May 31, 2010

Hopelessly Over Committed

I know, I know, this is a common excuse for knitter bloggers, but it is so true. Let me catch you up on things that have been going on in the last two months.

March – I started and finished my Haruni Shawl (pattern by Emily Ross) which I wore to my DH’s cousins wedding. What a wedding! There were a lot of tears, but a lot of laughs too.

I also worked on my Olympic sweater that sadly didn’t get finished in time for the Olympics.

I started my immunotherapy.

April – I got word that I would be switching jobs AGAIN at work, same company, but I would be getting the job back that they took away from me when I went on mat leave – 4 years ago.

I still was working on my Olympic sweater.

I got the brainstorm that I needed to tear the carpet off of our stairs to the second floor and put in hardwoods… More on that later.

Started working out again to get into the dress I want to wear to my brother’s wedding July 3rd… lost 5 pounds.

May – On the third of May, my DH’s uncle went into hospice. He was suffering from metastatic melanoma. On May 5th, after a long and very brave fight, he passed away at the Southwood Hospice. We were there every day before his passing, as was all of his family and many many friends. We miss you Geoff.

I finished the knitting on my Olympic sweater, I just need to sew on the sleeves.

I started knitting the cowichan sweater for Chris.

A very dear friend went to take her daughter to get her third open heart surgery. She is the bravest mom I know. You know who you are. Still thinking of you and insisting you have another chocolate break. Now. Go. You can read the rest of this later.

I found out two couples that have lost their precious little ones are now pregnant again. May they be both blessed with normal perfect babies this time.

I celebrated DH’s and my 9th wedding anniversary at the Deerfood Inn… We only lost $40.00 at the casino ;-)

Little Monkey’s Grammie and Grandpa were in town and he had a blast with them over the long weekend.

I started working at Heritage Park again.

I found another dress for my brothers wedding.

My Brother in Law was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame – congrats again John!

We held a garage sale in snow…

We went to the Foothills hospital for a recognition tea for the WCOBBS.

And

June – I will be making the wedding cake for my brothers wedding, as well a birthday cake for a special little lady that will be turning 7 in a few weeks.

I have to organize and hold the annual meeting for the society… time flies! 1 year already!

I will be flying with Monkey to Regina at the end of June.

So there you have it, I have been busy. So busy in fact that I don't have anything that I can knit on the train. Nothing. I only have one thing on the needles, and that is the cowichan sweater, but that is too big to take with me. I need to find a new project!



Mar 1, 2010

Phew! I did it!

I finished both of my Ravelympic events in time! The first one, the mittens, were officially posted and I am a real designer on Ravelry now, not that that means much ;-)

The second, my Verena boy's vest, was finished during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. During Nickleback's performance to be exact. I actually finished the majority of it on Saturday, but didn't have a zipper. Monkey and I went on a field trip to Wal-mart (we needed to replace his DVD player anyway, no zippers there by the way....) and then to Fabricland. He actually thought it was a lot of fun picking out a zipper. I let him choose which color he liked and I am happy to say he picked one that matched! Here is what the vest looks like, better pictures to follow. With all the glorious sun here lately I am sure I can get a good one soon!

Feb 26, 2010

One Event Down, One To Go!

I have been MIA for a while. Mostly because I just switched positions at work, which has been, well, like baptism by fire. I also have been working on both of my Ravelympics events. I have finished one! The Designer Biathlon! Yay! Here are some photos, with the pattern coming in a bit after I post it to Ravelry.



Jan 31, 2010

Must be Mrs. Crazy

Sooooooo, I really must be crazy. I just cast on my Olympic Sweater. It is the Dale of Norway one:


My goal is to be able to wear it for the olympics.... I am crazy. Lucky I have one trick up my sleeve. My knitting machine. I have the front up to the v-neck split done already! I have decided to do the colorwork by hand (I don't quite trust my machine with patterning yet) so I have transfered it off to my needles now. We shall see if I can get this done in two weeks!

Oh, and about Avatar in IMAX 3D? If you get the chance, you must go. It costs more to do the IMAX, but it is worth every penny. Seriously. This is the way all movies should be viewed from now on. It was absolutely unreal. Ok, so the story line was predictable, but the characters were good, and there was no goofy one like jar-jar binks or anything. If you want to see something so amazing that you won't even want it to end, go get your tickets now. Right now. You can thank me later.

Jan 29, 2010

Friday, huh?

Today doesn't feel like Friday. It doesn't feel like any other day, but least of all Friday. I am hoping for a pleasant surprise later today when I realize I don't have to go back to work tomorrow. I think it is just because it is a busy day and our schedule is all crazy.

The only reason I know it really is Friday (other than my calendar of course) is that I know that I am going to Avatar in 3D IMAX tomorrow! Has anyone else gone? Did you like it? I heard you need to check your brain at the door (like most James Cameron movies), but if you do that you will really like it. Update to follow after I see it! Oh and I have a three way planned for Sunday... get your head out of the gutter...

Ravelympics, well, I think I know what I am doing. I am doing the Mommy and Me mittens for the Designer Biathlon event, and the vest previously posted about for the Fleece to FO Long-Track. For the mittens, I will be using commercial worsted yarn, so nothing special there as far as prep. I have an idea of what I want, but haven't written the pattern yet. I am really excited about this one!

As for the unmentionable knitting project, I have decided just to give them yarn for their birthday. There is no way I am going to do this many projects at the same time, so you won't hear me talk about the unmentionable knitting project again 'till after the person gets the yarn. Then you will know what it is and how it is progressing ;-)

So anyway, if someone reading this other than #2 of the upcoming 3 way, leave me a comment so I know you actually exist!

Picture of the day:



I miss summer. Wow! Look how little Monkey is!

Jan 27, 2010

Can we just snuggle here all day?

Every weekday morning I listen to the news on the radio then go into Monkey's bed to snuggle him awake. It is our little moment that we share. I tickle him awake and it (hopefully) starts his day off happy. This morning, he didn't want to be tickled. At all.

Uh oh, grumpy three year old, run for your lives!

Then it came "Can we just snuggle here all day Mommy?" Oh, I wished more than anything I could have said yes! Nope, I had to go to work today. Bummer. The promise of Tree House and waffles was enough to get him out of bed, but I think I am still there!

Anyway, not much has happened in the days since my last post. I tried to do a carding test on the raw wool that I wanted to do for the Ravelympics vest, but I was not happy with it at all. I was happy, however, with how well the test spin of the mill fun run fiber was. The roving was not next to skin at all, but it had amazingly bright and fun colors. Perfect for Monkey. I did a nice two ply spun one handed woolen long draw (insert ode to Paula Simmons here). It was still full of VM, but it turned out quite nice. I has about a quarter of a bobbin left after the two ply was done and so I chain plied the rest. Wow did I like the chain ply! Did I mention I plied on my bulky spinner so I got all 8 ounces on one skein?



After I took the skein off the spinner, I washed and whacked it. I couldn't believe how soft it got! It is sooooo soft now!

Problem is, I want to knit with it now! First Manbeast's transformers hat, then Ravelympics projects, then the unmentionable project, then I can knit with it. Will it ever forgive me for making it sit that long? My only consolation is that I have now decided to spin more of that fiber for the Ravelympics vest for monkey as the raw wool carding wasn't what I was hoping for. Wow, I managed to come full circle on that one!

Jan 23, 2010

Ahhh, Saturday

Yesterday was a pretty busy day! I got a lot done though, including coordinating three more WCOBBS blankets, Yay!

Last night I started carding up some yummy cotswold on my new drum carder. It is a Strauch Finest, and I love it. I use to have a Louet Jr, but this suits my needs much better. I have a whole bedroom full of raw fiber and this is making quick work of it!

Here is one of the batts that came off of it yesterday (partially spun already, I just couldn't wait!):




















Here is the single it is making, really soft spun long draw:



It was from this fleece:



I originally was thinking about using this fleece for the Ravelympics vest, but I don't think I have enough so I will use something else. Besides, it's not like I don't have anything else to choose from ;-)

As for today, well, I don't have much planned. I am still in my jammies and will probably stay that way 'till we have to leave for family dinner tonight. Ahhhh, hot tea from my Keurig and I am a happy girl... did I mention that the boys have gone to the motorcycle store and won't be back for hours?


Jan 21, 2010

The Morning After

Phew! We had a lot of fun last night at knit night! Raise your hand if you were there. There were 9 people plus baby Jack! We took the place over. I didn't get any knitting done, but I did decide on what to knit. I am going to make DH a toque with the transformers chart on it. I think I will only be able to start it before the Ravelympics begin though. We will see.

I have a picture of the fingerless gloves!



Speaking of Ravelympics, I also decided on what to do for the F2FO event. I will be dyeing, spinning and knitting the Verena Boys Ribbed Sweater. Technically it is a boy's cabled vest, but we will let them call it what they want. Here is a picture for those of you who don't like links:



Cute huh? Now I just need to decide on what color to dye it. Any ideas?

As for the second event, I will be designing the mittens that have been floating around in my head for years. I am pretty excited about them.

Tonight I will be going to Dashing Dishes to get our meals for this month. I am hungery just thining about it! For those of you in Canada, you may want to check them out. It is something sent from heaven for those of us that always say "what should we do for dinner today?".

Jan 20, 2010

So, here we go!

Hi all,

So, I have decided that I need my own blog. I don't know why exactly, but I do, so here goes!

If you have found this, you know who I am. You know what I do for fun, and you know who I like to snuggle with.

I will be sharing family stuff, knitting stuff, spinning stuff, WCOBBS stuff, and just plain stuff. I hope to post every day, but who knows what will happen.

Come along for the ride if you want!

I am going to knit night tonight, and I have a problem. You see, I am a monogamous knitter. Yes, we do exist. I have just today finished my latest knitting project (pictures to follow). It was a pair of fingerless gloves made out of carbonized bamboo that I spun for DH. I just had to duplicate stitch on the skulls, which I finished on my commute today. Well, now I have nothing to bring to knit night! I will find something, but I don't know what I should do. I will keep you posted about what I decide on tomorrow.

I have also decided to join the Ravelympics again this year. I will be entering two events. Fleece to FO Long-Track, as well as Designer Biathlon. I know what I am doing for the Biathlon, but I have no idea what I am going to do for the F2FO. I need to decide quickly. At least I have a new Strauch Finest Drum Carder to help me with the fiber prep. Last time I only had a roving carder and dog combs! Again, I will keep you posted.

So, enough for today. Here is today's favorite picture:




















This is my monkey. I was trying to take pictures of my stash when he commandeered my camera for his own personal photo shoot.