G.N.O.- Girl's Night Out

Girl's night out! How nice it was to spend time with my friends. I celebrated my birthday and had a wonderful time with good friends, good food and lots of gabbing. It was nice to sit and eat my dinner without having a little one say, right when the food arrives at the table, "I have to go to the bathroom!" I also liked not having to cut anyone's meat or make sure that the drinks didn't get spilt all over the table. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my children, but it's very (I should stress VERY) rare that I ever go out with my friends. This was a treat, for sure! Alas, none of my friends are knitters though. Not any talk of what yarn is yummy at your house, or what are on your sticks at the moment. We had fun talking about other stuff though! Thank God for my friends!

As far as my knitting goes. I think I got a bit frustrated with my last project and have put my knitting on hold. I felted the mitered bag and it just doesn't look the way I would like. I haven't had two minutes to rub together to sew the lining, so it's on the "waiting to be done" pile. I am tackling the bins of summer clothes, STILL! Gosh, these kids have toooo much.

Well, I must get going to the pile upstairs in chicklet #2's room. I have to get this done before the summer days arrive and I am outside 24/7. Can't be in at all or I go crazy! Winter is long enough. Someday I will end up in warmer climates when the snow flies in New England. I will never be a Florida girl though. Not sure where I will be, but somewhere warm. Thank you Melinda, Eleni, Debbie and Bunny for a great birthday dinner and making me feel so special. I love you all and am so blessed to have you as my friends.

The pre-felted monster

Here is my pre-felted picture to see how pretty it was before I sent it through the wash. Grandma was sitting in the tree with the kids and I asked her to hold it up for me. I did the edges in the grey, and I'm glad I did, because it did look so much better. You can see the one edge on the left. What I am bummed about is the top did not felt well. I make purses all the time and usually it all felts in a uniform manner. This one did not. I contemplated adding an i-cord edge to the top before I felted it, but decided against it. Now, I am wondering if that would have been better. Oh well, you live and learn. I am planning on lining the bag and seeing if that will help "shape" it a little. Otherwise, it will be a knitting bag and I will shlep it with me with knitting projects in it. Always need one of those! The size of this bag is just right too. I measured pre-felting and after, so with my next picture and post, I will put those measurements in. Thank you Karen for reading my blog and being so nice to comment. It's nice to have a friend read and support me. Most of my "non-knitting" friends either don't know what a blog is or look at me like I have two heads because I tell them, "It's like an on-line journal, of sorts, that I talk about my knitting escapades." My one good friend said to me, "And WHY do you feel you want to write about that?" I felt like I was on the couch at a psychiatrist's office. So, call me crazy, but I like to have this little outlet. Have a happy day and enjoy this sunshine.

MIA

Well, it's been forever since I posted. We had quite the last 11 days or so. The flu hit my house hard and I ended up with sick children on every couch in the house for a week! That, in itself, was hard enough. Then, when we finally were feeling better, school vacation started. We needed to get some fun time in since the couch was our best friend for the week before. It was a lovely week of great weather and being together. I love my kids. They are the glue that keeps me together. So, not much knitting was done except that I did felt my striped mitered bag. The top looks funny to me and I am not thrilled with the results of the felting. But, I haven't given up completely. I want to line it, as I always do with my felted bags, and see it that helps bring it back into shape a bit. I am also in the middle of taking all the summer clothes out and doing inventory. You know the drill with that.... Does this fit you? Will you wear it? Give it to your sister then! This process takes me a full week if I have the luxury of time. I can't believe the amount of clothes these kids have. I plan on giving 80% of it to the GoodWill and my church. My children have plenty and I am sure that the children in New Orleans, or elsewhere, could use them more than we will. My closet is next.... Well, I am off to the races again today. (Figure of speech, never been to the race track, but that's what life is like for me.) Thank God for the sunshine, I needed it..........

Slow and steady wins the race....

Well, here I am at the next point in this mitered striped felted bag. I got the front and back done, as you can see. I started the sides last night and ran out of yarn. But, luckily for me, I have quite the stash of wool in my home. Now, I have to decide whether I want to follow the pattern that tells me to make three different colors for each edge piece or do I want to follow my gut and do all the same in the dark grey that I started. I think, if I do the three different colors, it might look incredibly "busy" and take away from the stripe pattern. What do you think? Please leave me your thoughts so I can ponder this with some other knitters. Notice the LARGE cup of coffee and my cat in the picture? If I sit with my coffee, she will be up in my lap in a flash. No knitting when Phoebe is around. Anyway, I need to think about the whole one color versus three issue.

My parents took off for the weekend to Washington D.C. with some family friends. They took the train and were so excited to go and do something new. I am "itching" to go on an adventure too. This week is school vacation and sometimes we go to Cape May for a few days to just play on the beach and walk around the shops. It's a bit warmer there and the last time we went, we had 70 degree days that were beautiful. But, alas, I have a little one at home with the flu. The poor thing missed most of this week of school and is still not feeling up to par. So, maybe this week, when she feels better, we will be hitting the movie theater for all those cute kids movies that are out and, of course, the mall. I believe a new pair of sandals for the summer would cheer anyone up after being sick for so long! Happy knitting and please don't forget to leave your thoughts about my felted bag.

My baby brother

We all had an early Easter celebration this past Sunday and I got this nice picture of my brother and I. I can't believe how life has flown by so fast and he and I now have our own families. We used to play catch in the yard, late night card games with flashlights so Mom wouldn't know we were up, and so many fun family trips to Vermont and Cape Cod. Seems like a lifetime ago! (He calls me a sap, can you tell why?) Anyway, we all had such a nice day and it was wonderful to be together. I have to be the auntie who teaches his little one to knit now! I should let her learn to walk first, though! My own know how to knit and are working on there own projects. Whenever I go to the yarn stores, I have to go alone or else I get alot more than I had planned to buy. "Oh Mom, isn't this yarn pretty? Can I get this one?" I've created little knitting monsters! That's fine with me though. I'd rather they be creative and enjoy a fun hobby than into something that wouldn't be good for them. So, we all plan to bring a knitting bag along when we go on vacation. (My husband can't believe I am bringing my knitting with me to Disney!) Look out for some pictures of me with a project in hand in front of some Disney landmark or even Mickey. He will really think I am nuts then!

Easter Chicks

Aren't these cute? My sister-in-laws aunt made these for Easter. She knits them and then puts a little plastic egg inside. I thought they were adorable and want to teach my class how to make them. The girls I teach are so funny because they want to make everything I show them. It's cute to watch them interact with each other once they learn to knit. Just like "the big girls" when we all sit around and knit together. Gabbing and laughing. It really warms my heart to see them all bonding.

I have been working on my purse and flip-flops. I really want to get them done so I can start a new project, but I won't start anything new until I finish these. I already have enough un-finished things that bug me. I also am in desperate need of taking a "yarn stash inventory." I know I have more than I need for this lifetime. I can't help myself when I go in and see all the yummy yarns these days. You feel the need to touch them all and ooh and aah over them. If I ever worked in a yarn store, I would be paying them for me to be there! Socks are now what's on my agenda. I bought the small needles, but don't know where to start with the yarn. I don't want to buy anything expensive for my first pair and I also want to try an easy pattern. We will see.... Well, off to start my busy day and hopefully get a few rows in here and there. Happy tuesday to all who are reading my blog and thank you for stopping by!

I'm just a chick that likes to knit.....

Hello there.... Don't you just love this chick who knits? Isn't that a felted bag her knitting yarn is in? Cute, cute, cute. Well, I am on the road to recovery. I still don't feel well enough to perk a pot of coffee, but at least I am moving around and getting some housework done. I started the second mitered purse square. I don't think I will crank through this one like I did the other one. That was an all day "knit fest." The luxury of knitting time is not usually on my side. Today I need to focus on cleaning my house since it looks like a family of squirrels could come in and eat off my floors for days without a problem. When Mom is sick, the whole house goes to pot! Make it a happy day today and..... don't forget to at least knit a few rows

My sick day knitting....

I felt poopy yesterday. So much so, I didn't get off the couch much. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't sit down much. Not just because I am a mom and that in itself tells you I don't sit much. But, I really felt lousy and just couldn't bring myself to do any of my usual housework and errands. So, I knit! 124 rows to be exact. My mitered striped purse is coming along nicely. It's similar to a pattern I have "on the sticks" and yet to be finished upstairs. However, the other pattern calls for four of these mitered squares that you attach. This mitered square was casted on with 125 sts. The other pattern calls for 60 cast on sts. So, the overall size comes approximately to be the same. The other big difference in these two patterns is that this purse I am working on will be felted and the other one does not call for that. I think it would look pretty either way, but this one will be done long before I would have gotten the other pattern accomplished. Way too much finishing for me with four squares being sewn together just right to make sure the stripes line up correctly. (Now that I said that, I know I will probably try and tackle that job just to prove to myself I can. I'm weird like that!) I will take a "before felting" picture once I get this purse sewn together and make sure I measure it if anyone is needing that information. Also, this pattern I linked to has a few things I "tweeked." I used size 9 needles and worsted weight 100% wool yarn. I actually doubled the strand since it called for 8-ply yarn and the Patons wool I used is 3-ply. Doubling worked just fine. Now, I have to cross my fingers for the felting part. We will see. Being sick stinks, but at least I got some knitting in. That always makes me feel better.....

Been so sick........

Well, I thought I was in the clear being that the weather is so nice. However, all of my chicklets are coughing, have headaches and tummy aches and are overall feeling yucky. The worst part of this situation is that mommy is right along with them. Ughhh, I feel lousy. The only reason I am sitting here typing is because, as exhausted as I am, it makes me feel better to be sitting up a bit. What better way than to "talk" about knitting?

I started a mitered striped purse yesterday while I sat on the couch feeling sorry for myself. It looks like a pattern I was working on last year, but didn't felt that bag. This one is similar and I think I need to tweek some of the instructions. I will take a picture of my progress and let you know what I changed as I go.

I went to Michael's in Danbury since I needed something nearby and always love to look at yarn even though it's not my favorite store. There are a lot of Moda*Dea brand yarns at 70% off right now. I believe they are going out of their line and the store has them on clearance. I bought a few and have to say, they have a lot left. Go while the going is good, knitters!

O.k., that is enough sitting for me. Back to the ginger ale for my tummy and some shut eye. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.........

We missed the bus........

What a beautiful day it was yesterday! And it looks like it will be again today. We played outside all day and got a ton of fresh air. That's probably why we missed the bus this morning. Unfortunately, none of us are moving with much speed in my house, and off it went without us. Mom's taxi, to the rescue!

My chicklet snapped a picture of me knitting on the porch yesterday. How nice it was to be outside and enjoy the day. I was using my little one's "beginner" needles on the flip-flop saga project. They are the best for not slipping. I feel like I have to get these done, since Spring is here and our toes are showing again. Once it really does get warmer, I hardly ever wear anything but flip-flops or sandals. Can't wait to be in shorts again! Summer is never long enough and winter drags.... As my little one puts it, "We aren't winter people."

I must get a hold of my blogger buddy, Karen, and ask more questions about how to make socks. I have yet to tackle that project and would like to try. I looked into joining a class in my town, but can't seem to find one. Ponchos, sweaters, even scarf classes. But, no sock knitting classes! I know there are many different ways to go about it. Toe up. Two circular needles. Double points.... Where do I begin? I want an EASY pattern that will show me how to do the basics. Making socks kind of goes against me wanting to see my toes and wearing flip-flops, but I figure if it is another one of those projects like my pillowcase edging, it'll be winter by the time I finish them! Well, off to start my day. I put all the laundry and dishes off from yesterday and now they have doubled. Groan.............

Yahoo, it's a beautiful day!

Yahoo, it's a beautiful day! I opened my windows and plan on putting my jogging shoes on.... The dishes and laundry can wait until tomorrow. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new knitting magazine. "Interweave" or something like that. I saw a cool felted purse in it through another blog (for which I cannot find now and I am bummed!) and I want to make it. I have been toying with a black and blue mix, hence the knitting kitty --->, but I think I might add a few colors. The purse is shown to use "intarsia." I have never tried my hand at that and it said it is for beginners and easy. Well, I guess I will see about that! I'll take some pictures as I progress and share them. I really should try and finish my "on-the-sticks" projects first, but I just can't bring myself to. I have a beautiful lace edging I started that, when done, you sew to a pillow case. But it's one of those things that no one can talk to you while you are knitting it since it is so easy to mess up and you can't pull it out and fix it. Believe me, I tried and I ended up starting again. I think that's why I don't want to pick up those sticks. The only thing is, I wanted to make them for my Mom's birthday gift and I started it LAST winter. This will be two birthdays that have come and gone because I haven't finished the darn thing. Let alone the fact that I need to make TWO! Sorry Mommy, I will eventually get to finishing that. It's hard when you have a little one asking for everything under the sun as soon as I pick up my knitting needles. Well, off to enjoy the day. Happy knitting to all and make it a GREAT day!