My good news!

So everyone, you'll all be happy to hear this. Or maybe you'll be like "who cares, seriously..."But guess what I'm doing on Thursday? I'm going to Bloomington, Indiana, with Emmy's not boyfriend Richard. Would you like to know why?

That's why! We're going to see Hanson! I'm sooooo excited! I know I know, I just saw them, but... I don't care! Do you know how happy I am to see them again? Extremely. Soooo happy I feel like screaming! :)

Anyway, Saturday night Emmy and I babysat my nephews. We also got to spend lots of time playing with these two munchkins...

Their names are Punky (on the left) and Bella... but, unfortunately for Bella, she's a boy lol. They're thinking about calling him Jazz, or Jazzy, like from Transformers, but they're not sure. They're both so sweet... my sister's mil had them living under their trailer, and my sister was trying to find homes for them... and she found one lol! With her! Look at the cuteness...

They LOVE to be held and cuddled... except by the kids, but can you blame them? When Emmy went in the basement, she found the two kittens underneath of a toy shopping cart, trapped like they were in a cage...

So then I was tracking down Bella, or as she's now known, Jazzy, for a picture, and I finally found her here, hiding out. And, just for size comparison... this is my sister's cat, Tia, who is HUGE, next to Punky.

Isn't that funny? Anyway, here's a picture of my sister's dog, Coty. He's blind. He's only been completely blind for, I think, a couple of weeks.. isn't he so sweet looking? They have another pekingese named Tana, but she was mia while I was taking pictures lol, I'm not sure where she was...

On Sunday, Emmy and Dave and I cleaned, rearranged the living room, and started to put up Christmas decorations. Here's my puny little tree before decorations...

While I was taking that picture, Emmy and Dave were doing this.

Trying to find a way to rig our candy cane, since the suction cup thingy broke. And then, when it was all hung up (thanks to Emmy and I, not Dave... lol) I got a nicer pic of Emmy.

Anyway, Emmy and I tried the ribbon thing.

It looked dumb. (I especially like, though, the puppy under the tree...) So we undid it, and put the rest of the decorations up. Now, I don't do garland, I think it's sloppy looking, and I don't do tinsel because of the dogs, so keep that in mind...

It's so cute though, I like it. While we were doing all that, this is what Mattie was doing.

Working hard, I'll tell you... Anyway, over the weekend, some knitting did get done. Rocketober sock number 1 is finished...

Here's the ribbing, which is actually almost too big... next time I make socks, I may decrease some before the ribbing.

Strangely enough, the striping pattern changed when I got to the ribbing... proving, once and for all, that my gauge is SUPREMELY different in knit and purl stitches... and, you all remember the garden path sock, which I was actually almost done with the first pattern repeat of, right? This is what it looks like now.

Yeah, I wasn't liking the way it was working out. So it's getting restarted.

Anyway, I know you haven't seen NEARLY enough pictures yet, right? Ha ha.... but that's all for now. Hopefully I'll get the garden path sock and the rocktober socks really going in the 4 hour car ride to the concert. I'll let ya know!

Update and blog fodder

Good news! I'm almost finished with my mom's first sock! I have about 2 more rows of ribbing and then I'm binding off.

Isn't it pretty? I like the medium-weight. It's warm. This picture is the ribbon we're thinking about using for the Christmas tree. (Read: we were going to but didn't... lol). If not we can use it for Christmas presents or something.

I also bought some more of this.

For a fake isle hat, for myself, when I finish Christmas presents. I also bought this yarn...

For, I'm thinking, mittens for my sil Linda. I'm not sure though, it might not want to be mittens. Or maybe I don't want to do mittens. It might want to join another skein like it and be a scarf. Hmm...

I also started that up there, which is Garden Path sock # 2.This next picture, my friends, is a definite keeper.

It's my nephew, Zach, in his preschool picture. If you look closely, you can see the puffy eyes, and the look of pure hatred in his little tear filled eyes, and the snot on his shirt... he was NOT happy to be taking that picture. My sister said it's ok though, because that's exactly how he feels every day when he goes to preschool. Anyway, after Thanksgiving dinner, I went to my friend Emmy's house, and we were going to play her N64, but she couldn't figure out how to hook it, or the dvd player, up.

I was going for confused in that picture, but she caught me and laughed. Anyway, on black Friday, when I bought the yarn pictured above, I also went to payless shoes and got these.

I LOVE the way these shoes look but.. I'm not sure how much I like the fit. They kinda hurt my big toe. So we may be taking them back, I don't know yet. If I do I'll just exchange them for these other ones I liked that were the same price. Anyway, they always have bogo, so I bought these

Slippers! I love them, they're all pink and brown and warm... they're perfect. Anyway, that about sums those two days up. Stay tuned for scenes from this weekend!

Happy Late Thanksgiving

I wanted to write a post talking about how thankful I am for everything, all the good stuff in my life... but instead, my late Thanksgiving post is going to be about other people. Here's the deal. Lately I've been extremely burdened with the thought of all the kids in Africa and other places. I just wish there was something I can do but... well you have to be able to help yourself before you can help others, ya know? So I feel completely helpless and sad all the time for them. I want, badly, to adopt a baby from Africa but... do you know how much it costs? It's so unfair that it would be more than adopting from the US, because there are so many homeless kids there now. I know that there are people in our country, kids in our country, that need help too, but there are countless charities for those kids, and there just isn't much for those kids in Africa. Also, in our country, there are homeless shelters and things like goodwill where kids and adults alike can get things if they can't afford to buy them, but in Africa, they're lucky if they can scrounge together enough clothes to protect them from the elements. They need help worse than the kids in our country, because there just isn't any out there for them.

So... if you read this blog, I want to start SOME kind of knitting related charity... maybe make up a hat or scarf pattern, and sell it and all procedes go to them? Or SOMETHING. So if anyone, and I know you're out there, LURKING, has ANY idea, even if you think it's stupid, please let me know, ok? PLEASE. I'm begging you, because these kids need help.

If you want to help, and want to do something, anything, go to itunes and buy the song "Great Divide" by Hanson, it's only a dollar and one dollar buys like, 6 days worth of medication for a mother and her child, to help stop the transfer of the aids virus. It's .17 cents a day for that. That's ALL. And all proceeds from the purchase of that song go to help those mothers and children. Or go to www.tomsshoes.com and buy a pair of shoes. For every pair of shoes that you buy, they donate a pair to a child in need. Go to www.hanson.net for more information.

So, what am I thankful for? Anyone who gives their time or their money to help someone who can't help themself. Thank you just for reading this, it means a lot. Remember, every cent counts.

Quickie picture post

I don't really have time for this, but I'm doing it anyway. Look.


It's DONE! Dried and everything. Oh man I love it. With a deep violent passion.


Isn't it the prettiest thing, well... ever?

OMG!!!!! The day has finally come!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone who has ever ever ever read this blog, (since, oh, August or so) needs to sit down. Right now. Oh, wait, you're at the computer, so probably sitting... just making sure. Are you ready. Are you sure? Ok, here's a picture for you. See this?

This is a picture of my addi turbo lace needle. Why is this a big deal? Well, I bought this needle about 3 or so (is that all????) months ago. Since the day I bought it, it has been occupied. What has it been in? This.

This is my love, the most beautiful thing I've ever made with my own two hands. This, my friends, is my finished Icarus.

*squeal* Ok, when I bound off the last stitch, I may have hyperventilated. Only because I stopped breathing for a few minutes. I've never been so proud of anything in my life (except maybe, maybe, the raising from birth of my puppy... seriously. Anyway...), especially since I didn't use LIFELINES!!! So I feel like I can announce it to the world now! It's so beautiful.

And so BIG! It is officially... not the right dimensions. It was supposed to be 72'' and it's supposed to be half of that down the middle. Mine is 39'' down the middle... and 88'' across. EIGHTY-EIGHT INCHES ACROSS THE NECK!!! That can't be right. *remeasures* No, it's right. Holy... That's like... 7 and a third feet! That's insane. Angie was right, I DEFINITELY should've taken out a pattern repeat. Especially considering the whopping 520 stitches I just bound off... Here it is soaking.... and yeah, the dye bled a little, but that's ok, it's GORGEOUS!


Want the stats? Ok, it's Miriam Felton's Icarus Shawl, which I purchased from mimknits.
I made it with the suggested yarn, Jaegerspun Zephyr, in the color Claret, bought from Sarah's Yarns which is an incredible store, and I got the yarn at a really decent price, I'm happy about that as I'm on a budget... good yarn at a good price? Sweet!

It's not blocking as perfectly as I had hoped, as I didn't have the money to buy blocking wires until, well, today, and I wanted to wear it to Thanksgiving, just to show it off, so I didn't have time to wait for them to be shipped.

It took me nearly an hour to pin it out. But I'm happy with the results, even if the top edge is a little scalloped... it's ok. I'm not going to claim by any means that it's perfect according to pattern...

But I'm going to say that, to me, it's the most perfect, beautiful thing, EVER! I love it!

Please, feel free to comment and tell me how beautiful it is! I can't hear it enough, I assure you. Yay!!!!!!!!

Stalling

Yeah, I'm still not done with Icarus. I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm just not motivated enough to finish it. I'm 3/4 of the way done with row 3 of the 4 edging rows. So I have half of row 3, row 4, and the bind off. I should be able to finish it in a couple of hours at the most. Maybe I can hunker down and do it today. *crosses fingers* Anyway, instead of finishing it, I've been stalling with other things. First up? My mom's Christmas socks (Man I hope she doesn't read my blog... I don't think she does... but one never does know... mom, if you're out there, avert your eyes please, and LEAVE ME A COMMENT so I know...) Oh hold on red cabled hat is done soaking, need to get it out.... Oh man I have to share this with you guys... when I put the hat in the wash, it stunk like dogs and the water was clear. Maybe a little cloudy because of the wool wash (which I got from the Loopy Ewe...) but otherwise clear. Now look at it.

Eeeshk! It's okay though, the hat is still red... weird, right? Anyway... back to what I was saying before we were rudely (not really... not the hat's fault, now is it?) interrupted. Right, socks. Ok, now mom, avert your eyes. Actually, just go away. Go on, get out. :) Love you! Anyway, the socks.

I'm doing a few rounds on them a day right now, but tomorrow I'm going to work on them for an hour or so and finish the first one, and hopefully start the second. No, definitely. If I don't I won't. You all know me. I have the worst case of second sock syndrome... but look, a heel!

And please, for goodness' sake, do NOT click on those pictures... I haven't shaved my legs in a few days and you do not want to see that...

Anyway, and then today, I decided to do Nancy's scarf. Twenty-five minutes of soaking, a half hour of pinning, and 90 pins later...

It's officially blocking... and people were right! Wool wash is INCREDIBLE. I hated the feel of this scarf before but I can already tell I'm loving it from now on. My blocking method? I soaked it (Instructions for the wool wash says 15 minutes) for 25 minutes because I wanted it to be nice and soft. Before blocking, I threaded that white strand through both sides, to help with the blocking (and it did, a little), and then I stretched it out to 5 inches all the way down (which really opened up the lace, I bet you can see it a little better if you click on it. Please ignore the dog hair...) and blocked it to death. I also used a spray bottle filled with the same wool wash to make sure it was nice and wet as I blocked it, so it stays. Finished size? 5 feet, 11 inches. Before blocking it was... um.. ok I can't find it. Well, it was... I think like 65 inches? Now it's 71 inches so... sounds right. Anyway, that's where everything sits now. I'll try to blog before Thanksgiving, but if I don't, then Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

Rewards

Ok, first of all, before I say anything, I have to say this. GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!! We beat Michigan 14-3... Even though our offense wasn't great (Except, of course, for Chris "Beanie" Wells-OSU Had 229 rushing yards, and Wells had 222 of those!) our defense was awesome and we managed to hold them. It was a pretty good game. Anyway, on to other stuff...

I got my reward yarn in the mail today. It's Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn, and the color is "cool fire" and I LOVE it. Deeply. I may never buy any other sock yarn. I dunno, most of their colors aren't really variegated enough for me but that's ok. I love love love this color. It's my reward yarn for when I finish Icarus. I'm not even going to wind it into a ball until I get Icarus bound off. I'm halfway through my third row today. When I finish this row I'll have 10 rows of Chart 4 left, then I have the four edging rows, and the bind off. The end is definitely in sight. If I can do all the rows I'm supposed to do today and tomorrow, I can finish it on Monday! Wooohoo! I'm so excited. I'm tempted to go work on it some more... but I'm not. :) I'm gonna blog and then look for a pattern for a baby blanket, and for a sock pattern, so I can immediately cast on on Tuesday for new projects. Would you like to see my reward yarn?

It's so.... SMOOSHY! I love it! Anyway, today I also got the two circular needles I need to try to knit a sock on two circs. I'm really excited to try it with my mom's socks because then I might actually finish them... things move sooooo much faster for me if I use a circular needle than a dpn. So, I'm off to finish my work on Icarus for today so I can move on to something else!

Finished a Christmas present, on to some others

Last night I finished a Christmas present hat. I have some pictures of it! Wanna see?

And I swear it's SCARLET not Orange, RED dude... No matter what the pictures tell you. Here's a modeled picture.

I pretty sure the person I made it for has a bigger head than me. Hopefully... Otherwise it'll be in their eyes all winter. The stats are listed on this post, if you wanna know them. Don't feel like retyping them here. Anyway, here's a picture of the cables.

Aren't they pretty? :) So yesterday, when Dave got home from work, he had a surprise for me. He said he knows how much I want to have a baby, so he bought me this.

Yarn! I was so excited. I mean, it's acrylic and I'm a bit of a yarn snob, but it's ok for a baby, I mean... at least it'll be washable, right? He also got me a skein of Bernat christmas cotton lol, which I'll be using to make dishcloths for everyone.

And that picture, my dears, is my sister's Christmas present. Sorta. Underneath of it is my list. Here's how it breaks down.
-Aunt Joy- Done but needs blocked.
-Nancy- Done but needs blocked. (So far so good...)
-My cousin- Done but needs washed.
-Angie- about 90 percent done
-Dave's mom- about 25 or 30 percent done
-My mom- About 25 percent also (I'm switching from dpns to two circs. I LOVE circular needles, sooooo much faster....)
-Becky- maybe like, 10 or 15 percent done?
-Linda- Haven't bought the yarn
-Emmy- Have the yarn but not a pattern. :) It's ok though, hers can be late, I'm buying her clothes.

Hmm.. keep your eye on the counter in the sidebar. Eeek. I swear it's moving faster than it should be...

Also, in Icarus news, the faeries haven't finished it, but I'm getting there. I have 20 rows left and then the bind off. It takes me 35 minutes to do a row. I figure if I can do 5 rows a day for the next three days (four counting today) then I'll be done with it in time to wear it for thanksgiving. Oh dear god, all the knitting... I need to get off the computer lol!

Time to make a change

Sorry it's been a few days, but my friend was over and I was too busy to blog. :) But never too busy to knit! I've made a new pledge. I'm going to do at least two rows on Icarus every day. I did my two yesterday, but not today yet. I'm going to do them probably after Dave goes to bed. He goes to bed at around 9... I go to bed at like, 2:30, so... lots of knitting time lol. I've mostly been doing Icarus, and my sis's secret project, and the red hat. Remember me talking about the red hat before? If not, go ahead a look, it was just a few days ago... anyway, it looks like this now.

Ahhh! Ok, no it doesn't. It looks like this...

Er... sorta. Only not so bright and... fake looking. Here, maybe on a different colored background...

Eeek, I give up. Use your imagination. It's a hat. Nuff said. Anyway, after I finish a few Christmas presents, I'm going to make these gloves for myself.

I really like the ones on the left... but I like the ones on the right too! I'll probably do... hmm... well I don't know yet! I guess you just have to stay tuned to see which, if either, I do. See the little ladybug shaped thing? That is a little game that was in my cereal this morning, and i beat it in like 20 minutes. It's real easy. It was in my Sugar Smacks. Yummy. Anyway, when I went to get the camera, this is what I saw in the living room.

And this is what I saw when I got back to the office (where the little yellow chair is...)

Apparently they're quite comfy lol. Anyway, a couple weeks ago my friend Emmy and I decided to take a picture of this sign, I'm not sure if anyone that reads this besides Angie will appreciate the humor but here ya go.

Ha. Funny, right? :) And I also wanted to share this because... well it's important. If you like this song go to Itunes and buy it, every penny they make from the sale of this song goes toward aids research and stuff, to help mothers and children in Africa. It's called "Great Divide" and if you think "Ew, it's Hanson" then.. well, when was the last time you heard their music? Ten years ago? Trust me, it's A LOT different. Just give it a try. Please?