New Day Dawning

The weather is warming up, the days are getting longer, and life seems to be getting a tad bit easier. The views on this rock are so beautiful! This was a sunset from our porch. We don't have a water view but it can be beautiful nonetheless.

These are the next socks in the Cat Bordhi book Pthaways for sockknitters. I like them, they are cute, but they are definitely not for me. The cuff is too tall, I am not much on a fold down cuff, and I am not in love with the Lorna's Laces colorway.....loved it on the skein, but not so much knitted up. I loved knitting the socks though......not boring at all!!!

This is the new time thief in my life! Holy Camolee, this thing will kick your Booty, hand it to you in a zip lock bag, and then kick it again just because it can!! I love it though, it is a game train, so when John uses it he plays black jack, the other day he was huffing and puffing and practically dead, and I said why don't you call it a day....? Be...pff cause pff...you pfff......have .........pff pff to pff pff peddle pff pff to play pfff.... :) Me ? I listen to my knitting podcasts and just finished the Valerie Bertinelli Book on CD If you like her, or are battling any demons (ie: alcohol, food, drugs, marriage etc....) I highly recommend it. She reads it herself and it is witty and enlightening.....I myself had quite a few lightbulb moments. I put it on the Ipod and plowed through it very quickly.

Overwhelmed and Exhausted

Pictureless Thursday couldn't come at a better time!!! OMgood gravy. So the past alost 2 weeks has been a roller coaster. My mom has been sick and treated for various illnesses (infections) and to make a long story very very short (just ask her after 7 days in the hospital) she had a staff infection in her port. She is Ok now but it was quite serious and quite scarey for all those who care bout her. I know she is a tough lady, but my god......I just got my greys blended with blond hihlights cut me a break will ya!!!

Then Bud........oh he is gonna be a hard case to stay on top of! First he has been 2 weeks with no accident!! WOOHOO!!!! How proud am I???? Over the moon. This little boy had his tongue snipped in November. Until then he couldn't move his tongue.....for those of you who follow this blog you know all about it, for those who are new to it bo to the Nov. archives and you will see the details. ANY way........he had a hard time talking swallowing etc......well the changes have been INCREDIBLE!!!!! but now I am getting some pressure to turn his records over to the schools speech therapist........he is 3......3 years old........I am being paranoid, but I feel like they are looking forward to find thier next SPED children......we have a teeny school and they get a lot of funding for the SPED end of the school......which is getting sparse right now.......I refused, flat out.....said no will not happen, he has a full nother year of preschool and his pediatrician is not concerned, and we had him independantly evaluated and they said he is well with in the normal limits. As parents, we (his daddy and I) feel such a range of emotions, protection, fear of doing the wrong thing, anger that he is being singled out, labled, and put in a category at 3, frustration, and many others to go with it! I pray we are making the right decision for our little boy, and in our fight to protect him from being labled at 3 years old, we are not hindering him. I would hope with the early childhood education I have under my belt and the many hands on experiences with children I would be capable of recognizing anything in my own children. If his father and I thought there really was something wrong, we would jump on it. Why do I allow them to make me doubt my decision and my passion in parenting my child?

Happy Easter (a wee late)

The Easter Bunny made it to our house for another year of Easter Egg Hunting!!! He sure dropped a load at our house. Hope he left some for other kids! The boys got these cool coloring books that you use a marker filled with water to color, and then when they dry you can do it all over again!! NO muss no fuss. Shy got a Girls only password journal...... and they all 3 got the Martian matter kit with 2 refills. I have to say this stuff is pretty cool.............there is a play doh like stuff you make a mold out of , you pour this liquid goop in top it off with a playdough cookie and then in about 3-5 minutes you have this slimy little martian. Cut him open and he oozes slime or just play with him........now the liquid stuff does not harden if you drip it on the table.....very odd!!
Bud barely awake but finding eggs!!!!
Bret found an egg right outside of his bedroom door. I am not sure he really knows what is going on!
Shyanne givin Bret a lift up, to find the egg he found!
the Easter Bunny also somehow knew shyanne LOVES to read and LOVES Hannah Montana
Looks suspiciously like SOMEONE got into the chocolate before 8am!!! Is that not what Easter is about for kidlings?

A great end to a beautiful Easter Sunday!

Pictureless Thursday

So I have completed yet another pair of booties and have cast on a pair of socks from the book. This is the first knitting book I have ever had that I have literally knit from the beginning..and plan to knit to the end. It is full of wonderful information.

I am going to run my April "Things I hope to Accomplish" List.
1) Knit the Body of the NIF Aran.
2) Knit 2 angels
3) Finish a full size pair of socks from Pathways.
4)Knit a Baby Surprise Jacket
5) Knit a hat of some sort
6)Work on a Mitten Design for the Island Institute Shop.
7) Leave comments on 30 new blogs! People we in the blog world live for comments....I started this blog thinking it was just for me......but I love getting comments. So if you read a blog entry on the net and it makes you grin.......let em' know!

Sounds like a lot right? Well actually if I am honest with ya'll the NIF Aran is almost to the bottom of the sleeve holes anyway and is a fairly quick knit, when it is not in time out. The BSJ is a mindless knit now that I have 3 under my belt and they are soooooooooooooo cute, it is good to have a couple in the wings for those baby showers, and I have a feeling in the next year or so I will have my fair share of them to attend!

As for my March Hit List
March Goals-
Finish Celtic Bag- OH Yeah baby and it came out AWESOME!!!
Finish Jay walkers (if I find them)- I am so psyched about my first homespun yarn project!!!
Knit 3 more chemo caps-Only ended up knitting one because the yarn was soooooo yucky!
2 angels- I have them knit they just need to be starched.....and I will I have a few more days!
log 20 hours of walking or some form of a$$ moving-Umm NO, I was so sick I woulda rather been dead. the only moving that happened was the vibrating bed from my fever induced shivering!
not kill my kids!!!!- Well as of 7:55 pm Thursday March 27 they are still living, breathing, splahing me while they are in the tub, throwing more food than they eat, picking on one another little cretins!

So I don't think I did too bad for March.

NO I am not pregnant!!!!!! Don't even go there!! :)

Just wanted to make that clear from the get go!!!! I am however, enamored with this book! I am a fairly good knitter, not to toot my own horn or anything, but aside from color work I can pretty much jump into most any pattern unscathed! This book is TEACHING me things. Mostly to think outside of the box when it comes to socks. The BEST part of the book (or at least I think) is that each section starts with a baby sock or bootie. So if you read the pattern and don't think you "get it" or are not sure you like it, you can knit a baby bootie before you commit to a whole sock!!!! I didn't think I liked the first ones...the red and purple but upon knitting them realized they are really really really cute!! Cat Bordhi has an amazing mind! She and Elizabeth Zimmermann are my knitting heroes!

You will see many more wee little socks from this book! As I plan to knit a pair of each and then start picking my way through the adult sized socks!!!

What is better than TGIF!!!!!

TGI>>>>>>>>FINISHED!!!!!!! Yeah I have a pair of Jaywalkers in my very own handspun!! You can not imagine how excited I am!!!!!

SOCKS SOCKS and more Socks`

So I am still in love with the Jaywalker pattern. Most patterns I knit once and have had enough of, very few will I turn to again and again and again....call it knitting ADD....I don't know. But I love the way the pattern effortlessly turns into zigzags. This pair is really very special......and had sort of taken a back burner, for chemo caps, and awareness angels for a bit. This is the first project that I have knit with my own hand spun yarn.......I must say it has been fun.......I know what it is, I am positive there are no knots anywhere in my cake cause I did it......from start to finish.....
I have gotten a lot of comments on the colors, and a few have asked where they can get the yarn.....and all are SHOCKED when I say it is MY handspun. "YOURS, I thought you JUST taught yourself how to spin this summer" as if to say I shoudl not be any good yet......well I attribute that to my OCD :) I have this perfection complex and I try to limit it to my crafts at this point in my life!

Back to the socks......they are awesome.....I am loving the end results, I am doing 2 at once on circulars, I have turned the heels, and only have 2 more gusset decreases before it is just straight brainless knitting till the toe. These socks are for me....and I may not wear them, I may frame them and just gaze adoringly at them from time to time. :)

The sweater in the previous post.......the NAUGHTY sweater in the previous post......look very closely at that picture in the previous post.....do you see anything odd, or off in that picture? Look closely, well really you don't have to look that closely unless
you are blinded by the fact that it is knitting up very quickly and looking quite lovely with the all natural sheen......until you hold it up to natural light to gave upon it's beauty.......and notice that the top 3 inches in not see through and the rest is......then upon closer inspection you notice there is even a difference in color (please note that I did NOT use the words:slight, or little or any variation on those words) in the top 2 or 3 inches. Go ahead go look I will wait for you to return.......................................................................
See told you.........blah, what happened? Yeah well So I had 9 skeins of the yarn that I myself grabbed.......well I thought they were all Bulky weight....ummmmmmm well apparently the first 2 I used were not Bulky they were worsted weight....the other 7.....ummm yeah they were Bulky!!!! ARGH.....so I ripped out the offending skein of yarn and off I went to return the Bulky in exchange for some Worsted......the whole thing is in time out for a bit!!!!!

My birthday..... it was great. My hubby bought me a new walking outfit......not that you need special clothes to walk, BUT this stuff is the moisture wicking stuff, and I must say it works well enough to short out a battery powered St. Patty's Day Button,......(long uninteresting story, involves, sweat, moisturewicking clothes and a button pinned to the shirt....nuff said) The kids bought my a new Rachel Ray cookbook (I love that woman!!! Watch her everyday, peeved that my magazine subscription ran out and I can't justify $20.00 on the subscription) My parents bought me my favorite perfume oil and body spray (I have worn The Body Shops White Musk since I was 15....that is over half my life at this point, I have tried other perfumes and none compare....this is just me, it is light and clean.....I absolutely Love it and have stopped looking for others to use) they also gave me a singing bear that plays an elvis tune. My friend gave me a beautiful necklace that she had her mom make right in front of me.....sneaky sneaky It is Dichroic Glass, and her mom is going to teach a class in it here on island.....it is beautiful! Lets see......John cooked dinner, and then he and shy made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.....from scratch! It was yummy! The best gift though I must say is that a person I love very much made the move to be in contact again. It has been a source of heart ache for a while now, it may take a bit of time for all the wounds to heal, but we will take it one step at a time, and as long as we are moving forward we will get there!

I have blabbed long enough for one post!! Hopefully within the next few days I will have the socks done and framed!! Just Kidding (or at least I think I am!!!)

Progress and fighting startitis

Progress has been made on the NIF Aran. This is working up very quickly and so far I have had no problems working it up in the round. The directions as I stated before are written in pieces but I HATE piecing things together a the end. I have 2 more diamonds to repeat and then I am at the arm holes where i will have to work the front and back seperately.....don't even try to talk me into to steeks.......yeah I know I have read all about them and how you can continue working in the round just by adding a few extra stitches yaddayadda yadda, no thanks, I am not ready to take a pair of scissors to my knitting!!! I just won't do it. Do you know how long it took me to feel OK felting my knitting.......quite a while......the hats looked pretty silly sitting there waiting to be felted....they were big enough for 3 heads without felting them! I will work in the round until I get to the armhole decreases and then it is back and forth....by then you are so close to having the body done that it is fast work anyway!! Then it is the sleeves!!! Argh sleeves.......

I am fighting a serious bout of startitis!! I have an awesome lace stole pattern I want to do, I have another sweater waiting in the wings, Socks socks and more socks.........but I wil knit my 2 angels for the month. I am only doing just the one chemo cap cause the other yarn was awful!! And then there is the chicken viking hat, and some baby ribbon hats, and then while I was on ravelry I saw the CUTEST lobster Bouy hats OMG these would sell like hot cakes in the summer. But in all fairness I don't have the right colors. I am also on the prowl for another bag pattern. I liked knitting that one up so much I am ready to do another!! Only this one I want to be in love with myself. I like the bottom of the Celtic bag.....I like that it uses the plastic canvas to give it some substance....perhaps this is common of bag patterns....what do I know????

Have some green beer for me on monday. I will be turning 32!! We had our ham dinner tonight and I will say it was delish, even though ham is not a favorite of mine this one was awesome, not to salty and it was on sale when I bought it!!! I probably will not post again till after the big day so, Hope everyone finds the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and kiss a leprechaun for me if you see one!!! Happy Saint Patty's Day everyone!

FO'S and new projects!!

Ok so here is the Celtic bag from Interweave Magazine,. I decided I wanted to knit it simply because I had the yarns called for and it was a bag, and I have never made a bag. It still needs a button, it was very easy, EXCEPT taking the darker colors and going around the edges.....that was not fun. I think for a button I will try and find an oblong wooden type button.....I like it but still ave no idea what I am going to do with it!!!!




This is Holly's chemo cap without beads. I COULD not figure out how to thread beads on this particular yarn. It is very split, and not so squishy, so to thread a needle with beads and this yarn you couldn't get the beads over the area below the needle eye where the yarn doubles over n itself........I fought and fought and fought with it before I gave up. I tried the crochet hook method, and this yarn is like 10 strands of thread lightly twisted...so the crochet hook would grab 2 or 3 strings and that was it......I was so upset I couldn't get it to do what I wanted it to but I will deal with imperfect.

I feel a case of start-itis coming upn me. Which is realy OK, the only old project I have on the needles are the jaywalker socks. And I will finish those. My newest cast on, is a North Island Farm Aran. Designed by Jean Baker-White who is an amazingly talented lady, most well known for her quilts which have been in many publications! The yarn is from locally grown sheep which is sheered here and she faarms the fleece out here in Maine and has it processed into this fabu. yarn. I choose to use a bulky version for theis sweater, but the worsted weight is quite lovely too! The pattern is written in pieces but I am trying to knit it in the round, less sewing together in the end. I am quite easily confused translating patterns though, so we shall see how it goes!!!! I plan to start a Chicken Viking hat soon as well. This is another one of those projects I sw on line and really just want to do it. I think they are hysterically funny. Little viking hats with chicken legs sticking out of them :) TOOO mUCH

Well we are all still healing up from the respiratory flu. John coughed so hard he screwed up his intestines and had to have a shot of valium mixed with something else. I can say I was JEALOUS. The Dr. drove him home and he slept peacefully for almost 8 hours!!!!!! :) Not that he didn't need it...but he was completely oblivious to the fact that the 4 of us were downstaris shivering shaking and battling the crud too......I told the Dr. as much too when I sw him......he said and I qoute "sounds like he owes you one.....the next time you have stomach pains look me up, I'll take good care of you!!!" I laughed as did he. I was JUST joking....well I will admit when I watched him sleeping so soundly the thought crossed my mind to yell FIRE just to see what he would do.......MUAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But we are all on the mend officially now (I THINK) just still feeling tired and worn out.

I worked today and was KIP'ing (Knitting in Public) and this really nice lady whom I have talked to several times was out working with the pre-school kiddies. She says she is a new knitters but I remember on eof the first time we spoke I was knitting the butterfly shawl and she said she was knitting a civil war shawl. New knitter project.......I don't think so!!!! I have seen these shawls and covet the day I have enough time to knit one. She then explained that she was still learning new techniques....she was working on socks, and things like that. AHAHA now I understand!! She is a newbie like I was.....tackle the ough stuff and the easy stuff scares the poop out of you!!! Got it!!! Color Work still intimidates me! BAH....cables all over the place, double pointed needles don't make me faint, lace work WOOHOOO bring it on....but you hane me a pattern with more than one color and FORGET IT, I am a puddle of mush! She brought up another good point too....reading patterns. I don't know how I learned how to read patterns.......I think I picked out a simple one with help and just went from there.

Freaky Flu phlem flying friday

So ever just had one of those days, turn into one of those weeks, which turns into one of those months, and appears to be turning into one of those years? Well my life is one of those Sienfield episodes, you know the ones, where verything and nothing happens all at once to one person and you can totally relate????? So Sunday I was minding my own business walking at the gym and


my hubby came streaking across the lot to tell me one of the ladies at the ticket office had come off sick and I needed to go work for her. OK, so I had walked for all of 10 minutes woohoo.....oh well. So I get my gear ready and head out the door. I walk into the office and my co worker, who is a great lady to work with says.....she thinks she was getting the flu, I disinfected EVERYTHING...the phone the knobs the desks, the arms of the chairs EERYTHING she touched!!!!

Good I said and we went about our day. chatted listened to music, knitted played Homeland Security...the usual. Went home and was fine, Monday was Ok all day and then in the evening I started getting this tickled in my throat......went to bed woke up with a fever of 102.4......which for me is like 104.2 as my normal temp is 96.6. yeehaw I had it all shakes, shimmys, quakes, bone aches, muscle cramps, charlie horses and halucinactions.....Tuesday morning my coworker ( the one I worked with on Sunday) called to find out if I could work for her cause hse had gotten the flu........so we comiserated for a minute or 2 and then went to bed. I had a fever for 3 straight days and was sicker than I was when my appendix burst. But niether hee nor there, John took very good care of me, AND then HE got the fever
O YAY, poor guy, knew I was no where near being up to doing anything so he went about doing and dealing while also boiling from the inside out......then yesterday morningall 3 of the kids had it, and apparently Shyanne brought home this nasty little stomach bug to go along with it!!!! Coughing razor blades, with an elephant on our chests while trying not to mess our depends :) It has been a bowl full of fun games here at our house. Then last night while Bud was having a fever siezure and we were alternating doses of Children's Motrin and Tylenol we realized we didn't have much left. So I being the only one who hadn't had a fever in a while said I would go to the mainland and replace our supply...we also were out of toilet paper, and a few other unimportant odds and ends.....now bear in mind in all I lost 13 pounds from Monday to last night so I feel like flattened road ,
like butt punches, like dead skunk, pecked by crows in 100 degree heat......all I want to do is pause everyone around me, crawl into my bed in the fetal position for a few days till it all blows over, but when you have kids and they are sick.....sometimes that is not an option.......period!

A new day dawning

Ok so I apologize for my end rant. But I do have cute kids right?????? I have been feeling a bit like my best isn't near good enough lately. Not anything earth shattering. Thank you for the commment......I needed the hug!

Ok so it is a new day, and while I am bit down in the gulley still it is ok. I want to take inventory on this month. My goals were to do 2 angels....I did 4 this month. To do the sleeves from the sweater from he!!, I finshed the sweater It is fineto!!. I did not however turn the heel on the jaywalkers.....I in fact don't even know where the jaywalkers are to be honest......I think they are in hubby's car somewhere.......his car resembles the front yard on the Sanford and Son show. He is a born pack rat....drives me nuts cause I am the oppostie unless we are talking yarn....but that is TOTALLY different (right ladies?). So that is that. But in addition to those projects, I knit 2 chemo hats for a friend with breast cancer, 1 Odessa hat for my daughter, and a knitters basket that I have no idea what I will do with!!! And I am about 5/8 done the Celtic bag from interweave.
My friend has sent me 3 skeins of yarn and would like a few more chemo hats which I am happy to oblige her with...more than happy actually!

March Goals
Finish Celtic Bag
Finish Jay walkers (if I find them)
Knit 3 more chemo caps
2 angels
log 20 hours of walking or some form of a$$ moving
not kill my kids!!!!

That's it for march, aside from becoming another year older too! Blah......I was a green baby! Drink some green beer for me!!!

More FO'S and kids galore OMGosh R we from Mars??? And ramblings about sadness.

This is Shyanne's hat, she fell in love with the chemo caps I made for Holly. It looks really cute on her I must say!






THese are the angels I made for another friend and her sister, one will have a children with diabetes support ribbon in it's hands, her daughter is 3 and in Bud's class, and she has diabetes. She is a wicked trooper UNBELIEVABLE actually and her parents handle it amazingly well too. THey have 3 other children as well. THe other angel is for the mother's sister who is in a relationship with someone with a 7 year old son who is battling leukemia! YIKES!!!!

This is the FO of the Inishman that almost kicked my tush!!!!



All in all it came out well!!!



This is the second chemo cap for my friend. The pic of Shy is AWFUL but she would not relax!!










THis is what I fought to get what I got!! :) She is sch a dork!







Bud as himself!!







Bret as Shy's dress up doll!!







Ummmm BUD-dina







Shy and Bud played in Shyannes room all morning one morning quietly it was great..........dad was a wee bit less than impressed with the results :)










Bretty spaghetti







Shy Fry Godiva






Bud-dina doing the macerena.





Curtsy curtsy












Now for the ramblings...........just because I give up, unwillingly, but I give up. I have to for my sanity.

My family, I love my family and everyone in it. I am going through an episode with one of my family members. She used to read the blog, I don't know if she still does or not. At this point it does not matter because everything I do makes things worse, no matter if it is directed at her or not. I am an adult. I am saddened because she will not confront me with her anger. What happened??? Well she is away going to school, she left some odd away messages on her IM and when I spoke with her several times on the phone and on the IM, as well as playing online cards with her she was off. I asked her DIRECTLY what was up and she continually just said nothing, it is stress or whatever......some of what she was saying had to do with what I considered to be possible health problems.....I stewed on it for a week or better, while continually trying to get info out of her with no luck. Then one day I was cleaning at the center and MY NIECE who also happens to be her friend came in and I helped her carry some boxes into the class room and then I asked her how she thought this person was doing......we started talking MUTUALLY about things we were worried about, I left that conversation feeling a bit better and like perhaps I was looking too deeply, but still concerened. Well from there all I can do is guess what happened, I think my niece went and told my family member everything that was discussed on both parts but made the whole convo seem like it came from me. Anyhow I thought NOTHING more of this conversation until my family member (let's call her F1) started giving me the cold shoulder, ignoring my family and just being really really OFF. Anyway this bugged me, every once in a while a glimpse of normalcy would come through and I would think it was all my mind.....then I had a convo with a mutual friend who reluctantly told me something was up so I wrote F1 a long letter apologizing for WHATEVER I had done, and asking for her to confront me, scream, yell whatever.....and saying no matter what I love her, but I can't with 3 kids dwell on it so for the time being she would get what she gives, meaning if she ignores me I will ignore her etc.......so apparently that made it much worse.......but whatever.....I took her off my IM list because I couln't handle seeing her around. Well I put her back on a week or so ago, hoping that she might speak while she was on vaca. We went away the other day and hinted we needed a dog sitter, because I was hoping a friend would return a favor (which she offered but we had found a better solution.......my nephews watched the dogs) it had NOTHING with her. Came back home yesterday after a good night away with the kids altho Bret was in a head on collision but that is a whole nother story. So while I was on concussion watch I did laundry and cleaned the house and left a msg saying something about the dogs doing well with the new sitter cause the boys are on my IM list.......I had thanked them and told them to look at my away msg...they thought it was cool . Well this AM she is pissed because she thought it was a stab at her. I lov ethe kid to death but she obviously thinks the world revolves around her. I am at a stand still. I am comfortqable with where I left things....but she obviosly has a chip on her shoulder. I am going to take her back off my list so that I no longer see her msgs first thing in the am and she can no longer see my msgs, cause obviously thinks my msgs all pertain to her, and I am tired of causing more damage to a toxic situation. I am a good person, I did nothing to intentionally hurt her and I still am not sure why she is so pissed. If you are reading this I love you, and am a phone call, a drop by or an e-mail away. I truley do wish you would clear the air, even if it is just to say FU I don't ever want to speak to you again. Get it out there and friggin own it. Instead of doing what you are doing now............this is stupid! What I have learned from this situation.....I am not allowed to talk to friends or family about mutual friends or family when I am concened, I am not supposed to clear the air, and as much as you THINK you know someone you don't. Did I miss anything?

Help ME PLEASE!!!! I am mystified!

Ok so here is the success! Here is the tri fold moebius basket. I am not as happy with this one as I am with the first one which you will see in a future picture. I knit this simply to teach a few ladies how to do the cast on, which is easy but different, and tricky at the same time.



Now here is the 20 question time.....please send me some traffic, or the right answer!!! This sweater I knit for my gorgeous daughter, is now too small........:( It needs lengthening. I know it is possible but I really just can't figure out how to do it so it looks best. I know I have posed this question more than once. BUt I am finishing up my Inishman and this is the next thing I am going to tackle!! HELP Send me some knitters!!

As you can see it is a fairly simple pattern.......I am going to swatch the cable and then see if I can reverse it....I don't think it will look right I think there will be a jog in the pattern......the other thing I was wondering if was possible was to take out the ribbing and then knit like 6 inches of the ribbing and pattern and then kitchener it on???? Graft it on...si there a difference?


Here is the Inishman!! As you can see front ad back is done, and sleeves are being worked 2 at once and the increases are done....I have about 4 inches of sleeve and then the saddle shoulders....I am realy getting there WOOHOO!!!!

This is the true color.



This shows the patterns better!

Pictures Later

Ok so I have no pics to show today......why? Cause I am lazy!!! Cause I have 3 kids and I am busy working too many jobs.

But I am knitting! I am now on to the sleeves of the Inishman! It is beautiful, but my goodness it feels like I have been working on it FOREVER!!! I have a second knitters basket completed, and I am knitting on a pair of jaywalker socks in my space dyed handspun!

Goals for this the short month???

To get the sleeves done.

To get to the turning of the heel on the Jaywalkers.

To knit 2 angels

That's it.........it may not seem like alot BUT DUDES you MUST remember I have a 7 year old, a 3 year old and an 18 month old. I have 6 jobs......LITERALLY, this is not an exxaggeration. I would like to actually accomplish my goals this month!!

Oh yeah and I would like to post once a week!

Welcome to the Funny Farm, Come on in!

Ok so sometimes my kids are funny, and then there are times when they are out of control. Last week I have to say they were out of control funny.

Bud has been a long time advocate of hats....everything has hat potential, but he is particualarly fond of underwear or pullups as hats.

He is trying to bring his little brother over to the odd side too :) The other day, he handed Bret a pair of underwear and said, "If you put these on your head we can be a family." Bret proceeded to nod, take the underwear and place them on his head!! I had to get pictures of the "family" Too Cute!



This on the other hand is inexplicable really. I was in a sort of "woke up on the wrong side" and was busy trying to do 5000 things all at once when Shyanne said "Hey, mom, look what I can do..." I turned and dropped what I was doing cause what I saw put me into hysterics.....mood over.......but what posses her?????? I may never know, and it is probably better that way!


Again with the underwear. Only Bud says, "hey ma, this pair make me look like a pirate" Hmmmm mom thinks.....must be something they add to that brand??? Specifically???? WHolly how can you not laugh!




Even Panda tries to get in on the comedy. Watch out dog I have been known to eat fried tongue.






Aside from wearing his brothers underwear on his head, Bret has taken the gangster approach to diaper wearing. You put a diaper on him and he immediately shoves his thumbs in the back and shoves em' down, just far enough so the crack of his plumbers smile shows. So figured I would share his pretty smile with y'all.

He is gonna kill me when I show his first girl friend this site :)

Here is the sinister eye of no return! Ok so apparently someone in the house decided to see if they could melt the wood stove and burn the house down........I won't mind so long as I have warning enough to get all my yarn, scrapbooks, kids (duh), animals, and clothes....well basically let me move out first ok!!!!!



We thought it looked really cool.......it was however extraordinarily HOT, and look at where our super smart black lab parked herself.
This is not an unusual spot to find her, she loves to be hot....she soaks it up and then pants her way out, plunks down in the middle of the floor and goes back for more heat.



So I have a friend who at the age of 33 has breast cancer. Found out right before Christmas, had her breast removed 2 days afterward, and a week later a port put in, and started chemo last week. 33 years old. She is 2 years older than I am. What do you do when you want to help but there is nothing you can really do? Well me, I knit....like a fiend actually. This is an Odessa Hat. I knit it in the recommended yarn and put some cheap walmart pearls on it. Shy really liked it, but she can't have it. It is the first chemo cap for my friend, who will also have to have radiation after the chemo is done.



Shyanne actually looked really cute in it, although she wouldn't let me take an un-posed ic of her in it. she kept giving me the wierd eyes every time I would go to take a picture.




I also knit up an angel for my friend, hers is holding the pink ribbon. I think she is actually one of the best ones I have done so far. The other is for my uncle who has cancer as well. Man someone really needs to find the cure.......and quickly!

These angels are time consuming. But the whole I knit them I was thinking about who I was knitting them for and why. So a whole lot of love, blood (I pricked my finger umpteen million times while I was putting them together) and tears for what they are going through. Man o Man.

They are on my computer keyboard to give you an idea of how tiny they are.









This is the yarn for the 2nd chemo cap, and the beads that my friend picked out herself. It is already done but I have to sew the ends in. I had my doubts about the colors together, but they came out really cute!








So another friend's hubby wants a skull hat, liked the hello yarns, we call them pirates pattern but wanted it bigger and a bit more menacing........so this is my first attempt at designing......I actually enjoyed it.....learned a few things, but all in all it was a good experience. Now I can get knititng it :)

So how is your padded cell today?

Mommy's First Day of School Blues AND KNITTING

So have you ever had the feeling that you were only needed for laundry, food, a kissed boo boo now and again, and to change dirty Dipies???? Well today was Bretty's first day of "school" it is sort of a pre- pre school.....or playgroup if you will. Now the ticket office is across the road so I have seen several basket cases come out....on kids first day, you know that type......"wanna go play" mom asks....the kid IMMEDIATELY starts screaming and crying and clininging to mom......now with Shy, we dropped her off and
pretty much summed it up in a look, the look was one cast over her shoulder along with a shrug that said......"what in the he## are you 2 still here for??? Get lost" Seriously she could say that and more with just a look.......diminish us to dust on the floor. Bud on his first day kissed us both and ran off to play giving us a wave. And then when he could talk, before we even got through the door he was telling us goodbye, while we watched other kids months older than him melt in puddles at thier parents feet BEGGING and pleading with them not to leave them in this place alone WAAAAAAAAA! Not our kids. I think I secretly hoped that my youngest would have SOME sort of seperation anxiety, a tear or at least a sad Mommmmma. Nope the little poop kinda looked at us wee bit skeptical gave us kisses and ran off to the toys. POOP.......When we went to pick him up he was crying his eyes out, quietly in my head I said...ha see he does love me.......I asked the teacher how long he had been crying and she said, "oh not long he slipped on a piece of paper poor thing, he had a blast.....never even asked for you!!! To which my heart again fell..........but then he saw me tears dried up and mommy made him better! I looked at the teacher and asked what are we doing right? Why don't our kids have issues with us leaving? She looked at me like I was nuts but then thought about it and said, they know you are coming back, they are secure in your love. AWWWWWW Ok I feel better now! So now I have one in school all day, one in school for 4 hours Mon-Thurs. and one in school for 3 hours on Friday. Freedom is getting closer I can smell it!!! :) Wouldn't trade it for a million bucks........
I am getting out of my funk and knitting for the sake of knitting again. I have had my S>O>S> done just not blocked for a while now. Bocked it tonight. I really need blocking wires as there are not SUPPOSED to be all those points on the edges, but i had to do what i had to do. no place to get those wires around here :(



I think it came out really nice. Not sure what I will do with it as I really have no cause to wear a shawl. Any ideas?






It is fairly long I would say almost 6 feet. It is a shame to just have it collect dust!!






I am back to the Aran. I have a bit done on the back......as you can see the front is all done.

On the knitting front, I finished and gifted 2 more BSJ's Oh how I love them. I did one in a superwash wool......I would not recommend the brand. Although it DOES soften with washing and blocking while you are knitting with it, it feels like acrylic, it squeaks and is just gross. :P I also have done 3 pairs of thrummed mittens.

I have a friend who is getting ready to start chemo for breast cancer and I am thinking about doing a chemo cap for her out of the Odessa pattern
what do you guys and gals think? Will the beads be irratating? She is young (33) so I wanted something a bit fresh and a little hip..........I also need to know what a suitable yarn for it would be......ANYONE have any suggestions? I thought about cotton but am not sure cotton will keep its shape. Bare in mind my hubby still is not full time employed and we are squeaking by.......so I can't go in for cashmere..........but needs something just as loveably soft!!

Pictureful Post

Thanksgiving YUMMM-o


























Time for a FAKE nap......











Mom I am chewing ....good grief!













Fun in the first snow storm of the season.....this is the the christmas card we never sent!










Hey cool I can push snow with my trucks.....



















Help....I have fallen lost my mitten and I can't get up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!










Phew am I tired!












School Winter Concert! They were volcanoes.......don't ask I am still seething......Shy is 7 and I have yet to hear her or her class mates sing a carol......last year they were astronauts.






















Our churches Christmas tree befre the program



















The Christmas Program FINALLY she sings :)











Santa and the librarian dance! She is also a Sunday School Teacher.











Shy tells Santa all her wishes for Christmas.....


















Bud has a few of his own and then fills him in on what Bret wants cause Bret is scared ti death of the man in the red suit!!

















Christmas Morning....Bret peeks out of his room and just said Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.











Stockings were a hit.....Santa always knows just what to put in there!











You mean I get to really rip things and I don't get in trouble????? HUh whatta concept!











OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO this is coooooooooooooool









..













Oh boy a thomas tent just what i always wanted!

Still Alive...................

With tons to be thankful for this holiday season. But Well....now that is debateable!

So it has been a very long time since I posted and this is going to be a pictureless Thursday for the simple reason I can not find my camera cable. I have tons of pics to share of my adorable kids but I have to be able to dump my camera on to this picture eating machine I currently type on.

Thanksgiving was good we had it at my parents house and the meal was delish. Mom did th mass majority of the work, the rest of us made the mess. Christmas preparations were daunting at the least in the beginning. Wth no money an no way to "help" Santa out John and I were just not sure how this year was going to go. It was looing more and more like a sock and underware kinda year to say the least. Someone ( a nameless family member THANK YOU!!) heard our silent prayers and we recieved a very nice note in the mail with a gift card for walmart. We were able to help Santa make the kids wishes come true. and then some. It was a christmas just for kids. I was sad not to be able to do for John, as was he for me, but we know in our heart of hearts that it is more important to celebrate the magic of our family, and keeping things alive for the kids was much more important to us this year. So after we got the goodies we could feel good abot putting the tree and decorations up. Usually it is a few days after Turkey day for us.....this year it was a week before Christmas. I feel bad for my kids but it was a good christmas.....we made salt ornaments and they came out REALLY good. So good in fact I am going to start making a few small batches here and there and decorate them all year long for gifts and to sell at the bazaar. These things were adorable and EASY! and we had fun I invited a friend and her 2 daughters over and shy and I all sat down and painted our hearts out.

The family is we sick but all in all well. Bud's vocab is growing by leaps and bounds. He literally recovered from the surgery in a day and was talking so much better in just a matter of 2 or 3 days, all we had to o was sort of remind him that now his tongue moves and he CAN say things the right way. There are only 2 bad sides effects of the surgery........actually 3, *Bud is sooooooo much louder now, * he talks non STOP and * he has now bitten his tongue 100 times which is all new to him and he still has a bit of a hard time understanding how to keep it from happening...:) All things that we certainly can deal with. I am so incredibly glad we did it, and that the Dr. agreed to do it!

Shy is doing amazing in school. We are having a bit of a hard time with her at home. She is 7 with the brain of a much older child, but the social skills of a 7 year old, and the attitude of a 16 year old. It is very frustrating to love this little part of me, but at the same time dislike her so much. ARGH. And everyone says it will pass..........this has literally been going on since this little girl was11 months old and learned the saying "whatever" in just the right tone pushed all of mom and dads buttons all at once!!

Bret is still our ham head. This kid is the comsdian of the family and knows JUST when to act his part. With the three of them hamming it up it is hard not to know why we are here.

Thank you to all that have hit me on Ravelry, I just wanted to evaporate for a while. Things are going to look up soon. I know they will!

On the knitting front.......I have knit 2 pair of kid stuffed mittens, and a baby pair and am getting ready to cast on a second baby pair for a friend wh just had a baby, she will be recieving the 2 Baby Surprise Jackets and a air of baby stuffed mits for her wee one. I have also knit 8 of the little angels and 1 tree topper. 3 were gifts, 1 for our angel who saved christmas, 1 for our surrogate mom/grandma, and one for another helper who sent us some money to help with bills and such. I have one more to make to send out to another angel who heped us out as well and then I will knit some for next years christmas bazare. The only thing I dislaike about them is the cotton dries my hands out horribly.

Well thanks to all who inquired. I will try to stay in reality for awhile.

Peace

Buddy Boy, My Brave Little Man

So today at 4 am I was up fretting about my middle child. John Venner-Mark, aka Bud has a lot to live up to. John is his daddy's name, as well as his daddy's daddy's name. I never had the pleasure of meeting John's dad, but I have heard that he was one hell of a man. As for my husband John, well he is as perfect as they come. Venner was my grandfather, whom EVERYONE, who was anyone called Bud. He also was one hell of a man, who would fight to the end for his family. He is no longer with us, and was taken suddenly, and tragically, and Bud probably has very little memory of his great grandfather
but he really is a mini him! Mark is my dad's name and he mixed with a good portion of thier daddy is exactly what I would like for my sons to be. I think Bud is becoming quite an awesome combo of these men in my life.

Today was Bud's surgery day. For me yesterday never really had an end. I didn't sleep all night. I laid and listened to my husband snore, and my son breath (and talk) in his sleep. I tossed and turned, and then I got up and turned the TV on and knit.

Finally after a few repeats of that procedure, I got up and quietly (we were at John's sister's house on the mainland) got myself ready and then waited some more. At 6:30 we were checking Bud in. I felt like the owrst mom ever. He was soo happy and charming the nurses. They had toys for him to play with. Then at about 7:15 they gave him 1/4 tsp of some magic potion that literally made him drunk......he was sooo cute, giggly, droopy eyed and silly. I felt like I was leading him into the lions den blindly!
At 7:30 they wheeled him away from us....I sat
and knit for 30 minutes when at 8:01 the Dr.
came in and told us all went well, but that when he got in and started poking around, he realized just how little mvement Bd had in his tongue. He almost couldn't lift it or stretch it enough to make the first snip but did manage to get things just so....he had the more invasive procedure which involves stitches.











All in all, it went well and we were released with our groggy, drunk little boy at 9:10 am. He stayed in sort of a drunk or hung over stupor til around 5 ish. It is amazing to see him with his new released tongue. So far he seems to be much LOUDER!!! hmmmmm......but he seems to feel a bit odd with his new mouth buddy, almost like it feels too big. I watched him run his tongue over his lips this evening to get a stray drip of ice cream....he has NEVER been able to do that before. I am sure over the next few days as he gets used to the feel of the
and the movement, and range of motion, he will readjust the way he talks.


The nurses at the hospital were great and he really charmed a few of them.








Someone should tell dad that stretching isn't going to make him invisible. This is the very drunk Bud, in the recovery room, getting ready to be wheeled to his room...he wanted Daddy to ride with him.

All is wel and I thingk I will go get some sleep now!

Pictureless Thursday

Ok so here I am again.....I did sooo well for a few days running. Posted consecutively, formulated entries and pics in my head for the next entry....and then WHAM life gets in the way all over again!

Knitting goodies.....Ok so I am well on my way for November and achieving my goals. I cast on my socks I was supposed to plan for next month as one of my goals.....I am using my hand spun, I am doing 2 at once on circulars. Size 1 addis, it is the jaywalker pattern. I love this space dyed stuff it was so much fun to spin, and just as much fun to knit. There is some variance in thickness and twist but so far the ribbing looks very nice.

I am 1/3 done the back of the aran from heck.

I am thinking about casting on the felted mittens......thinking about it..........hmmmmmm..........

Yesterday I even cleaned......my dining room is now a kid free zone......cleared all the corners, moved things around a bit......got all the TOYS (teeny tiny trains that when stepped on pierce the skin and end up almost in your hip bones) de scuzzed the wood floor, vaccumed and dusted, then started on the living room. I think I have decided to just stay in the dining room....the kids can have the living room....EXCEPT on Grey's night, Private Practice Night and Desperate Housewives niight. Then I just need enough room for me, and my knitting in a prime spot aimed directly at the TV, and god help the kid/animal/ manchild that gets between me and my TV on those time slots!! I will be armed with needles and wool, and I think I can figure out how to knit a straight jacket in record time with some sort of device for suspending you from the ceiling fan to get you out of my way and torture you at the same time!!!!!

Things are temporarily looking up on the job front.....not the same kind f money.....John is helping clear trees (on the property that he applied for the full time caretaking job, that would have meant living closer to mom and dad, and in a NICE BIG house with a 2 car garage and full apartment over head....ladies READ YARN HIDEAWAY...........) he did not get the job, BUT he will be filling on the weekend because the guy that DID get hired is not from here and has 2 daughters in MA that he will go home to every weekend....hmmmm go figure.....WTF. But anyway we are keeping our foot in the door anyhow. He is helping with the new school project part time and then he has the maintanence man job, and is currently working on his Bus Drivers License. Our bus driver decided to go to a 10th grade sponsered dance for all aged kids the Sat. before Halloween and she had been drinking....hmmmmm.......again WTF????? Go figure.

Well It is kind of a dark blah day....I think I am having company for the afternoon and it feels like a coffee and cribbage kinda day. She doesn't knit, and I am not sure she wants to learn.........keep poking her about it though...........lol!!