Addicted to Knitting

I was reading Tammyknits and I so totally agree with her on WIP wrestling. I am forcing myself to keep going so I don’t let my team down. I finished one of Jasbo’s socks last night. Yep a sock. A worsted weight sock on 4mm needles but a sock none the less. I really struggle with the kitchener stitch at the toes. Mine never looks good. Maybe that is why I get discouraged with socks.

Tomorrow is the big day! I will try to announce the winners but I doubt anything will be mailed till later this week. One of my sisters arrived from Abilene on Sunday and my brother from Idaho made it in yesterday. My other brother will be here in the morning and it’s party time. (picture people sitting around a table, talking and laughing, nothing to strenuous)

Now about that yarn…I started with Lily Sugar and Cream in white and the dye is Jacquard. The rasberry color is the procion that I bought for tie dying. I was planning to buy more and get enough for a party but didn’t follow through before the store on Amazon closed. I ended up buying  a kit  also by jacquard but the dye in it is not as vivid. I redyed the purply part 3 times. I was disappointed that it kept rinsing out and  wishing I had more of the procion. I basically took the  yarn and wound in on my knitty knotty made from pvc. I started by putting just a bit each of it in the 2 dyes in a large glasses and kept feeding more in hoping for a graduated effect. I am thinking I need to buy a  pound spool of white and try again. Imagine the possibilities……..

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. This contest has been fun and I have “met” some really nice knitters on the net!

Now back to the house cleaning so I can wrestle those WIP’s

I joined up for dishrag tag and wanted to find some really different yarn to send on to the person I tag.  I think the companies need to make some new colors since I was unable to find anything that really caught my eye. I was searching through my own stash and found some WHITE and since I like dying yarn I decided to make something myself.

I was inspired by these:

And this is the result:

Not exactly the same but still very nice!

Here is my first WIP wrestling fo:

I know I was going to post photos of 2 finished bags but they are gifts and I am hoping to take photos today of my sister and sister in law with their new bags. So instead I leave you with this…….

That is my word for today. I am totally overwhelmed. I should be knitting but…life is getting in the way. My son came for a visit which is great! My sister will be at mom’s tomorrow (all the way from Abilene), my brother will be there Monday (from Moscow ID) and someone well meaning ladies gave me 2 coolers full of frozen apricots, cherries and plums to make jelly with. I am in the process of defrosting the freezer to attempt to fit it all in there! My house is trashed and I should be  cleaning knitting. As a matter of fact knitting sounds really good right now.

Tomorrow’s post:

2 finished bags, 1 pair slipper socks and some hand dyed dishcloth yarn!

For todays comment……what is overwhelming you today?

Yesterday was my monthly trip to the city for supplies. This always seems like such a great idea till the day is over and I am trying to put away $250 of groceries from Cosco. I go with my parents to do this and that is good and bad. Always good to spend time with them and at their ages the days are numbered we get together. Yesterday was going to be girls day out. Mom, me and Child of Clay. I ended up taking Jasbo too!

We started out at Ross. What a great place to get school clothes. My boys don’t ever need as many as CoC. She is starting high school this year and that makes it more important than ever to have “clothes”. She is a good little shopper and very thrifty. We spent $138 and got for her:3 pairs of jeans, a top and a zip up hoodie, for middle son: socks, underwear, shoes and a cool billabong shirt, and Jasbo got shoes, socks and underwear, I got some of those magazine stored boxes in hot pink for my knitting mags. I think we did really well!

I was dissapointed that I missed out on any craft/knitting stores but I spent my money at Sally Beauty Supply. Now if I could have one or two people need a highlight done I could recoup and shop online.

The contest is also doing well. If you are doing one yourself and want to increase traffic try this http://wiknit.blogspot.com/ (Thanks Abigail!) I have been deluged with sudden comments. Perhaps new friendships will be formed from this.

I wrote a nice little post yesterday and published it but apparently wordpress ate it as it is gone. I was telling you all about my insanity. I have been sweating perspiring at an alarming rate even at night and having these weird mood swings. I cannot seem to handle chaos at all. I was telling a friend about this and she told me I was having menopause. What? I am only 42 with a preschooler at home. This can’t be true. But alas, I think it is. I am not a bit happy about this but ,sigh, what can a gal do? I am going to see a Dr. and see if I can get a little help with this. I HATE the thought of taking hormones but I may have to. I want to check out natural alternatives but since I am on antidepressants I will see what the Dr. orders.

When I was a kid I always wanted to be in a parade. I wasn’t one of those children who did 4H, girl scouts or any fun club activity that would land me in a parade. I was the child who watched from the sidelines to scared to try, wishing it was me. I was the child in hand me down clothes that everyone laughed at and teased. It’s strange how that sort of thing stays with you your whole life. I still struggle at times in groups situations, wondering if I belong or not. My daughter on the other hand is the opposite. Oh she has had some teasing over the years but at age 14 she has really come into her own. She has faith in the Lord and had some awesome training by a youth pastor a year ago. She is so funny. She is the biggest klutz (gets that from me) and has learned to laugh at herself because of this. Her confidence comes in knowing who HE has made her and that HE has plans for her. I often think that I get to watch her live the life I so desired. By the time I was her age it was not good in my life. My dad committed suicide when I was 12 and my mom really lost it for a while. She was clueless as to what I was doing and I was into drugs, alcohol and trouble. I know deep inside I longed to be one of the “good” kids and although I had accepted the Lord at age 12 I really had no one to teach me how to grow and become what He desired. I believed I couldn’t be good enough for God to love me and that I was bound for eternal damnation. I know now that I had to go through all that I did in order to become the person I am today. The person I am today relies on God to help me raise my children so they might in turn serve him. Funny how this post came about. Today is our parade for the BHC fair and my daughter will be waiving from a convertible as a princess. I feel very proud as the driver of her car and her mom because I know what she said at the Princess competition. She was asked (did I tell you this already? sorry if I did its just on my mind) what she would change about herself if she could change anything…she didn’t say to be thinner or smarter or more popular. She stated that she wished she loved people more, that “the world doesn’t revolve around me, it revolves around the son and the son is Jesus our savior”
I hope I am not letting my pride get the best of me but I am very proud of her. She is a typical 14 year old and far from perfect (last night she was pouting because I didn’t trust her enough to go to the dance-how do you explain it’s not her it’s the drunk cowboys that you don’t trust?) her room is usually on the verge of being condemned and her music drives me nuts (Christian screamo? isn’t that an oxymoron?) But today I am going to enjoy her moment in the parade knowing Christ brought us to this place.

So today it’s a parade, in ten years maybe she will be speaking at Women of Faith (her dream and what she feels is her calling) or maybe not. Whatever comes I want to enjoy each moment as a gift from the Lord. Have a great day everyone! ( I forgot to mention she doesn’t want to be in the parade, she entered the contest at my urging, hoping to win so she could pay off her text messaging bill)

I read Tammy’s post this morning and it made me smile. Surprises, they don’t always turn out do they? I am a hard person to surprise. Here’s another unusual fact…I peek in Christmas packages. I do this for more than one reason. First off I can’t stand not knowing what is in those packages, even my kids gifts from other people can make me sneak a peak. Sad isn’t it. I justify this with the fact that I can act happy at a gift that is not what I was expecting. My darling husband, bless his heart, is a terrible shopper. Poor guy hasn’t got a clue and yet his heart is bigger than Texas. Christmas before last he got me a lamp. An ugly lamp that is adjustable so that my light isn’t in his eyes when I read in bed (and no I am not always aware that I read with one eye closed) I have given him lists and yet he doesn’t shop off of them. I think he is a bit ADD and looses the lists!

There was this one really nice yet scary surprise he gave me. At the beginning of our Sunday School we meet in the sanctuary to sing and share. There is a time for memory verses and a time for testimonies. My dh proposed to me during this. Yep! Good thing I wanted to marry him!

Another unusual thing is that my first child was very large. My sister and I were pregnant together and due 2 weeks apart. I went over my due date and so did she . Her dh called on June 28th to tell us they had a 10 pound boy. I said ” I sure am glad I aint having a 10 pound baby”. On the 30th I had my boy…yep 10 pound 4 ounces. Just shows you should be careful what you say.

Here are our boys recently.

My long haired boy. his hair is at least 4 inches longer than it looks.

Here is my sisters boy with my parents. My dad is 6′ while Nick is 6′8″

I also want to mention that I think Robin should win a prize for most unusual thing posted about herself. Check out her blog. She does some amazing knitting!

I love hearing from everyone. This is so fun to have so many visitors. I was asked whether or not I went with my husband on his “traditional” visit to Old Timer’s. The issue wasn’t old timer it was him wanting me to go with his sisters while he went to work. If he were going I would’ve packed my knitting and went.

Weird facts about me and mine

1. I was an aunt the minute I was born. My nephew is 3 years older than me.
2. My youngest son was an uncle the minute he was born.
3. my family thinks I knit to much.
4. I say exactly what I think, this gets me into trouble.
5. I am often caught reading with one eye closed.
6. My stepdaughter is 6 years younger than me.
7. I cannot chew gum because I get carried away and bite my cheek.

For another entry in the giveaway tell me something unusual about you or your family. Also I have had some visitors I don’t know, if you recognize them let me know so you get another entry!

Since my old SP invited me I decided to check out the action. I find the instructions a bit vague but I am ready to give it a try. I am dong WIP wrestling. I came up with 6 projects I need to finish.

Is anyone else doing Ravelympics?

(remember your comments earn you yet another chance at the yummy yarn!)

I realized this morning that I buck traditions. My husbands family is extremely traditional and this causes problems in my house. When I was growing up my family had very few traditions. We didn’t attend church regularly, and really I can’t think of much we did the same year after year. Of course we always did Thanksgiving and I believe when I was really young we always opened gifts Christmas morning but that didn’t stick. My mom worked many holidays for double pay, and my dad was gone driving truck. One Christmas I spent with the neighbors. I was reflecting on this because today is Old Timers. ( a celebration held in Hyattville where my husband grew up) I went to this last year and was bored. It was a very clicky little bunch of people, my children were bugging me (mom can we go home? Mom there’s nothing to do etc) So this year I had planned to boycott this. My husband is sleeping so he can go work his 1st of 3 12 hour shifts so I planned a nice day in front of the AC watching the Love Comes Softly marathon with my knitting. Immediately upon arising this morning I was hit once again about going. My husband is a sweetheart and means well with all that he says and does. He can also be very pushy. His whole family is pushy in a nice way. Jim was insisting that this was a “tradition” and I should go. That’s when it hit me that I am a nontraditional person. Sometimes l like to open presents on Christmas eve and get the mess over with. Other times I want the excitement and anticipation of Christmas morning. Does this make sense to anyone but me? I wonder if this is because of my upbringing or just my personality. Share with me one of your traditions of non traditions to get 1 entry into my giveaway. What am I giving away? Well just check this out……….

Some beautiful Zen Yarn Garden in the crouching tiger colorway.This is so soft I could touch it all day and I love the colors. Great for all you sock knitters out there.

I want to keep this Twisted Sister’s Mirage for myself but I won’t. If someone tells me what size and how many beads are needed for Gilda (ravelry link) I will get those to add to the yarn. (Everyone who tells me gets 2 entries in my giveaway)

And just because I found this interesting some SWTC aMAIZing yarn.This stuff is like silk! I found a few patterns on ravelry that can be made out of one skien. One of them is a whimsy Kerchief found here.This is another yarn I would like to keep for myself. I love the subtle colorway of #372

Of course I shopped for myself but will share one of these adorable lantern moon sweaters with someone out there. The rest are going on my little knitting tree( a tradition something I am starting this year…more later on that)

One entry per comment, one entry for getting someone else to visit and comment. If you send someone over have them tell me you sent them and you both get entered. There will be more ways to enter as we go along. Drawing will be on August 13th- my mom’s 85th birthday.

I am still workin on clapotis. i am so close to being where I was that its not funny. I have to wonder about myself. I was using telemark and the color was icicle. Why didn’t I just order more instead of frogging? I would have 2 of them to give as gifts. Regret is not a good thing so I am assuming there is something else for the yarn.

I had such good plans to write a little something everyday. Lord knows I have plenty to write about. My life is full and overflowing but…..I have company. My oldest stepdaughter (A), her dd and their 2 dogs showed up Tues. AM for an undetermined length of time. I am cool with this although my house is very crowded. It’s been fun to have them here I am trying to get A to crochet or something. It would be fun to have someone to craft with. So far nodda happenin. She drove all night to get here because her car over heats and I think she is still trying to get her sleep caught up.

I am ready to do a contest. I have been reading about all these contests and it put me in the mood. I have some dogsitting money that is was burning a hole in my pocket so I went shopping with my readers in mind. I am not sure what I am doing yet so keep checking back. I will tell you where I went:

and

I bought some sock yarn and some interesting yarn. Now to figure out how to do this. My mind has many ideas. One of them I am stealing from Robin who I met recently because of her contact. Check out her lovely blog. She is an inspiration. Thank you Abigail for introducing us. I love meeting new knitters and bloggers don’t you?

And now Peru pictures.

Aren't the Peruvian Peaple beautiful?