sigh

i'm too tired and upset to blog. New Orleans is gone. Biloxi is gone. GulfPort is gone. now instead of hundreds dead, they're saying thousands. they're shipping people OUT of louisiana, because the resources were all in new orleans. 95% of the gulf coast gas production was wiped out, and my daughter was scrounging to find cheap gas at $2.99. all is not right with the world tonight. and it probably won't be for a while.

You might be a redneck if you think "wireless communication" means yelling across your front yard.

Pattern of the Day: Lacy crossover Stitch. this is very pretty, but not very useful. might try it with laceweight some day.

Have a nice day.

wow

my kids are amazing. liam has approximately $100 from mowing, and birthday loot. sean has $20. and they both want to donate money to the relief effort in louisiana. liam said all he could think about was the poor kids who lost all their toys, and pets. and they want to help. you know, no matter how much they fight, and argue, and such, it's times like this that i am proudest of my boys. they really do know what's right and good.
Here's the tomato shot i promised you. i wasn't kidding when i said these were monsters! i got the two on the right out of my patch on sunday. the other 4 i garnerd tonight. and i found about a dozen more in varying stages of ripeness, not to mention the billions that are still setting on, and i've got trillions of blooms. i'm in trouble.



I don't know why this is fuzzy, but here's a frame of reference for ya. that's my 3 1/2" cell phone sitting next to the monster tomato. this thing overfills my hand! and it's not the biggest in there! help, i'm being overrun by killer yellow tomatoes! (yes these get very orange when they ripen, i love that)

Knitting
yes, there is knitting content! apparently, everybody loves my handspun, handknit, handdyed anklets for my sock pal. i just hope she does!

Lynne, those aren't pink, they're neon red. that's what i get for not using pink koolaid, lol.

Jessica, a4a is afghans for Afghans. they're doing a 5000 children drive, to give each orphan in afghanistan something warm to wear. granted, there's a hell of a lot more than 5000 orphans, but it's a start. maybe they'll make it. however, at last report, they had only received 20% of their goal (1000 things/sets (such as mittens or socks)). so i'm trying to do my part. right now i've got 4 hats, one pair of socks, and the start on a pair of padded socks and 2-needle mittens. i'm trying.

the reason why i can churn out so much stuff is i knit at work. however, this is the last week before busy season starts, and i will not be allowed anything not "work related" at my desk, which means i'll be bored for the next 3 1/2 months. sigh. i'll keep trying to fight the valiant fight, though, i got christmas stuff to work on.

This weekend may or may not be on, sigh, i didn't hear from the GAL today. i'm going to call her tomorrow and find out what needs to be done. i'm also going to call the county attorney, and see what i can do on my own. mark and i need this weekend as much as the boys would like to visit their grandmother. i will be really pissed if it doesn't happen.

You might be a redneck if you've ever been on television not wearing a shirt (sadly, there must be a lot of rednecks in new orleans and biloxi and gulf port right now).

Pattern of the Day:
Easy Cable Knit Afghan. this is pretty, and gives directions for more than one needle size/yarn weight. very nice.

Have a nice day.

spam commenters, beware

ok, gang, there's a little thingie you have to do to post a comment on my blog now. after getting FOURTEEN spam comments in my last post, i think it's time. i'm not deleting anonymous comments, but you gotta prove you're human (or at least can think and type?).

Knitting
no piccies tonight, gang, i haven't taken any. however, i'm working on padded socks for a4a of my own design (they're not great, but they'll keep some little one's feet warm). the main body of the sock is the fine spun stuff i used for the last pair of baby socks, plus the foot pad part is in the thick handspun i had left over from my sockpal's socks. (by the way alison, crazy socks come from a crazy person, lol!) this involves some short-rowing and twisting, but it's kinda working. these will be tossed in the dyepot as well. i was going to make 2-needle mittens with some lovely purple stuff i got for a4a, but i apparently left thepattern at home, so i made the same hat i did before only smaller, cuz this stuff is more like a heavy worsted than bulky. i'll make mittens tomorrow.

Home
the neanderthal grunted an apology this morning (just kidding, honey!), and we're back on track. i figure he was just tired and upset. however, now i'm upset. my frigging caseworker has struck AGAIN! i had told the bitch that we were going to send the boys to missouri to visit their grandmother right after we got back from oregon! i emailed her several times as to what we needed to do to arrange this, and all she told me was that she'd notified the GAL and county attorney, and didn't know what else to do. now, when i notify her that we have confirmed for this weekend (coming up, you know, the long, 3 day weekend?) she tells me that "she spoke to the department's attorney, and he advises that we get permission from the GAL and the courts".

WTF!

I AM SO SICK OF HER FUCKING GAMES! that's why i was emailing way back in july, dumb bitch! i've forwarded the email to the GAL (thank god i have her email addy) and asked for help. i'm sure it will be ok (she is the one who squared the vacation to oregon in june, 3 days before we were supposed to go (because my caseworker didn't tell me she needed all this information until my mother was in the HOSPITAL!)) but i'm sick of this game playing. i am calling her supervisor tomorrow. i'm done playing this game, and it's going to stop. even if i have to put footprints on a few heads.

and tomorrow, i promise pics of my tomatoes. these things are really huge! ( i toldyou they were!)

You might be a redneck if you don't go anywhere without a siphon hose (that might be handy in the south right now!)

Pattern of the Day: Celest's Chain Mail Fingerless Gloves. these are cool. i think i'm gonna give these a shot, because i have to wear something on my hands at work when it gets so frigging cold (they have to bring in fresh air every 20 minutes, according to OSHA, but refuse to heat it, so in the winter, we freeze.) i like alot!

Have a nice day!

juriassic period?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, IT'S A STEGOSAURUS! gee, isn't he cute? i'm not going to do a face that would be entirely too cliche'd. so, did i do good?

i've been frantically knitting away, trying to get stuff done for a4a. i've got 3 hats, and i'm working on padded toddler socks (my own messed up pattern). i think i may do mittens next. the hats do NOT pass the light test, so i think i will lightly felt them (so i don't lose the texture of the cable) and see how that works. they'll be a little smaller, but definitely warmer.

and i'm dealing with a neanderthal tonight. i hate it when a man gets a notion in his head, and no matter how you try to explain your reasoning for something, he absolutely insists that his way is the only right way. sigh.

Have a nice day!

sock pals unite!

Here they are! TADA! these didn't turn out quite like i expected, but ya know, i like em. i hope my sockpal likes em too. they're a tiny bit big for me, but i figure since these are "lounging" socks (there's the name i've been looking for!), they will fit over any other thin sock she may want to wear. these were dyed with one package of strawberry koolaid, and vinegar. i put them on to simmer while i got the kids ready for school/work, and then turned it off and let it sit all day. came home around 8 pm, and then untied, and rinsed, and blocked. i think they're cool!

Here they are on my feet. the tying was done with rubberbands, and i wasn't expecting the big white patches, but they are definitely interesting. the funny bump over the one toe is still there, but at this point, i can't frog them, so it stays. i think it's just a spot of extra thick yarn where i was kitchenering. tell me what you think!



This picture should be titled "what happens when you turn 13." i had asked liam to model this hat for me (my pattern, and i'm sending it to a4a (it's lambspride bulky), and he made this face. i told him i would post it on the blog. see, i told ya, liam! he was feeling a bit better at this point. i have one more hat done, and one almost finished that are identical to this. i got 3 hats out of 2 skeins of lambspride bulky. i'm suitably impressed.
These are dinosaur bits. seriously. no, i did not dig them up. amazingly enough, i had this funky green in my stash, and since the AC4C person i'm making it for wanted an olive green, this works. it's going to be a stegosaurus. i've got the mai bit done (the body seamed and stuffed) and now have to add the extraneous bits, like legs, and spikes. isn't it amazing how the body looks like a boa constrictor that has eaten a goat? (i know, macabre sense of humor)


And now the fun part of the day. Mark had a classmate who invited us to his wedding, which was in the area of Mark's old home town. mark swore he knew where the place was, but when we got to the area, we drove around for 45 minutes. he finally asked me what i wanted to do, and i said get gas and ask directions. (god forbid, a man ask directions). so we stop, and get gas, and mark asks, and the attendant had no clue what we were talking about. ends up we actually drove PAST the entrance, but since it was unmarked, and mark had left the invitation at home, we were unaware of it. so we didn't go to the wedding. i did get 3 parts of the 4 i needed for hat #3 for a4a done, so i'm doing well with that knitting. instead we wandered glenwood, ia, and saw all of mark's old haunts, including the places where he used to get hammered and fall in the bushes, lol. we even drove past his old house. his parents moved 4 years ago, and as much as i would have liked to driven up the driveway and seen it closer, he wasn't comfortable with that, so we didn't. other than the disappointment of no wedding (i love weddings, and with my own imminent, i'm looking for hints and ideas, lol), we had a nice afternoon. we came home, and ate dinner, and watchd the round and round (nascar) until mark got too tired, and then i brought the boys home, and they played video games til bedtime. they actually did their chores today with no arguement! (i think the new star wars game controllers had something to do with that (they glow, and do other neat stuff)).

You might be a redneck if the last time you took your wife to the movies, she had to hide in the trunk.
. . . you've never owned an iron (i own two, now where they are, i have no clue!)

Pattern of hte Day: 8/26 Jimmy's Bulky Beanie. i like this pattern because it kinda tells you how to do slip stitch colors. one to keep in mind.

8/27-28 Textured Scarf. seed stitch non-pattern, 'sall i'm saying.

Have a nice day!

as promised

here is the link for Afghans for Afghans. take a little time to contribute in some way.

julie andrews ain't got nuttin' on me

First off, i owe emily & my secret pal (who revealed herself today!) Sauniell an apology. i've been slack in posting my pressies. These are the stitchmarkers from emily, from the marker exchange. i got these a while ago, but with everything going on, i forgot to post a pic. these came with a darling flower notepad. sorry the pic is a bit blurry, but it was the best i could do.





This is the gift Sauniell gave me a month ago. there's enough knitpicks yarn there to keep me knitting for weeks! and i'm gonna have fun with the dyeing. only thing is the book says you need FORTY FOOT HANKS! i think i need a bigger niddy noddy. i am looking forward to doing this, that's for sure!



And this is the package i got today! the title of it was Favorite Things. oh boy oh boy oh boy! that skein sitting there so innocuously is Manos Del Uruguay! and that color is MUY DELICIOSO! oh thank you, thank you , thank you! and the stitch markers are DRAGONS! i may never use another stitch marker again! (no offense to the rest of the markers i got, lol) I LOVE MY PACKAGE, SAUNIELL! i'm thrilled to death, and will probably cast on with my manos after i get a few more things done.

I'm making stuff for a4a, and i've got one pair of baby socks done, and ready to to tie up and dye, and one hat. i was a bad girl, and bought a ton of yarn from String of Purls, and they gave me an extra stamp on my SABLE card as their contribution toward my effort. wow. i'm on my second hat right now, but need to finish sewing up the bootie i started on tuesday, and start a dino for AC4C. but i'm hatting like mad.

liam stayed home sick (poor guy) but he seems to be feeling better. he's begging for his video games, but i told him no, lol. if he's sick enough to stay home, he's sick enough to not play video games.

You might be a redneck if your car has seat covers over the seat covers.

Pattern of the Day: Ruffled Shawl. this is cute, but a tiny bit small. i doubt i'll make it.

Have a nice day!

happy birthday, liam

You are my sunshine child. You were the child i had, when i thought i wasn't going to have any more. You are my affectionate, sweet, loveable child that everyone likes. You are caring, sweet, and nurturing. You will make someone a wonderful husband some day.

You are growing up. Today you take a step into a world you're not sure of. You turn 13 today, and that makes you a teenager. As you grow, both physically, and mentally, i see you look and act more and more like your grandfather, who we lost 4 years ago. In you, now, i see the man you will be.

You are crazy, and silly, and emotional (gee, you're a teen, that's expected), talkative, and loving. You were my little tow-head, and i can see you now, at 3, with your shining blonde hair, talking so fast nobody could understand you. I've watched you grow, and thrive, despite all the obstacles set in your way, despite all the pain and horror you have survived.

You are my son, and i am proud to be your mother.

Happy Birthday, Liam.

And so it begins. . . (jr high, that is)

This is the needle i used to do my kitchener on the second sock. you will notice this thing is as long as my thumb! wow! i will say this, my handspun was much easier to thread with this needle than the other, and it was much easier to do the kitchener with it. i need to keep track of this bad momma jamma.







Here are the sock pal anklets, all bundled up with rubber bands and ready to be soaked and dyed. they're done, but i'm not showing them until they are dry and off the blockers. i let them sit in the dye bath all day (simmered them for 20 minutes before i left for work) and then drained, rinsed, and put on the blockers. they didn't turn out like i had expected (or hoped) but i do like them. i hope the sock pal does, because they did NOT turn out the color i expecting.




This itty bitty thing is a baby sock. i know, i'm being captain obvious. what's special about this sock is that it's my own handspun, again. i had given up on the thick pad around the house socks, and decided to try to spin thinner. well, apparently i accomplished it! these are even navajo plied (which is 3 plies), and it's actually pretty close to sock weight. i'm using size 2 needles. wow. i've even impressed myself! this and its soon to be finished mate will be dyed tiedye koolaid purple (actually walmart brand, lol) and sent to San Francisco for Afghans for Afghans 5000 children project. if any of you knitters out there have a little spare time and wool (the clothing has to be 75% wool or more, or animal fibers in general) they could really use your help. i'll post the link later, i'm feeling lazy on my DAY OFF!

And here are my not so little handsome sons dressed to kill for their first day of school. note the new haircuts as well. this was take 3, because liam wanted to horse around. however, they do look pretty good, don't they (no proud mamma here!) liam put on his new shoes this morning, and when he stood up, he was taller than me. i had predicted that he would be taller than me by christmas, but i feel this is gonna happen a lot sooner than i thought. and he turns 13 tomorrow. wow. liam started 7th grade today, and sean is in 6th. my babies are growing up.


You might be a redneck if you've ever FedExed beef jerky (since when did FedEx become a verb? must be a redneck thing)

Pattern of the Day: Flock of Geese Socks. this looks cool! and it has a heel i've never heard of, called a half hankerchief. will have to try these. too bad most of my sock yarn is variegated. oh well, incentive to buy more! (like i need that, lol)

What i'm reading
Uther by Jack Whyte. this is the book i read at work, so it's taking it's sweet time. i wish there was more dialog, but can't have it all, eh?
Otherland: Mountain of Black Glass by Tad Williams. this is a very interesting series. i don't know if it ends with this one, or if it has more. it is good, though.
Car listening: some agatha christie novel, but this is hercule poirot, and not miss marple. i think i like the marple ones better. will have to check more out. i'll let you know what the title is later.

Have a nice day!

careful

this is addictive. blame deb. but you know what? it's a great way to waste time at work. try manic mode.

You might be a redneck ifyour high school class voted you "best mother."

Pattern of the day: Elongated Stitch Scarf. ahem. i'm not saying a word.

Have a nice day!

(i'm sure my morning will be frantic and insane, tomorrow is the first day of school!)

babies rule

This is the hat i made for the "monkey" set for Polly's outfits for AC4C. i will be shipping these directly to colorado, and then glenda will be matching it up there. this is my own design, all the way down to the little flower on the side, that matches some fabric that polly used to make a sleeper (i think, i'd have to look, lol). the brown actually matches the monkey in the blanket she made to go with it better. and yes, this coordinates with the sweater i made earlier. that single brown stripe is this stuff.






Here is a closeup of the flower i made for the hat. it's very simple. ch 2, sc 8 in 2nd chain, color change to blue, ch 3, dc in same space, sl st in next sc, 4dc in next sc, repeat 2 more times. sl st in final sc, fasten off. i left both pink and blue ends a little long, and used them to securely fasten the flower to the hat. does it work?




These are the booties i made to match the outfit. i only used a bare minimum of the pink and blue because i was rapidly running out. do they work? (and yes, i know the pink stitching is showing through, and it wasn't intentional at first, but i liked it, so i did it again! this is a girl's outfit after all









Ok, blogger is giving me fits trying to make this look nice, and i've deleted 2 pictures twice, so you're just going to have to wait until tomorrow nite for them. i'm getting tired!

i finished the moebius today, and it's almost big enough to be a shawl! i think if i had made it wider it would have worked well for a large child, or small woman. it definitely fits over my shoulders! it's nice though, and much more comfortable than i would have thought. i may have to make one slightly revised for myself, so i can wear it without having to fight with my clips. definitely a plus for that one. i'll post a pic of it tomorrow (if blogger lets me, i tried to post pics of the hat last night, and it wouldn't let me).

work was boring, except that for some reason someone (and i know who, but i won't say here) got a bee in their bonnet and decided my shorts were too short?!?!?!? i've worn these shorts to work since i bought them 3 weeks ago, and no complaints until today. and they are regulation length for school, past my finger tips. what's up with that? i've seen shorter, tighter, and more revealing (as in cleavage, butt crack(those ultra low rise are disgusting), thong underwear, and belly) and they want to send ME home for short shorts? sigh. i had a jacket in the car, so i didn't have to go home, but i'm really pissed. i'm trying to decide if i should just wear pants from now on, and see if that certain person can find something to bitch about then, or just go back to wearing my usual shorts. sigh.

i swear the full moon was tonight, and not friday, because everybody is insane (i.e. mark & the boys)today!

i went out back and decided it was time to tackle the jungle on the south side of my house. i deemed this necessary when the power guy left a note that he was unable to read my OUTDOOR meter. hmmmm. well, he can see it now! i also moved part of the compost pile. it was blocking my access to that area, hence the overgrowth. will have to see how many vines i killed off. (i hope all)

You might be a redneck if your mobile home has a loft. (ook)

Have a nice day!

fun with socks

this is the sockpal2za anklet. it looks a little funky right now. i'm hoping that after i dye these things and put them on the blockers, that the funky part of the toe will straighten out. this is the first time i've ever kitchenered a toe before, and i had to tear it out once and do it again. do you know how hard it is to tear out handspun yarn? not fun, i guarantee (think justin wilson, right there). i have woven in the end at the beginning, and it is all bundled up with rubberbands, awaiting its mate for dyeing. i'm hoping i can get it done by this afternoon, so i can soak them, and then dye them tonight, after the boys are in bed.

i've been working on the baby hat to go with the sweater, but i'm moving a bit slow this weekend.

i did get alot done on the moebius scarf, if only because i was out alot yesterday, and was waiting for haircuts to be performed. i got mine trimmed, but since he only took a tiny bit off, he only charged me for a bang trim. SCORE! half price, baby, all the way! he showed me the amount of hair he'd trimmed off, and i quailed at the thought of paying $12 for that, but i was really grateful when that was all he charged me. now the boys were full price, but i had a coupon for sean at least. and of course, i did tip. question to y'all?

what do you tip your hairdresser? is 15% appropriate, like when you go to a restaurant? i tipped each one $1, even the "bang" guy. was that too much or not enough? lemme know what you think?

so much for it being nice this weekend! it was over 90 yesterday, and is hot and muggy right now at nearly 11. sigh.

we were going to go to the rib festival in CB, but since the boys have been such rats, that's been cancelled. i am so tired of not doing things because of their behavior. and i can't ask my mom to babysit any more than she already does (although her last day of regular babysitting is tuesday, after that, she'll just watch either boy if they're sick) and mark isn't sure how well his dad would handle sean. granted his mom would do most of the watching, but still. so, we don't go.

well, must scoot, i have to go prod liam into mowing again.

You might be a redneck if there are four pairs of pants and 2 squirrels hanging from your clothesline (i don't have a clothesline :( ).

Pattern of the Day: Katherine's Quilt. this is done modularly, but i haven't looked close enough to see if it's done domino style, or if it's sewn together. looks cute, and would be a good stash buster.

Have a nice day!

ps. hey vi, email me, i don't have your email, and i have a comment on your last post, and i'm not a "team member"

i agree with natalie, this is FRYday

This is the charity sweater that i'm making for the monkey set on AC4C. the middle section is purple and blue that were fingering weight, so i combined them. both colors are in the fabric that Polly used. the pink is also in the fabric. the light blue is not, but i needed a filler, lol, and it's a good compliment. the single brown stripe on the sleeve is because i ran out of yarn, and had to improvise. i did pick a brown that coordinates with the fabric, and i'm making hat & booties in the brown, with pink & blue trim. this will be a little girl's outfit, for sure.


This is the sockpal2za's pad around the house anklet revisited. i finally bowed to pressure, and restarted these, but on size 8 dpn's. i only have 4, so i've been improvising with 3 needles at a time. these are not matched either, lol, i have 2 long needles and two short, so that makes it doubly fun! i almost had the toe done, but it came out lopsided, so frog hunting i went. sigh. btw, that christmas colored blob on the floor next to the envelope is the vaunted christmas stocking. sorry you can't see more (wanna lick? PSYCH!) (sorry, the picture has been removed per request)


on a happy note, annie was hunting for test knitters, and i sent her an email, and she said yes! so i'm on her list (aren't i always on someone's list lately? at least this is a good list!), and she'll contact me if she needs me to knit anything. ooolala!

Home
sean was a horrible boy at Mahoney state park (they have a waterpark there). he lost his clothes, and his glasses (the clothes were recovered, the glasses were not (double sigh)) with school starting in5 days, i am going to have to take him for a new pair tomorrow. no choice. if they find them great, he'll have a back up pair. if not, well, he'll just have to live with the cheapest glasses i can find him (and i don't care what they look like, natural consequences rock, ya know?).

he keeps claiming to be sorry, but he sure as hell isn't acting it. sigh.

You might be a redneck if you've ever spent more than half a day in a fishing shop.
. . .your ex-wife is the president of your fan club (I DON'T THINK SO!)

Pattern of the Day:

8/18: The Spiral Cap. this is definitley cute, minus the top finish (a bow knot? is that what i'm seeing?). since i want to knit a few things for Afghans for Afghans (go check it out, they're taking apparel until 9-16), this looks like a likely candidate. relatively simple, and cute, too. i'll have to dye my yarn green for islamic good luck.

8/19: Cozy Whisper Cotton Chenille Slippers. ok, who cut oscar the grouch's feet off? these things are so hideous, they're cute! and the color used made me think exactly of oscar. sheesh!

Have a nice day!

i think i finally understand, vi

the neighbor across the street just finished running his weedwacker. it is 9:17 PM. now mind you, it starts getting dark around 830 here, this time of year. that means this looney is running his weedwacker IN THE DARK. is there something wrong with this picture? this is the same man who ran his leaf blower for 3 hours, and 2 days later ran it again for another 3 hours. is this man compensating for something undersized? or was he just drunk? all i know is i'm working on a migraine, and i came very close to taking the hedge clippers and clipping his electric cord. gotta love major weather fronts that come through like freight trains.

Crafting
i do believe i have hit nirvana with the moebius. ok, maybe not nirvana, but i'm thinking only 2 more stripes after this one. maybe i'll even use up the rest of that evil woolease (god, i hate this stuff almost as bad as red heart soft baby). the crap sheds everywhere. i can tell what computer i've been sitting at at work, because i find piles of the fluff on the desk. sigh.

on the other hook (like that segue?), i've begun a sweater for AC4C for a set i've agreed to buddy on. it's a monkey set (the theme this month is animals), but all i'm doing is making coordinating sweater, hat & booties.

i'm also going to make a dinosaur toy for another set from xtreme knitting. i was going to link to the website, but when i pulled out the pattern, i realized that there's no website on it. however, it's copyrighted by Jennifer Thurston, so maybe you can google her. don't ask me to, i'm worn out. i'm just waiting to find out what color and which beastie the woman wants.

edit: i stopped at hobby lobby to buy one bag of polyfill for the dinosaur, and wouldn't you know it, they had red heart light and lofty/bright & lofty on sale for $2.44 a skein (that's almost as cheap as supersaver!) and the polyfill, so i ended up with 5 skeins of yarn, and 3 bags of polyfill. i'm weak! can we all say SABLE? i knew you could.

Home
i got 3 tomatoes from the garden yesterday (it would have been 4, but the slugs got one (anybody have a good remedy for these buggers? i've already tried the plate of beer (it's dehydrated down to a thick brown sludge, i'm gonna have to bring the plate in and wash it, sigh)). so we had BLT's tonight, since mark was so tired, after we went to see a hall we're thinking about having the reception at, he went home and went to bed. now, yellow tomatoes make for interesting blts. they have a brighter, less acidic taste than red tomatoes. granted these are slicing tomatoes, and not the plums i wanted, but that's ok. they are turning a gorgeous shade of mango simply soft (by caron, lol). i love them. and i keep finding more and more monsters in my garden. when these suckers ripen, i'll be off the blog for a week trying to put them up. we're going to make salsa, and sauce, and juice, and anything else i can think of (maybe even sundried yellow tomatoes? ooooooo, now that's an idea, i'm glad i thought of it!). and when it gets ready to freeze, anybody up for fried green tomatoes, picallilly, and tomato relish? sigh, i'm buried already, and i've only gotten 6 out of the garden so far!

the bad part is when the tomatoes fell, some of them landed close enought o my little marigolds to cover them up from the sun, and the little buggers are dying. the ones that run up the side are the bad ones. the ones out front (i showed you one of them) have gone apeshit. my god, all the bushes are as big as the one i showed you, if not bigger, and blossoms til doomsday! i've never had marigolds do this before. i've even impressed myself!

and my roses are blooming?! i've had them since mid june, and they've been living in my daughter's sled. with all the rain we had last friday, there's been standing water int he sled all week. apparently the roses liked it, because all 3 have bloomed?!? i'm amazed and in awe.

work is boring, boring, boring, but at least it's work. i had to leave early today to take my mother to a dentist appointment, but everybody has been getting RTOed (required time off, vi) all week. not good. one woman says instead of one full time job, and one part time job, at this point she has 2 part time jobs. that bites.

as for my mother, we finally convinced her it was a good idea to start wearing the $2000 partials we had made for her (this 2 months after she's had them!). she has arthitis relatively bad in her hands (her handwriting is pretty shaky, it amazes me that she can crochet at all (and she taught herself to do that years after i moved out (my mom is 78, so this is absolutely amazing!))) and has a hard time trying to pry them out of her mouth. i do think we finally got it through to her, but she's going to have to have the top ones adjusted, i think. they looked a bit wobbly. the dentist was very happy with the level of clean she has been getting since she got an electric toothbrush, though, so hopefully things will maintain. now, however, she has a cavity that needs filled quickly, because it's an anchor tooth for her partials. sigh, another appointment.

sean's catscan went well (finally got ahold of the doctor, no mroe phone tag) and the dr wants us to follow up with an appointment on sept 8. sigh. another appointment to put in for. will i ever get a full week in again? once mark is more comfortable with the boys, and i become less of a control freak (the former is more likely to happen than the latter) i 'm going to ask him to start taking the boys to appointments that have to be scheduled during the week, since he gets off at 230. will make my paychecks better too.

on that note, i'm whipped so

You might be a redneck if you can ruin a pair of shoes in one wearing (oh stephanie!)

Have a nice day!

i'd like to thank the academy . . .

wait a minute, this isn't the emmys. where's my agent! lol.

thank you to everyone who has been so nice and congratulatory about me being accepted for the 2007 crochet calendar. the dream is happening folks. i can hardly believe it!

i'm going to keep this short and sweet, as it's late, and i'm tired. i promise more tomorrow, if all goes well (we're going hall shopping tomorrow, sigh)

You might be a redneck if you dated your daddy's current wife in high school (ew?)

Pattern of the Day: Jules. this is a rowan denim yarn pattern with shrink written into it. i had used the cable heart motif to send a white square to Lisa @ AC4C for white afghans she was making for burial sets. i can't do the sets themselves (breaks my heart to think of babies that didn't make it), but i can at least do white squares.

Have a nice day!

you like me, you really, really like me!

or at least annie modesitt likes me! i was reading drew, and he was talking about some vests he was designing for submission to the 2007 crochet calendar. i've been thinking about writing up a pattern for a christmas stocking that i made up a month or so ago, and after the "success" of having my essay be accepted, i decided to go out on a limb, and submit it to annie. well, i did so tonight, and well, it looks like it's in! no remuneration other than a calendar, and my name in lights, but hey, it's another step to that dream come true. wow!

and now for some piccies. (hopefully)

well, lookee here! it's a turtle! yes, this is the turtle i'm making for steph. isn't it darling? she's a turtle fanatic, so i thought this would be cute.
and yes, i had to buy yarn to make it. i don't usually buy baby yarn, so the left overs will probably go for something for AC4C (god more patterns to print, sigh). the original pattern calls for velcro for the shell, but it ain't happening here. i hate velcro and yarn together. so i'm using buttons instead.
and here ya go erin. this is my version of a moebius scarf. i got this pattern from AC4C, but i'm too tired to go find it and look it up, lol. ask me again later. the white is the fuzzy wool-ease i've been trying to get rid of, and the blue is the kool wool that deb gave me a few months back that i promised i'd use for charity. it's turning out interesting, that's for sure. and fun to work on, too, wouldn't you say, erin?

Home:

wouldn't you know it, i give away my first 2 tomatoes because mark won't eat them raw, and they were perfectly ripe, so i didn't want them to spoil, and mark's AC blows up, and he cancels on us for dinner. we could have had home-grown blts! alas and alack. there will be other opportunities, specially since i bought a10# box of bacon at no frills for $12.99! remember all those lovely pics of my garden all neat and standing tall? we had a big blow friday night, and the wimpy cages all went tumbling. my tomato plants are fine, but they are no longer standing up. i told mark, heavier cages next year! and remember those softball sized tomatoes? they're as big as my head! (well not quite, but they are quite large.)

You might be a redneck if the only things not rusted in your yard are the pinwheels on either side of the driveway.

Pattern of the Day: Baby Socks. maybe this is what i'll use the baby yarn on after i finish the turtle!

Have a nice day!

and michelle wins the prize for being the first to come up with an actual definition of drollery. i wasn't kidding, gang, lol. you get a lovely skein of purple cotton chenille (i don't know why i bought it, but it is nice). email me with your addy, hon, and i'll mail it to ya (and i know, it's canada, it may come slow boat, ok?)

well, well, will wonders never cease

this is what my doctor thinks of me. the nurse drew my blood, and gave me a hello kitty bandaid. isn't it so cute? (hands barf bags around) i had my annual physical yesterday, with the usual drollery that surrounds such undignified postures. one thing though, that i thought was funny, was that last year, the doctor didn't perform that certain test properly that all females detest, and i had to go in and have it done again. i told him this year that the nurse gave me permission to kick him in the nose if he didn't get it right this time. he promised he'd do well, and that he'd wear a nose guard the next time he saw me, lol.
sean's ice cream birthday cake. wow, there are 11 candles on there, and mark burnt himself trying to light all of them. the boy is getting old. (so is the mom, sigh)
sean's birthday card. yes, it does look like a hardshell taco, and the inside says if you stuffed it with meat, cheese and lettuce, you'd have a paper taco! he loved it (he loves drollery) (gee, i've used that word twice in one post, a prize to the first person who can give me an exact definition of that, lol!)
well, i bought the yarn to make a turtle for steph for christmas. now if she's talking to me at christmas, that will be even better.
(don't ask, i'm not talking (and neither is she, she hasn't been here in 5 days, sigh)).

took the boys to a baseball game this afternoon (free tickets rock, doncha know!), and then, when couldn't stand liam's hugginess, we left and went to the zoo (which is right across the"street") we didn't last there long either, sigh. and sean got his ass in a sling again. he'd had to write 10 words for me this morning, and ended up with 15 more tonight. sigh.

not a lot of crafting this weekend, although i did commit to make a sweater, hat & bootie set to go with some monkeyshines (actually, monkey patterned stuff) for AC4C.

have a nice day.

knock it off!

whoever is spamming my comments had better knock it the fuck off!
i will delete permanently any spam i find in my comments.


you may resume your regular blog reading.

thank you.

oof

i don't know why, but i can never post test results here. for some reason, the html always ends up broken, now matter how hard i try. i just took a sorting hat test, and i'm a Gryffyndor. since i like those colors best, this is a good thing, lol.


you know, i hate blogger. i just tried to post pics, and the blasted thing ignored me. it also asked me to log in, which makes me wonder. sigh.

Crafting

i've been working on a project to submit to the 2007 Crochet Calendar, that Annie Modesitt is setting up/editing, whatever you want to call it, lol. i think it's turned out well, i'm just having a bit of trouble with the picture. as deb has noted before the coolpix cameras have something to be desired as far as colors go. sigh. although i did take a pic on my front porch (it's a cloudy day, sigh) that is better, i may still have to wait for a better day.

i've also been working on the moebius scarf in white fuzzy woolease and the kool wool deb sent me. this is turning out interestingly, if only because the two yarns are a completely different guage, lol. it is pretty, though.

Home
sean's birthday was monday, as y'all know, and we had his ice cream cake last night, as we were all too full monday after Red Lobster. i will tell you this: i may never buy a regular cake again. the kids & mark loved it (too rich for me, lol), and we still have half of it left.

mark spent the night last night, or at least tried. one small problem. my bed is too small for him, sigh. it's an old iron bed that my grandmother left me, and has head & footboards, which prevents mark from hanging his feet off the end. he's 6'8", and my bed is 6'2". he tossed and turned until about midnight, then went out to the sofa. at 4, he gave up, and went home and slept in his own bed (his is queen sized, without a footboard). so now we have to figure out how to fit a bigger bed in my itty bitty bedroom. sigh.

You might be a redneck if your car is permanently covered in paw prints.
. . . you have a fence in your yard, but it's not up. (i originally typed that as yarn, imagine that!)
. . .you wear a giant foam finger at your kid's graduation.

Pattern of the Day:
8-12 Arches & Columns Bookmark. this is a nice bookmark, will have to give it a shot.
8-13/14 Magic Tube. this is that thing that was around every store (including my grocery store) for most of last summer. i wasn't that enamoured of it then, and i'm not now, either. i don't wear tube tops (i've got too much upstairs for that), and mini dresses? get real. i could possibly be entreated to make this as a funnel scarf, but why waste that much eyelash? nice thought, though. i'd wondered how these were constructed.

Have a nice day
(i'll try posting pics later, sigh)

sigh

ok, kat! of katskratch fame, are those things with the skull and cross bones just really big stitch markers, or earrings? because frankly, i could see myself wearing those at halloween time! i love em, and the markers.

And these are just too precious. they are easy, simple, and will stick out anywhere i want to put them. i love these as well.
and don't take me wrong, but i think these are my favorite part of my package! Kat, you rock! thank you very much!
today was frustrating and annoying. sean had to have a cat scan today because the doctor said his lymph glands in his abdomen were swollen, and they wanted to make sure nothing was really wrong. it messed up my whole day, especially since i found out something last night that i can't talk about here (falls under the major family promise thingie), and slept horribly all night. getting up at 645 after going to bed at 1 to feed my child his meds (so he would sit still for the scan) and the contrast thing that was a good 12 ounces (chug, chug, chug!) that he didn't want to finish really really stunk. he was really good for the scan, but last night's trouble involved him, so i was less than inclined to reward the behavior. i know, bad mommy.

and because of last night's events, i won't be going to String of Purl's sit & knit tomorrow night, after having been promised it for weeks. to put it mildly, i'm very disappointed. crushed is more like it. and i wont be able to go til september, at htis pace. liam has school orientation on the 18th, and his birthday is on the 25th. also, the boys' trip to independence, mo to visit their grandmother was cancelled as well. she called me angry tonight, and i told her that the therapist felt that it wasn't a good idea at this time. she wanted to know if she could still ahve them before school started, and i told her probably not. the boys are disappointed as well. mark and i were going to "run away" and hide out in a hotel room, but that's off too. forgive the pity party, but i'm upset.

and in case y'all wanted to know, i've given in. apparently the lovely sockpal2za lady (her name slips me, and i'm too tired and lazy to look it up) thinks i should stick with the thick socks, and has recruited numerous sock pals to blitz me about the socks. so i'm going to try to find the chicken hat, salvage the size 8 DPN's, and try to cast on again. i should know better than to second guess myself, lol. thanks for the vote of confidence, ladies.

about the only thing that's going well is that i'm designing a christmas stocking to submit to dear annie modesit for the 2007 crochet a day calendar. wish me luck
You might be a redneck if your wife uses more bleach on her hair than she does on the laundry.
. . . your mom thins you should have been a surgeon because of the ease and confidence you ahve with the deep-fat fryer. (huh?)

Pattern of the Day
8-9: Piece of Cake Hat. this is cute, but i think i'd skip the ties, and just gather the hat at the very end, rather than with that ruffle. i don't like ruffles, lol.
8-10: Shaggy Bear. this is cute, and the picture is done in brown with fun fur of some sort. it's garter stitch, which i can see making it amazingly simple. i'm waiting for someone to blog with it in pink eyelash witha purple base, though.

Waht i'm reading
Hottentot Venus. still very interesting, but taking turns i wasn't expecting. she wasn't kidnapped, she went willingly, although she was tricked by a white man who told her he'd marry her when she earned her bride price. men.

Still on Uther. it's starting to get a bit interesting, uther is now almost 16.

Otherland: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams. this is a series i'd started way back last summer when i first got my library card, and then promptly forgot the rest of the series, until i was hunting something different to read. it's about the world in the 21st century, where VR is the way of life, and there are "charge" heads instead of crackheads, and some plot to try to create utopia, at the expense of children who use the net. interesting.

have a nice day.

a few notes on today

1. little boys want their birthday presents ON their birthday, not when it ships to your house, even though said present was ordered the day BEFORE said birthday.

2. i am really too old to be playing Dance Revolution.

3. Eleven isn't so little any more.

4. Cat scans for eleven year olds are scary (for mom, too, sean doesn't really understand what's going on just as yet).

5. said 11 year olds may say they can handle snow crab (red lobster for dinner tonight, yum), but are not adverse to some dadhandling of said snow crab.

and lastly, eleven year old little/big boys are amazingly well behaved when they want a handful of tokens because "mom, i'm about to thrash this enemy helicopter, but i got beat and i need more tokens to keep going!"

You might be a redneck if the post office discontinues your service because the mailman keeps getting stuck in your driveway.

Pattern of the Day: Choo-Choo Summer Shell. this is named for the yarn by Crystal Palace (obviously, Captain Obvious has struck again!), but it has a cable running up the front, and it's actually a cute little tank, i jsut wouldn't or couldn't wear it in that harlot red (sorry, stephanie).

oh, and here's another little ditty to dance to.

(runs and hides)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!

you are my youngest, my baby. it's been an interesting 11 years. i've watched you sit in a blue light to get rid of the jaundice. i've watched you roll over. i've watched you wrap your sisters (as well as the rest of us) around your little finger, to the point that you were carried so much you didn't walk until you were 14 months old. then life got interesting. you were mobile. that's also when we started to learn that there was something distinctly different about you.

you're smart, to the point that i truly believe you can do anything you put your mind to. i can't wait to see what you're going to do with your life. yet, i want you to stay my baby boy, my little innocent who says "x's & o's" when you get off the phone, and asks for "huggies."

you've had some distinctly tough times, and i'm sure there are many more ahead, but i'm sure you will still love the world, and all it's mysteries, and go exploring again.

i love you sean patrick alexander, and i'm glad you're in my world.

Mom

onions all in a row

ok, so they're tomatoes and marigolds, but they are in rows. this is the gardenette that i've been trying to tend all summer long. wouldn't you know it, i'm allergic to tomato vines. considering they're in the same family as deadly nightshade, no small wonder. i'm also allergic to potato vines. i break out in a rash that itches like a fiend. fortunately it only lasts a few hours. i have 8 tomato plants and 16 marigolds. the marigolds also run up the right side by the path to the parking area, besides the ones you see in front.

this is ONE marigold plant! apparently, i have a good outdoor green thumb! of course, i've been watering these with water from the dehumidifier on almost a daily basis. i'm sure that's not going to hurt.
This is the SMALLEST of my tomato plants! you will notice there are tons of tomatoes on it.
These are just a few of the tomatoes i've got going. these are tennis ball sized from what i can tell. i've got some that are bigger than softballs, and they're ALL dead green. i'm in for it when they start to ripen. i see yellow tomato sauce and salsa and juice, and whatever else i can cook up with a ton of yellow tomatoes. (yes, they're yellow, i had wanted yellow plums, but they died before we could get them in the ground)and this isn't from my garden, lol. since blogger has a 5 picture limit, you'll just have to wait until later to see what was in this package. this is from katskratch crafting. i tried to link to her website, but blogger isn't admitting it exists. ok, kat, thank you very much, i've got a few questions about what you sent me, lol.i went birthday shopping for sean again. since i know he's not going to see this blog, i'll tell you what we got him.

i've been after the boys to get rid of games if they wanted new ones, so liam traded in battle for bikini bottom (spongebob) and tiger woods golf, and we got lego starwars & a guide for the game. i also bought him a soccer ball (notice the emphasis on outdoor fitness, lol), LOTR Monopoly, and spongebob plug n' play game.

mark asked him today if he wanted a guitar for his birthday, or a bass guitar, because he's always playing with mark's acoustic bass. sean said he wanted to play the guitar. so, while liam and i went shopping, mark went online. the problem with buying sean a guitar is the fact that he's left-handed. a basic starter kit for a right-handed person is about $150. the whole kit for sean is $300. mark's band mate said he'd teach sean to play (since mark only plays bass) for a small fee, so we made sure that sean would really do this (sean can be very earnest, and he's still absolutely fascinated with his chemistry book, and he's had that for over 8 months). mark also believes that if sean has a way to vent his frustration in music, he might be able to better deal with everything else, and not hold it in til he acts out. i have very high hopes for this, because it's a lot of money to spend on an 11 year old for a birthday present. i'm hoping this is a gift for life. it has been for mark, as my fiber work has been for me. and tomorrow, i'm taking a half day off, and sean and i are going to go out on the town (at least for the afternoon, lol). then on to red robin for monster burgers and tasty fries. yummy.

Have a nice day!

no piccies tonight

steph has my camera again. she's at the sydney, iowa rodeo (one of the biggest rodeo events in the area, and possibly the country, i'll ask her tonight, lol). she really needs to find hers, lol.

no knitting today, and no crochet, but lots of spinning, both of wool, and my head. i've got almost a bobbinful of nice thin singles, that i'm going to ply with another bobbinful, as soon as i fill it. the navajo ply was just too thick, and this will make a nice weight sock. no more "wear these around the house to keep your feet warm," these are going to be legitimate ankle socks. sa va?

today was a sales tax holiday in iowa, so the boys and i went school shopping (just clothes, i don't have lists yet, and school starts in 2 1/2 weeks, i'm having serious issues with OPS). liam got 5 pairs of pants, and sean got 7. a lot of the pants i bought liam last spring still fit (i'd bought 14's), but sean has outgrown his 10's, and has moved on to 12's. and he's not getting any pudgier (just has a bit of a roll, lol), so i'm assuming we're safe. i also bought them each a team shirt (sean bought iowa state, for mark, and liam bought nebraska, because he's a die hard fan, and refuses to be swayed, lol), and dress clothes for a wedding we're going to in 3 weeks. i also bought sneakers for each boy, and dress shoes (also for wedding). i did buy the dress shoes a half size bigger than normal, because i want them to be able to wear them for a while (even if in liam's case, it's only till school gets out in the spring) the shoe selection for sean's size at walmart was disgusting. we had to really hunt for sneakers, and they didn't ahve any kind of dress shoe for him. i ended up going to payless just down the street. ah well, walmart's loss. ok, now don't faint in shock (unless you're buying clothes for your kids now, too, and you'll understand) i spent almost $500 bucks! granted, there were some incidentals, like a new phone, since steph killed off my last one, and a shelf to put in the kitchen so the shoes don't end up everywhere, like they normally do. i did buy 5 boxes of cereal (pray they last 2 weeks, sigh), and forgive me, 3 skeins of yarn, but still, there's a big chunk of change laying in walmart bags on my kitchen floor (i haven't been able to bring myself to put it all away, and we went straight to mark's after we left walmart). and amazingly enough, most of it was tax free. i paid $10 in sales tax on that order. iowa sales tax is 7%. you do the math. i wish nebraska would do a tax holiday, and apparently they did once, but decided they needed the income more. well, guess what, gang, you lost out on my sales tax dollars for this purchase, anyway. nebraska is a high-taxing state, if you're a normal joe schmoe (at least in the midwest). theyr'e high on their gas tax, income tax, sales tax, property tax, and even estate tax. sigh. that's why my mom has been investing so heavily. she's worried about how much of a bite it will take from our inheritances. dirty assbeagles (like that, rabbitch?).

sean broke his glasses again, and this time they're not fixable, so he's gonna have to stew til they're done. and the doctor didn't call yet, so i will call monday, and hope that i don't have an awful announcement for my baby's birthday. and yes, at 4:18 pm, sean patrick alexander will be 11 years old. happy birthday, my baby boy. (i'm old, ahve i said that yet?)

You might be a redneck if you're related to the stripper at your bachelor party.

(anybody click on the llama llama duck link? is it driving you nuts yet? good, the boys saw it today, and they've been singing llama llama duck all afternoon. thanks stephanie)

the frog strikes again

i can't stand how the sock is turning out, so it went in the pond. i'm seriously thinking i'm going to spin some more and try to get thinner. i just can't handle the bulk of this.


llama llama duck don't blame me, blame the harlot. it's all her fault.

You might be a redneck if your dad taught you how to elude a pack of trailing bloodhounds. (hmm, this could be my ex? either one? did i say that out loud?)

Pattern of the Day: Entrelac Baby Sweater & Tam Set. this is the set i was talking about yesterday, but i'm not sure i'm gonna be able to do this, since the guague is a bit tiny. i'm still thinking about it.

Have a nice day
(i'm taking the kids school shopping tomorrow, pray for me)

sock advice, please

ok, it's official, i'm frustrated and angry. i have tried 3 times to post pics of the sock i'm making for sockpal2za, for some advice, and the damned thing won't post. sigh. so, you'll get a description.

the yarn i'm using is pretty thick (it's handspun, so there are variations). i'm getting 3 1/3 stitches per inch. yeah, it's that thick. i started out swatching with size 4 needles, but the resulting fabric was too stiff for my taste. so i switched up to size 5 (with 1 size 6 needle thrown in for good measure, i only have 4 size 5's, lol). the fabric for this is softer, but still pretty dense. i decided to go ahead and knit the sock anyway. i've tried it on several times as my pal has the same length and circumfrence as me, and while, yes, this is gonna make a thick sock (think pad around the house thick), it's very comfy. not scratchy, stiff or rough. this is a merino blend. my question is this: should i keep on (i'm almost done with the first sock, and contemplating spinning another bobbinful for the other one), since it is comfortable, or should i rip it, save this for another project, and try to spin thinner? (i can do it, i just thought this would be an adventure, and it has been that, that's for sure!) the sock pal does live in a colder climate. i also intend on tie-dyeing these socks after they are knit (koolaid rocks!). (yes, i know how to be careful about felting, lol). help me please?

Home
i know what i promised, but i gotta tell you guys this. Mark and i finally set a date for the wedding! y'all make sure that september 16, 2006 is available, ya hear? this is semi-tentative, as we have to find a place to have the wedding, and the reception, and since we're only 14 months out, it may be tough (i've heard of halls being reserved 2-3 years out!). any of you omaha/bellevue/papillion/etc denizens (yes, erin, that's you!) have any ideas for parks (we both decided we wanted an outdoor wedding) with nearby halls, please holler at me! and yes, even though i'm not really clear about what my spiritual path is, mark has asked for a christian wedding. i can live with that. especially since the minister he's going to ask is a coworker that we both know. now things get crazy!

You might be a redneck if people are scared to touch your bathrobe (oh my frigging god!)

Pattern of the Day: Basic Entrelac Instructions! TOO COOL!!!!! i've always wanted to know how to do entrelac, but couldn't get past the beginning triangles, in all the instructions. these seem relatively clear, and the following pattern uses it, so i'm going out on a limb!

Have a nice day!

i've been a bad blogger

hmmm, what's this? why, it's a marker mania package!
and look what was in it! a pencil pouch, knitting note cards, orange sticky notes, and TWO sets of markers. wow! i thought you only had to send one set of markers, now i'm embarassed!
and of course, the obligatory blurry shot, since i can never seem to get my pics right, sigh. thank you, erin for this wonderful package, it was lovely to come home to this. unfortunately, i can't find the envelope they came in, so i don't remember your last name, or where you're from, but i do love it all!

And my darling little pumpkin booties. the yarn is actually an emerald green, and the orange is not quite such a red tone, more like home depot orange, or hunter safety orange, lol. if you look closely, you'll see that i adapted the leaf pattern i semi-created for the hat, and made them even teenier for the ties on these. i didn't get a pic of the pumpkin sweater (boo, hiss, but there is a legit explanation: steph took my camera and used the batteries up, and i couldn't find another set (of the 6 sets i bought for her & my cameras, sigh) to charge up. i'm better now, ihave my camera and batteries, so i should be good to go)

I'm not doing much of anything right now craft wise, other than making washcloths for this month's project as well. i figured i'd finish off this cone, and then go from thee. i did swatch and start my sockpal2za's socks, but i wasn't happy with how dense the fabric was, so i frogged, and i'm reswatching with bigger needles. these are going to be "run around the house on the weekend anklets", because my handspun is pretty thick, specially since i navajo plied it. i do believe i'm going to have to spin more, as just knitting half the sock last night took half the ball i had reserved for such. eh, such be life.

Home

you can have a few snippets. sean broke the 4th pair of glasses he's had in the last 14 months. the boys were wrestling, after they'd been told not to do it in the house, and he snapped them in half, and there's no hope of repair. i just took them to the eyedoctor yesterday, so he's got some on order, but because he's broken so many glasses, he doesn't have a pair in reserve. the boy's gonna have a lot of headaches until the new ones are done, and he's bad enough that he can't see worth a crap without them. i don't know what i'm going to do.

also, i had to take sean to the local hospital for an ultrasound, because when i took him for his physical last week, when the doctor poked his stomach (he hates the word tummy), he curled up in a ball of pain (this was news to me!). no news yet as to what the problem may be, but now i know he has 2 kidneys, lol.

You might be a redneck if you had to wear hip waders to get to your hoenymoon love shack.

. . . your waist measurements exceed your bust measurements (HEY!)

. . . the oil stain in your driveway is bigger than your car.

Pattern of the day:

8-1 Calyx Hat. this is supposed to resemble the green bit at the base of every flower. the designer did a good job, but this is a bit fluffy for me, so i prolly won't make it.

8-2 Houndstooth Shoulder Strap Bag. i'm sure the execution of this fair isle, felted bag is magnificent, but i'll be dead and in my grave before i go any where NEAR houndstooth check. shudder. sorry, madam/mister designer, jsut not my cuppa.

8-3 Pettable Picture Frame. this is supposed to be spun from your favorite dog's hair, then knit to fit a frame, and embellished with doggy-appropriate beads & buttons. cute, but i don't own a dog.

What I'm reading

Hottentot Venus (i'm listening in the car) . this is about a woman in the late 1700's and early 1800's from south africa, who is kidnapped & taken to europe and displayed in freak shows throughout the "civilized" world. i'm through one tape of 12, and it's intense.

The Store on Blossom STreet, by Deb Macomber. i had signed up for a romance novel club, and THIS came in my first, free set. WOW! if this is the caliber of what they send me, i'm gonna be a lifelong member! i also got a romance where a mistress runs out on her paramour when she finds his wife dead in their hotel room, and how she makes it in the outskirts of las vegas. it's good.

Uther. still ponderous, but fascinating. i've been told i need to read the rest of the Eagle's Brood, in order to fully appreciate this book. i will, later. lol.

Dazzling Knits by Patricia WErner. this is about module knitting, and the pieces look fascinating. i love to mess around with color, and this will feed that need, i can tell right now.

Fall 2005 Interweave Knits. i would like to know why i got my copy a full month after this went on the bookstore shelf? almost makes it unworth the price difference. sigh.

Have a nice day!