Finish or Frog.....

I did it! I finished my pillow in just a few days. That's what a lot of crappy weather will do for me. Icy, snowy on the outside and me happily knitting and warm on the inside. Yay. I am going to post the picture tomorrow or Monday because I am without my camera right now. So, for "Finish or Frog Friday," (See www.majorknitter.typepad for details on this.) I am done.

Now, onto the next project. My basket has quite a few that need finishing. I should finish my little one's alligator mittens I started last year (yes, LAST year!) and just need to sew the pieces together. The pattern is from Stitch and Bitch Nation and was fun to make. I just detest sewing the finished product. You'd never know that I sew my own curtains and actually like to do that. I guess with knitting, I like immediate satisfaction and then off to the next item on my list of "knitting to-dos." Have a good weekend and happy knitting!

Happy Birthday Uncle Fred.......

It's that time of year again. Daddy's birthday. We are not actually loving these birthdays coming as quickly as they do. But, never the less, we celebrated over the weekend and you are looking at our youngest guest at the party. Little Andrew is now 7 months old! He was sitting up and being such a cutie at the party looking at everyone and very happy to talk to the girls when they kissed and hugged him. Uncle Fred was a happy man to have his family and be together for his special day.

Snow day........

It's another snow day, much to the delight of my children. O.k., me too. Not only do I get to have a nice, quiet day to be with my kids, but I can get a couple of rows in and try and finish my newest knitting project. This is one of my many WIPs. It's the "double seed stitch pillow" from the Winter '08/'09 issue of "KnitSimple." I am knitting it with the Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky I had in the house because I promised myself I would use the TONS of yarn I have in my stash rather than go out and buy more. I wanted to buy some wool/alpaca yarn and thought that since this pillow is going to be placed on our family room chair, and most likely will be tossed around a bit by kids that don't appreciate the many hours of knitting involved in making it, I was better off using my inexpensive yarn than the mucho dolares I would dish out for the alpaca. However, I am really wanting to try one of Twinkles designs that are absolutely scrumptious looking in her books (I borrowed two from the library and have been drooling over them since then.) She has great ideas and approachable since I am far from a sweater knitter. I have one sweater I tried and I am not happy with it. It sits in my UFO basket since I still need to weave in the ends and I am contemplating adding more to the bottom edge of it since it is way too short for me and I don't want it to look like I am trying to be a teenager and show off my tummy. You really don't want to see that!

This is the scene of my backyard today. So pretty and serene. I love to see the snow coming down, but when will it be Spring? It's almost February, so it can't be far off. I just am so done with the snow and would love to see my grass again. I love the fact that you can stay inside and read or knit and feel cozy. That is wonderful. But, it seems to drag on way too long. Someday, I want to live in a warmer climate during the winter months so I can feel my fingers and toes during the months of November through March. One or two pretty snowstorms are plenty for me.

Have a happy day, whatever you are choosing to do with your "cozy day." Or, if you are in a warmer climate and are outside, think of me and send some sunshine my way.

Felted Messenger Bag......

I finally felted my messenger bag and I am very happy with it. It is a "no seam" knitted bag, so in the finishing process, it's very easy. Just weave in the ends and you're good to go. I didn't line it yet, but I knit this bag with double strands of wool, so it is quite dense. I will eventually line it though since I think I will be using this as a gift. If you like this pattern, I got it from http://www.knitty.com under the archives as "Maple" in issue fall/'08. It's an easy pattern to follow and the designer is so nice. I e-mailed her with a question and she was very helpful.

I want to make another one now in a different color scheme. I have a lot of blue and grey wool that I am considering or maybe two tones of brown with a soft purple. My felted bag from last year is in that color palette and looks nice. Decisions, decisions..........

Mom and My girl day.....

Hi! Isn't this beautiful? My baby girl and I had a field trip before Christmas to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. This is one of the most interesting walls I saw, although I loved the entire museum. I am drawn to alot of color and my chicklet loved all the different patterns. You cannot take flash pictures there, so I took this and got yelled at. The man told me I could keep the picture I took, but not to take anymore with the flash on. So, I took alot more pictures, sans light, but kept this one to show and print for my little one's room. The museum is full of the most interest and beautiful things. There was an exhibit at one time concerning fiber art, but I didn't get a chance to see it. I would love to go again sometime and walk around uptown. There is a yarn store right near the museum "Annie & Co.," if I am not mistaken, that I saw on our way out. My attena went up when we were passing it, of course. I swear, the yarn is calling me.

My BEST friend.......

My bff. The kids talk about their bffs all the time and I think it's cute. Especially since my youngest made a bff list at school one day and I was numero uno. That felt good. My bff has been in my life for 18 years now. It's hard to believe how fast time goes and that it is possible to say I have been with this wonderful man for that long. With the new year here and his birthday happening in a few days, I wanted to say, "Happy birthday, my bff and I love you beyond measure."

Better late than never....

Here is our Christmas tree. Yeah, it's almost February. However, my life in the month of December is so chaotic that I am lucky to even take the time to snap a photo of the tree let alone blog the picture. Therefore, I am sharing my tree picture because I feel the need. I love the picture and I wanted you to see my pretty tree. At least I didn't wait until August to finally show you. The way I blog - a few spurts of postings and then nothing for months - I need to get in as much as I can. Thank you to my friends that tune in and keep the faith.

Our Christmas was nice. The kids get a haul (as you can see.) I feel that sometimes we give way more than they need, but my children ask for so little during the year that we feel like giving them so much for Christmas. You are only little once, right? The BIG gifts were from Santa to our smallest chicklet. She absolutely went bananas at the size of the boxes and was thrilled to see a Hannah Montana beach house when she opened it. That Hannah has a nicer house than most, I'll tell you! It's so fun being a little girl with all these cool toys. I had two Barbies and a Skipper doll. Remember her? Barbie's little sister. No Ken doll though. But, I did play with my friend's G.I. Joe doll when she came over. All brothers in her house.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday this year and the new year is bringing you lots of joy and happy days. Stay warm and look on the bright side of every day. Spring is not too far away, right!

Partially finished Friday.......

I must admit that it is technically not Friday. It is Sunday. However, I was so busy on Friday, that knitting was not in the cards for me. So, now that I am home and not going anywhere, I got to knit and start the second pedicure sock. My first one came out fine, but I was a little disappointed in the size. I made it according to my pattern and shoe size, but I think it's a bit big on me. So, I am knitting the second one in the size smaller to see if I like that one better. It only needed 4 less stitches casted on, so I am interested in seeing the size difference when it is done. Don't mind my leg in the picture. It's not easy taking a picture our your own foot and not showing that I haven't shaved my legs in God knows how long. Winter doesn't motivate me to do that since all I want to do is be in my jammies and cuddle, read or of course KNIT. My poor husband. I really should shave my legs. Such a lazy girl...... Anyway, I am also trying to finish this second sock because I promised myself I wouldn't start new projects until I am done with the one at hand (a.k.a. - on the sticks.) I have THREE purses in a basket upstairs waiting for me to sew handles in and line. They came out so nice and I really do want to finish them, but I get so excited to start a new project and knit. Not sew. Bad me. Finish or frog won't work for these since they are completely knitted and felted. I promised myself I would work on them this week. Let's see what the next few days hold.

Felted bag #101

I finally finished my bag that I was working on. I got inspired since I read my friend Karen's blog to "frog or finish." This concept actually came from major knitter's blog. I would link you to her, but still have no clue how to do that. She is on typepad as "major knitter" so if that helps, check out her cool idea on getting your wips done. This bag was a good project in that there is no seeming to be done. Once you are finished knitting it, just stick it in the washer to felt and you are done. However, I like to line my bags, so I will be doing that soon. But, today is a "clean the house" day. I have to do the dreaded chore of putting away all of my Christmas stuff. That is such a pain. It takes two to three days to decorate the house and more to put it away since I have to clean alot after it's all done. And, what am I doing now?....... Blogging instead. Anything to avoid it. So, have a good day and hopefully I will hear from you. Karen, I am thinking of trying socks on two circulars. I have a book on it from the library and wanted to know your opinion on that technique.

Pumpkins galore. O.k., this photo was taken a month or more ago, but that's how long it takes me to blog sometimes. I actually have a couple good knitting pictures of my projects, but I can't find the time to upload them right now and since I have these pictures in my computer right now, I figure it will do. This was a fun day of pumpkin picking. We usually go to the farm and have fun looking through the field, but this time we went to Stew's. We pay over $20 for one pumpkin at the farm and ended up getting THREE for $18 at Stews. Alright, I hear you. I should support our local farmers and give them the business, but when you have to buy three for the kids and you have a choice of spending almost $90 or $20, what would you do? I would rather take the difference and head to the LYS. Sorry farmer Joe.

I am now working on a couple different knitting projects. I have a purse still on the sticks that just looms over me. Usually, I bang those out and have no problem finishing them. I love to knit bags and felt them right away. Especially since I knit the ones that have little to no finishing to them since they are knit on circular needles. No seams to sew. My biggest problem is lining. I have a great bag I felted and it is still laying on my desk waiting to have the handles (already felted) sewn on the bag and then my lining. (I have a thing about lining my bags. If I go to the trouble of knitting them, they don't seem finished without a lining.)

The new project now to be finished, are my pedicure socks. I found the pattern at the store and bought the yarn and needles to make them. Size 3 dpn and sock yarn that is so fine, I don't know what I was thinking. I have got far enough that I am wanted to see if I can turn that heel. Luckily, I have a friend who is an expert sock maker and I will be calling her soon for help, if I get stuck. (Any reason to go to the coffee shop and knit for a while, right?) Gotta love your knitting friends. They understand!

Show your school spirit........

Cute huh? These are for showing our school spirit at the football games. Warm and fashionable! I love making stuff like this.

Stinkin' chipmunk......

O.k., just to get this straight, I am a true nature lover. I am outside as much as possible and I love everything out there (even the spiders my children run from...) Well, as long as the spider leaves me alone, I leave it alone. I am a firm believer in "everything has a life" and thus stepping on a poor, unsuspecting spider just because he looks like he might want to bite me, is not what I do. Therefore, I lead you to my current "issue" with the lovely chipmunk you see here. My husband and I like to sit out on the deck with our morning coffee. The birds are so beautiful in our yard and really feel comfortable now eating a few feet away from us while we sit and watch them. Well, chippy here has decided that he wants to get in on the action and proceeded to fill his face over and over again (going back and forth to his little home, presumably getting ready for the cold months ahead. Or, possibly, he is having a few friends over for a "chippy" get together.) Whatever the case, he EMPTIED our bird feeded in about one day. Fred filled it again for me and yet again, chippy depleted all the seeds. Now, since we love our nature-filled yard so much, we would never harm our little furry friend. So, the birds are staying away from the deck and we are left to watching the grass grow. Oh well, such is life. It's still a lovely way to spend our morning and I am forever happy to have all the blessings that I do have. What makes you happy???

My pretty flower garden. Every year, I take a day to sow seeds into the ground with my children. I have done this since they were very small. I love to watch the delight in them when the seeds pop their heads out of the ground and grow. One year, our sunflowers grew to be at least ten feet tall and the flower heads were gigantic. My children and I marvel at the "little miracles" that God gives us. This year we did a long row of Zinnia with Sunflowers mixed in as well. I cut them all summer long for bouquets in our home and they also are beautiful to look at along the house when we sit outside with our morning coffee. With the coming Winter (which I say with disgust), my flowers are slowly leaving me. I took some pictures so I could look at them (even if it is just on the computer) when they no longer are outside. Sigh......... Spring and Summer go much too fast for my taste. The one thing I must say I do like about Winter is that I knit more. I read and knit much more and I love that. It's a time to cuddle up on the couch with a warm cup of coffee and knit something I have had yarn for and was wanting to do, but just didn't since we were so busy swimming and playing on the beach. My project at the moment is a new knitted/felted bag. I like it because when I am finished with the knitting there will no need to sew and seams. That is my one thing I don't care to do. I love to just pop it in the wash and see what comes out. So, this Fall and coming Winter, I have some plans to make quite a few new projects. Let's see if I really can get them done!

Even in the turtle world......

This is Crush and Charlie. Although we don't know what they truly are, (boys or girls) we are convinced that the one on top is Crush (the boy) and the little one he is stepping all over is Charlie (the girl.) Get your mind out of the gutter because I don't mean it that way. I am just saying that this "boy" turtle has a lot of nerve. A couple things we have noticed about our turtles. Crush always gobbles up all the food so Charlie has to really move if she wants to eat. When it comes to sunning themselves, the little girl turtle will go on the rock and immediately, Crush feels the need to step on her to get the sun thus forcing her to be left out of the warmth. He is not a nice boy. The last straw to this saga is that we found that our little Charlie was missing a few toes one day and realized that Crush was nibbling them off. Sadly, we had to separate them. I think Charlie is happier now, but we do find her hiding completely UNDER her rock in the morning. She needs some therapy after being abused for too long. They are the cutest little things though. Easy for me to take care of. Our beloved kitty died last year, so we opted for these guys. We started out with three that we got while on Canal Street in NYC. The area where you can get a "Gucci" or "Marc Jacobs" bag for $20. Yeah right. Well the turtles cost us $15 and the kids love them. One, sadly, passed away while we were on vacation and Grandma and Grandpa had them. Grandma was extremely upset when she lost one while they were on her watch. Figures, right? Sorry about that Mom.

The dumpling gadget.....

Two posts for the same day. Sorry, when it rains it pours. (And yes, it's pouring, so it seems appropriate.) This little gadget came over when Linda did because she has a gadget for EVERYTHING! You know that friend that says, "I have one of those!" when you are in need of something to get a project done? Well, if you don't have a friend like that, I am sorry for you. (I would share Linda, but I am selfish.) Anyway, she brought this little ditty over and showed me how to make dumplings to go along with my Chicken Paprikash. (Hey Lin, if I am spelling that incorrectly, let me know.) The dumplings come out so nice because this thing makes them on the small size. She tells me you can just drop them in by the spoonful, but it went so fast using this thing. O.k., here is the dilemma. She got it from her Mom. Her Mom got it from Hungary. Are you following me here? Anyone reading this have a Hungarian friend coming to visit you soon? And I mean, straight from Hungary since Linda tells me that's really where to get one of these guys. I didn't think so. So, now, I will be on the hunt for this nifty little gadget. I don't make my own dumplings often and I am not a gadget person, for the most part. But, I do make a lot of different soups and now that we are heading towards the colder weather... (No, I refuse to say "winter!") this gadget would be a nice thing to have. Linda had a name for it, but I couldn't pronounce it let alone spell it. Suffice it to say, it's really cool!

On to the next project........

Hi! Here is my finished purse. I thought I took a better picture of it to show the inside since I really love the fabric I found to line it with, but I don't have a shot of it. So, this one will have to do. I did make this pattern once before and it turned out much smaller. A nice purse, but too small for everyday use. This one is modified, since I added CO stitches and used Lamb's Pride (that has mohair mixed in with the wool) as opposed to the Paton's 100% merino wool I used on the other purse. I like the mohair, but it sometimes looks too fuzzy and you need to give the bag a shave every once in a while. My new bag, I am working on is coming out good, except that I ran out of yarn. (Can you hear my heavy sigh from there?) God knows I have a stash the size of Manhattan, but no yarn to go with my project at hand. Soooo, I went on line and yes, I could've ordered it. But, the shipping would have been more than the yarn and I really wasn't in the mood. You know how you really have to be in the mood for a project once you get it going. This one I am on the fence about. (Pictures to follow.......)

Today, on the first rainy day we have had in a long time, I spent my morning with my good friend Linda. She is an awesome cook and many times drops off her yummies to my house. The last time she did that, my kids were literally licking the container she sent to us. It was THAT good. So, I bought all the ingredients and she came over to show me how to make her famous, "lick the bowl," chicken paprikash. She is 100% Hungarian, so let me tell you, this girl knows how to make a mean chicken paprikash. I can't wait for my kids to get off the bus and smell our house. YUMMY! Now if only I can do it when I am on my own without her here! Cross your fingers......

Hi there Karen (since I know you are probably the only one reading this!) Thank you for the information on deleting those slimy comments from one of my posts. I trash canned them! I always love to read people's blogs. All that knitting fun. Your blog is always a great one. Have a nice weekend and hopefully I will get that picture on here of my bag finished. It came out nice. I have a few in the "hopper" I have to finish and I am working on one now.

It's been a long time..........

Hi there to my friends that read my blog. (Alright, I know of two that read this and I haven't written in months so I am probably writing this for myself alone......) Anyway, one of the reasons I haven't written is that the good weather hit and I was with my children as much as possible. And then the summer came, and I was with my children as much as possible. And the other reason is that I got some slimy comments to my last post and it scared me. I was afraid to open them since I don't want a virus in my computer and then I wondered, who would write such slimy things to a persons knitting blog? Don't they have better things to do than to harass poor, unsuspecting knitters like me? In any event, the bus will be here in a minute and I need to get outside, so this will be a brief posting.

Do you like my "Sebago Bag?" I knit one every year when we go to our place in Maine and then shrink it when I get home. Picture to follow once I upload it to my computer....

I have to also tell you.... I went to "A Stitch in Time" today in Bethel, CT. OMG!!!! (That's what my kids do.) I felt like I had died and gone to heaven, or at least "fiber heaven!" It is a BEAUTIFUL store and has everything you could imagine. I was overwhelmed by it all because I just wanted to stand there and touch all the yarn. It's a bright, cheery store with so many different things to offer. Great yarn (of course!), terrific books and pattern packets, samples knitted all over the store, and the NICEST women working there. I met the owner, Eva, and she was super-duper kind. I felt like I had found a new home! So, it's official that "A Stitch in Time" will be my favorite yarn store.

O.k., got to get the bus now............ See ya!

My plan for the weekend.

Carrie Underwood Concert.....

We went to the Carrie Underwood concert this week and loved it. She is such a great singer and I really enjoyed seeing her in concert. Our chicklets would have liked to have been there, but we didn't have tickets for them, so we are now trying to get Jonas Brother tickets to make it up to them. (Guilt set in when we saw how many kids went to this concert!) Carrie's first and second albums are on our ipods and in the car, so we listen to her all the time. She is, by far, the best American Idol (in our opinion!) But, we do love Kelly as well. She just has a totally different style of music. Fun to rock out to, but we seem to have the "country" vibe going in our house.
I don't know if my guy was thrilled to go to the concert with me, but he smiled through it and seemed to like the music. He really liked Josh Turner, who warmed up for Carrie Underwood, so I should go out and get him that CD. We are not the big "concert going" kind of people, but it was so nice to see Carrie U. since we followed her through the American Idol shows and voted for her all the time. Now we are all hoping for David in this newest season of A.I. Carly is really good too, but there is just something about that David the whole house likes. Who is your favorite??