chef, no doubt). I love it. It's not been worn, yet. Sunday, it's forecasted to be somewhere below blistering hot. I'll probably fix something foo foo for my family that day, while wearing the jacket of course.

Speaking of family... We had a family outing with Lucky on Labor day. If the pickup is out of the garage and he's not in there, Lucky is not a happy camper. He loves going bye-bye. Probably because we're usually going to PetSmart, where he can scavenge the floor for spilled food and treats. We walked to a waterfall, saw some deer, then went to a park that allowed dogs. Even when the city provides the bags, people won't pick up after their dogs. If *I* can do it, *THEY* can do it. There's not a whole lot worse than hot dog poo smell.

Fry and I have a new thing to play on the Playstation 2. It's a workout game called Yourself! Fitness. A user enters their weight, age, and takes a fitness test. Then, the 'game' sets up a workout schedule and workout types based on your goal. You can choose what goal you want, or the game will, based on what it thinks you need. So far, it's rather fun and Fry is mostly sticking with it.

Last Labor Day evening, I had the beginnings of a migraine. So, I took a Relpax and an ice pack with me to bed. Meanwhile, Fry was practicing her viola. Her playing is phenomenal. Yes I'm biased, I'll admit, but still. My child amazes me with her talent. I could hear, as she played, how she felt about the song. There was a lilt to Jingle Bells, and her Ode to Joy? She played it slow and carefully, then later confessed, since the song had played at Hubs and my wedding, she wanted every note perfect for us. By that time, I'd pulled the husband into our bedroom, both doors open, to listen to our girl play. She doesn't make a single scratchy 'eee' 'eee' sound while playing, which is a minor miracle to me. Fry is a true talent.

Also in the Fry news, she conned me into going swimming. I loathe cold water, but our complex's pool wasn't too bad once I got used to it. She and I tossed a Nerf football until Lucky and Hubs came over. Pets aren't allowed in the pool area, but Lucky is somewhat potty trained, and is afraid of deep water. He really wanted to jump in after the football, but just couldn't do it. If he'd been more cooperative, I'd have taught him how to drag us around the pool's perimeter while we held on to his leash. He did it enough while walking around sniffing to give me the idea. I don't think the housing association would approve of the endless days required for training.

My younger sister, Toppa, has a new pickup! I'm thrilled for her! I've not seen a pickup with only 35,000 miles on it in a long time, unless, like my Dad's, they're a first time owner. Her pickup is very much the same as mine, a Ford with a nice bed topper. It's cuter, though, being white and a pickup-lite, the Ranger model. We have the F-150. I wonder how long it'll take her to get it tricked out with new rims and radio...?

Endless knitting. There are times, about 3/4 the way through a project of plain knitting, that I think, "I could have done this on the machine!" It would look weird if I put it on the machine now, so I'm stuck. I have two projects like that, a Rowan Summer Tweed Bolero out of a chocolate brown, and a circular knit sweater for Fry out of a boucle' and Plymouth Whisper. I have September earmarked for finishing both, because I'm wanting to celebrate October as Socktober. I've tons of sock yarn in the stash and am dying to get started.

The more Fry goes to middle school, the more she loves it. I don't know if this is middle school related, but she's copping an attitude at times. Grrr, because I miss my sweet little Frybaby. Sometimes, though, like this morning, my little angel will be the one possessing my Fry and she'll love her mom. Let's hope that mood stayed with her today.

I get to teach Beginning Knitting this Thursday! This is the best job, although, I do have qualms about starting another group with a yarn addiction. Poor kids, they don't know what they're in for, do they? }:)