Goal Trackers

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Aaarrggg.... It's a Pirate's Life for Me!



My pirate name is:



Red Charity Bonney



Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Frisco!!

This is what I deal with when I sit down to work at my computer...

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I'm going to be a Zia again!!

I'm so excited! My baby sister called me to let me know that I am going to be a Zia *zia means aunt in Italian* again in November!

She's having a Thanksgiving baby!!

I'm laying odds that she's having a boy :)

OH!! What to knit first for this little one!!

and second....

and third....

you know ;)

CONTEST ALERT!
Leave a comment with a suggestion for a baby pattern and suggest a yarn for that pattern. If you mention this contest in your blog with a link back here I will add you name to the draw twice ***Be sure to leave a link to your blog post!! Contest ends Saturday, April 12 at Midnight :)

Speaking of contest - check out the contest on the Countdown to Sheep & Wool blog! Go there now, yes right now... oh wait, make your suggestion(s) here first and then go over there ;)

Monday, April 7, 2008

Baby, Fairies and Little Flexible Girls... Oh My!

Baby Booties!! I used leftover Tofutsies yarn and size 1 needles. A simple 2x2 ribbing. Aren't they cute! I think anything that small is cute! Except cockroaches and other crawly things! *shivers*

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I finally finished that Fairy blanket!!

ALLELUIA!!!!!

ALLELUIA!!!!!

Can I get an AMEN!

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This is the little squirt it was made for, but as you can see, she was too busy showing me that she could put her foot behind her head! Oh to be young and flexible again! As my sister and I say - tight asses and firm tits are wasted on the young! My sister really needs to get this girl into a Yoga class to keep her this flexible!

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And then I just had to share this. I laughed so hard when I read this note posted on my sister's fridge. I mean really....

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Sorry about the shakiness.

Yarn Disaster!

OK, so if any of you have been following the thread on the Ravelry Yarn discussion board on Mystical Creations Yarn you know all about some of their yarns bleeding very badly. Well, I have several skeins of their yarn in my stash and I have pulled out these four skeins of red/pink to make a shawl with early in February, but I had put that project on hold when I started reading that thread. I cut a little piece of the yarn to test and it bled like a MoF**ker! So, I went to the grocery store, bought some vinegar and big aluminum turkey pans and decided I would try to fix the error. I soaked two skeins in a 50/50 vinegar and water combo over night. The next morning I dumped the water and filled the pan with plain water and let the yarn soak over Easter weekend. Can you see where this is going yet?

I came home the Monday after Easter and apparently there was a leak in the pan. Yeah, not good. My counter tops was HOT PINK! I freaked and panicked! The water had leaked from the pan, across the counter, past the sink to the other side of the counter, down the wall onto the floor. If I hadn't been flipping out so badly over a hot pink counter top I probably would have thought to take pictures, but I was thinking BLEACH! Bleach has to work right. I mean we use bleach to get stains out. I dried everything off, threw out those two skeins of yarns, grabbed my keys and drove straight to the grocery store.

Luckily, the bleach DID take the dye out of my counter tops. My house reeked of Clorox for 3 days afterwards, but at least I have my counter top back to normal -not that it was anything spectacular mind you. I mean I am hoping to redo my 1970's kitchen this summer, but I still didn't want to look at hot pink counter tops for several months.

When I started to breath normally again, I thought about pictures and there was still some dye on the floor. Now, take that pink hues that you see in these pictures and multiple that by oh a thousand!

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Lesson learned - never leave bleeding soaking yarn unattended!

Wet Your Lips and Make Love to the Camera!

Who rememebers this?




Work it Girl!!


Well that is exactly what me and several members of my S'nB group did early Saturday morning! *yes, 10AM IS early for some of us*


There is a local couple that wrote a book on knitting groups and apparently found our group listed on Meetup! The husband came by last Wednesday night to talk to us and tell us about their project. While he was there he took some close-up shots.... of the knitting or course! You think any woman is going to be photographed for a book without prior notice! *giggle* He asked if memebers of our group would be willing to meet early Saturday morning for a photo op. About 10 of us showed up Saturday morning - all wearing a hand knitted item of some sort, of course. It was a hoot!

We took some picture down by the lake, under a gazeboo, at the outside tables of a resturant and another by the blooming daffodils. Poor Denise though, she got yelled at for taking her hands off her knitting. *giggle* We'd be talking and laughing while the guy was taking pictures and then Denise would get into a story and she talks with her hands, so when she getting animated her hands would come into play. Then someone would say "Hands on your knitting!"


We laughed about fake knitting *I think we all had to tink back whatever we were working on in those photos cause you really couldn't watch what you were doing*, modeling jokes *Denise I have your vasaline for you!* and of course it was a tad chilly so there was the nipply factor *PhdKnitting fix that scarf!* All in all, we laughed, even when we weren't told to!

We did come to find out that one of these photos is going to be the book cover! How exciting!! We might all be getting a complimentary copy when it's finally published too! Even better.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Lace and Socks and Yarn Crawl!!

I went on my first official Yarn Crawl this weekend with the Central Maryland Knitters Guild. We all met at the Barnes and Noble in Ellicott City at 8:20 in the morning! On a Saturday!! What was I thinking when I agreed to go?! I am so glad I went, my wallet obviously isn't, but I had a blast with all the girls!

We headed up to Eldersburg to meet up at another knitters house (Laurie) for breakfast!! She made us a yummy breakfast of blueberry muffins, and some yummy egg dish! Her home was warmly decorated! There were some gorgeous quilts hanging on her walls!! And of course, I barely had my eyes open at 8:15 that morning that I completely forgot to take my camera with me!

We hit four yarn stores between Eldersburg to Frederick! We started at the Knitters Nest, then it was off to Knittin' Chicks in Mt. Airy. Afterwards it was off to Frederick. We stopped for lunch first. Don't even ask about the troubles we had trying to find the Vietnamese Restaurant that Laurie's co-workers had raved about, and don't even think to ask about Laurie's navigation system in her car! I don't think Ellen, Laurie or I could tell that story without cracking up! OK, OK I'll tell you about the GPS system!

Laurie never learned to work her navigation system when she bought the car two years ago, because when she plugged in her home address the GPS system told her the location didn't exist! So she never bothered after that. Can't say I really blame her. Do you think if I called my mortgage company and told them that my GPS system (if I had one that is, I'm still old school and read maps, I know. Don't faint) told me my address was none existent and I shouldn't have to pay a mortgage on a place that doesn't exist that they would understand and release me from my mortgage and let me keep my house that is at a non-existent place??? Hmmmm....

Anyhoo, Ellen was sitting in the front seat and has a GPS in her car so she tried to fool around with it and she sort of got it to work. She managed to find a listing for a Vietnamese restaurant in the area!! We weren't sure it was THE one we were looking for, but since we didn't have an address or a restaurant name we thought "how many Vietnamese restaurants could there really be in Frederick?" So we followed the GPS to the location. For those of you that have not encountered a GPS system, I know, hardly likely but you never know, usually the system has a voice that tells you when turns are coming up. Well, we couldn't get Laurie's to talk! So we followed the map route and we turned into what looked like an office complex. We slowed down to read the building numbers when low and behind it spoke! It said "You have arrived at you destination!" ..... We were parked in from of a family doctor's practice! The three of us busted out laughing. And then Stacey and her entourage pulled up next to up and found us in fits of laughter. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant that we drove past. It was de-lish!!

After lunch we headed to Keep Me in Stitches. This time though, the GPS started talking and telling us where to turn! We did know where it was trying to get us though! Then Ellen turned off the voice.... or so she thought till it spoke again! You would have thought our car had just been filled with laughing gas. We were in fits of giggling again. Finally Ellen did turn the voice off!

I think Keep Me in Stitches was my favorite shop on the route! It was a small shop that was defiantly packed with yarns and at great prices! The last stop on the expedition was Eleganza Yarns. This was definitely the most unique building on the trip. It was a really old log cabin house turned yarn shop! Very quaint and the shop owners were very happy that we had put them on out route!

I came home with 12 more skeins to add to my stash. 5 of those skeins are earmarked for 3 pairs of socks, 4 are for 2 different shawls, and 3 will become baby items! Sorry, don't have a picture of them right now.

Now on to knitting news!!

Clue 3 is complete on the Secret of the Stole ii KAL!! Just 5 more clues to go. I highly doubt I will be knitting with cobweb lace again any time soon!!

SOTSii

Next up - my 2nd pair of socks!! Aren't they cute! The yarn is Tofutsies on size 3 needles. I think my other Tofuties skeins will be knit on size 2 thought. So far both pairs of socks are slightly looser than I would like, but I guess that's better than being too tight! And they certainly weren't knit for a giant, so that's a plus too. *giggle*

OK, all you sock knitters out there, how many more pairs am I going to have to knit before I really get my socks to really fit my feet?!?

I have to say though, wearing these 2 pairs of socks has certainly felt very different on my feet. I feel like I can feel each and every stitch on the balls of my feet. Is that normal for hand knit socks?? Will this sensation eventually go away??

Crosshatch Lace Socks

Here's a pic of my baby. He was trying to help me knit up my lace project. *more like he was waiting for me to get up and leave the room so that he could pounce on my yummy yarn* But look at that face!

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