All This and a Bag of Knits

Time for Change

2009-11-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

I really felt like I needed a change with my blog. When it was first created a few years ago it's focus was supposed to be all knitting, all the time. But as time and life have progressed there are things that I want to talk about and share that really aren't knitting related, I am interested in other things too you know! So I have decided to change the title of the blog to reflect that there is more to me, and going to be more to this blog than just my fantastic knitting! (hehe).

So if you will look above, you will see a new header, with a new blog title! It still depicts my love of Red Yarn, but hopefully also will show that this blog is about more than that. I also share parts of my life, family, and hopefully soon (if my craft room ever materializes!) other crafts! (Sewing...I'm talking about you!!!) I had contemplated moving the blog altogether to a new address, and starting over from scratch, but I didn't want to lose what few readers I already have. So here it is. Same blog, new spin. And now that I have actually figured out how to change the header!!!!!! perhaps you'll see a new header from time to time.

Thanks for stopping by!

FO: Dark Side Cowl

2009-11-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, I realize what follows is a fairly disturbing picture of myself, but this is part of the burden I shall bear for the sake of my knitting.

Self portraits are not my forte.

Pattern: Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino - Dark Gray Mix
Needles: KP's Options in US 10/6 mm

I wanted to use up the leftovers from my Bella's Mittens and I had just enough to do a cowl. I love the texture in this pattern, it was very easy to knit. I wore the cowl to walk the kids to school last week and I was cozy warm. :o)

In other news, a probable case of H1N1 has hit my house. Poor little Owen is down for the count. He has quite a few of the symptoms - fever, bad headache, nausea/vomiting, and a horrific chest cough which has turned quite congested. I'm mostly worried about the cough as that is the side effect of the virus that is really making people very ill - a bacterial infection can occur in the lungs making it difficult to breathe. He was scheduled for his vaccine tomorrow (along with Maeghan who at this point is symptom free) , so I'm going to ask the doc if she thinks he should still get it, just in case this isn't H1N1 that he has now.

And furthermore, as if that wasn't enough, Owen has managed to break his collarbone even worse than before and is now being referred to an Orthopedic Surgeon who will decided if he will require surgery or not. We aren't absolutely sure how it happened, but think it may have been when he was out in the backyard a couple of weeks back, tripped, and tried to break his fall by reaching up and grabbing onto a tree branch - unfortunately with his bad arm.

What a mess. When it rains, it pours.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Bella's Mittens

2009-10-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

If you have ever seen the movie "Twilight" than you may have noticed these mittens that Bella was wearing near the beginning of the movie. The scene where she slips on a sheet of ice and lands on her butt. I love these mittens. I love how they go up over the sleeves of her jacket. I've really wanted to knit up a pair for a while, and I have finally gotten around to it. Thankfully, I'm not the only one who likes these, and Marielle from Subliminal Rabbit whipped up a pattern! As we speak there are 2002 Bella's Mittens projects on Ravelry. I have now jumped on the bandwagon.

Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Dark Grey Mix held double
Needles: KP Options US 10's/6mm - 32" length - Magic Looped
Verdict: Loved the pattern, very straightforward which a gal like me really appreciates. I wore these when I walked the kids to school this morning and my hands were toasty warm. I have almost a skeins worth of yarn leftover, so I'm going to knit up a matching cowl.

As promised in the last post, I bought a couple of rakes and got the kids to work! Actually, as soon as they saw the rakes they couldn't wait to get outside and rake up the biggest pile of leaves they could so they could jump in it. Maeghan even got out the wheelbarrow and carted a whole pile out to the front yard (where there were no leaves to begin with!), I'm still not really sure why, probably to decorate the front lawn or something like that. I had to put my foot down though and get her to clean it all up.

(don't you love the architectural element to our fence? I mean, why dig out the dead log....just build the fence AROUND it! Seriously?)

So we are starting to get ready for Halloween, the pumpkins are carved, the candy has been purchased, and costumes chosen. Maeghan will be the same witch that she has been for the last two years (yay! That girl takes after her mama in her thriftiness!), and Owen was going to be Spiderman, but has now decided on Darth Vader - either would have been fine as we already have costumes for both!

Have a great week, I'm back to work tomorrow (boo!), but will hopefully have some Halloweeny (Owen always laughs when I say Halloweeny - boys!) pictures for next week!

Happy Halloween(y)!

A Garden!

2009-10-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

My man is building me a garden! How lucky am I? And how industrious is he?

He recycled all of the large rocks from various locations around the yard, digging them out and repositioning them to build a large raised garden bed. We are planting clumping Bamboo along the back whole length of the fence to give us some privacy from the neighbors along that side. They're not bad neighbors, we just don't want to look at them all of the time. The bamboo will take a few years to grow to the max height of 15 ft., and we have been told this particular type of bamboo will not spread (which is the problem with most bamboo) and will build a very nice privacy screen for us. Next spring we will plant potatoes and carrots and whatever else will fit into this garden.

Aidan also built these steps leading down into the backyard. Such an improvement over the muddy slope that used to be there! To the right of these stairs is another raised bed that runs the length of the yard. Aidan is planning to replace the soil in it and we will grow more vegetables and strawberries in it. He has hopes of building a greenhouse before spring, in which we will grow tomatoes and red/green peppers, as well as some habanero or jalapeno peppers for salsa!

These are all great plans, but let it be known, for all intents and purposes, I have a black thumb. I crave growing my own veggies, and canning my own tomato sauces and salsa's, and growing our own pumpkins for Halloween, but the likelihood of anything actually growing, let along fruiting, is pretty slim. We will give it our best effort, I will be frequently consulting "Gardening for Dummies" as well as searching the internet, and we will keep our fingers crossed until the first crop comes in!

In the meantime, we will have to deal with these leaves. They are ginormous. Each leaf is the size of my head. This is the part where we get the kids rakes for presents and enslave them into a life of eternal raking.

I think we are going to need another "Yard Trimmings" bin.

Ouch!

2009-10-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Owen's been benched with an injury. Poor little guy. He managed to break his collarbone on Saturday night and will be out of play for the next 4-6 weeks. They were doing gymnastics in the basement and he attempted a front flip (originally he was going to do one off of the coffee table, but I caught him and told him no way! Then as soon as I left the room he decided to try one just off of the floor instead!) He's pretty disappointed, he was enjoying hockey so much, and now he won't be able to play until close to Christmas! Soccer is also out, as well as swimming lessons which were to start yesterday. He can't sit up or lay down by himself, and walks very gingerly - he's so afraid he is going to jar it, it hurts so bad! And of course because it is his collarbone, they can't cast it, he just has his arm in a sling, and has to keep it as still as he can for the next 3 weeks. Ha! Try telling that to a 6 year old! The doctor said that kids heal much quicker than adults, and the break should be fully healed in about 4 weeks, but of course he will have to be careful as any impact could re-break it.

(check out the fancy sling from the hospital...they go all out! A foam tube.)

I'm going to have to invest in some button up shirts. We have one. And two pairs of button up pajamas. Looks like I'll be doing the wash everyday for then next 3 weeks!

I just want to hold him in my arms and cuddle him all day! But that hurts him too. I already tried.

However, as much as I feel sad for the pain that my "baby" is going through, I was a little relieved that our crazy, hectic weekday schedule is on hold for a while. It's been pretty exhausting, and this will give us a chance to recoup a bit.

A couple of days before this happened to Owen, Maeghan received a golf ball in the eye (courtesy of her brother - total accident though) and now has a black eye. They make quite a pair now! On top of this Aidan has been going to physio for muscle spasms in his back. I'm the only healthy one left. Knock on wood.

Well, that's it for now, Owen and I are going to put in some movies and vegetate together for the day. He's too sore for school, and thankfully my work is letting me take a few days off to take care of him. I hope to get some progress on my Jane cardi, one sleeve to go! Not sure yet how I feel about it. I hope I like it more after blocking, but I think I should have made the smaller size, it feels a little big across the shoulders/armpit area. I have decided that if I don't end up wearing it much, I will rip it and make something else. I love the color of the yarn way too much to leave it in the closet unused. Anyways, I'm probably jumping the gun a bit since I'm not even finished yet!

2009-09-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

May I introduce to you...for the first time...playing whatever position he wants....number 96......Owen Michael Sheridan!!!!!!!

Yes, that's right, my wee little guy is now a hockey player. His favorite piece of equipment is the cup/jock strap (why am I not surprised...), and he walks around wacking it with his stick, marveling how it doesn't hurt when he does so.

Boys.

I'm surprised he can even skate with all of that gear on. It's really heavy! He is loving every second of it and as soon as one game is over he is asking when the next game will be. He just can't get enough!

The hectic fall schedule has hit us full force. Aidan is in school at the university three nights a week, just so happens they are the same three nights that the kids have their activities. Hockey and soccer practice for Owen, and Maeghan is starting Brownies. I'm exhausted. I give kudos to all single parents out there. I don't know how you do it! Saturdays we have gymnastics and a soccer game, and then in October swimming lessons starts on Sundays. Yikes. What have I gotten myself into.

But the kids love it, Owen has such natural athletic ability that I really wanted him to be able to experience a couple different sports so he can find out what he truely loves. So far he can't decide. He says he loves both equally.

We have started a new school this year, that has been quite an adjustment for us as well. Making new friends (both kids and adults) and trying to feel connected and a part of things is hard work! But we've met a few, and things are going well, Maeghan wants to start a book club for new and old Grade 3 friends which I think is a fantastic idea. We will try to organize a monthly meet-up, it'll be a good way for her to keep in contact with her old friends, and get to know new friends better.

If you have any suggestions for a good Gr. 3 level book, let me know, Maeghan has already read Matilda, which she loved...any others?

Winding Up

2009-08-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

So a little knitting did get done while we were vacationing. I knit in the car for most of our travelling, working on the Gathered Scarf. Nice, easy, mindless knitting. Perfect for a long car ride with constant interruptions from the bored children sitting behind you. I began it in the line-up for the border crossing from BC into Washington State. I'm using Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight yarn and size 7 & 9 needles. It's producing a lovely fabric, I can't wait to wear it this fall! It's only a couple of feet long at this point, but it'll be a good travelling project to work on at work in the coming months.

A few months back, for my birthday, I received a ball winder and swift from KnitPicks. Because of our crazy double move I only just recently had a chance to wind up some yarn with it. I was very disappointed. The swift is a bit rough around the edges, not a nice smooth wood like I would have expected, but that is something I can live with. The disappointing part was the ball winder. No matter what I did it would not produce lovely looking yarn cakes like I have seen all over the Internet, and in person from my friends. In fact, one of my friends owns the KnitPicks ball winder and her cakes come out awesome. So I went on to every knitters favorite website, Ravelry, and onto the forums where I found a whole thread about this particular ball winder. Turns out I wasn't the only one to get crazy lopsided piles of yarn, it wasn't me, it was a problem with the actual winder. So late on a Sunday night I sent an email to KnitPicks, not expecting a response for a while, I mean, they were closed and all, but low and behold, immediately the next morning I had a response apologizing for my funky ball winder and that they would send another out in the mail to me immediately! They didn't even want the old one back! They said just to chuck it! Crazy!

I have always heard good things about the customer service from KnitPicks, but this was my first experience with it, and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed!

Anyways, my ball winder has crossed the Canadian Border (according to Canada Post), and I expect it will arrive any day now. I'll let you know how the new one works.

A Vacation in Pictures

2009-08-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Cannon Beach, Oregon

(The Cabin Where We Stayed)

Long Beach, Oregon

(Kite Festival)

(Wild Bunnies)

We are so going back.

Heat Wave!

2009-08-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's from one extreme to the next around here! Last post I was talking about how we were so cold in the house since we've turned the furnace off, now we are in a bit of a heat wave! My car thermometer registered 40 C (104 F) on my drive home from work the other day. Granted, the hot metal of the car usually ups the temp by a few degrees, but wow. For some of my friends who are used to this kind of heat (hi Charmaine who lives in Phoenix!!!) are probably rolling their eyes at me right now, but we do not have a pool in our backyard, nor do we have air conditioning. So to us, this is significant. I have been surviving by laying on the couch with a fan blasted right at me, spreading out as far as I can so none of my skin touches, and eating plenty of ice cream sandwiches. I've gained 3 pounds. I am so not made to live in the heat!

We had a family reunion yesterday - all the relatives from my mom's side of the family. It was pretty cool to see everyone - some I haven't see for at least 15 years! My cousin hosted at his home, a very beautiful home on acreage. There was so much to do. We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, jumping on the trampoline and flying down the zip line!

Here the kids are getting ready to come flying down. It was soooo high up. I was really scared when it was my turn, it was so hard to step off the ledge! (I'm a big chicken.)

The smaller kids were just rippin' down. It was very fun. The event was catered courtesy of my cousin John (the host), and the food was FANTASTIC. I never in a million years expected such extravagance. I thought it was going to be hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad - typical BBQ fair, but instead there was Fillet Mignon, salmon, brisket, so many salads and yummy vegetables., and chocolate fondue for dessert. It was heaven.

Here's Maeghan with a couple of cousins (my second cousins) whom she has never met. The girls were inseparable. They had a great time. It was especially nice for Maeghan because on Aidan's side of the family there are no other girls her age. And in our immediate family no girls at all. So she was really thrilled, I hope we can keep in touch with everyone a little bit better.

Tomorrow evening we are having a family dinner to celebrate my brother Darren's 30th birthday (Happy Birthday Darren!) and my Dad's 61st Birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). Their birthdays are 3 days apart, as well as Aidan and I having our wedding anniversary right in between! It will be 7 years this year. Time flies!

I'm going to need this weather to cool down a bit if there's going to be any knitting in the near future. I'm trying to think of a project to take along to Oregon this summer (road trip!). Something small, and portable. Maybe I'll start some of those Ribby Slippers fr0m last year's IK Gifts. They would make good gifts. Or perhaps a lacy scarf for me. Hmmm, I'll have to think on it a bit more. Have a great weekend everyone! Happy BC Day! I love long weekends!

Apparently we need to build another fire.....

2009-07-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. The kids playing their Game Cube, apparently a little cold!

Hopefully the weather will get a bit warmer by the end of the week!

Slowly we are bringing boxes over from the storage unit. Aidan is planning to rent a truck for the heavier stuff later this week. It's hard having things here and there, but most of the stuff that is there can probably head straight to the thrift store anyways! We've been doing without a lot of it since last August!

Owen has managed to finds his caps, but not his cap gun. So, he's banging the caps with a rock! I remember doing this when I was kid. Great fun!

Ski goggles and swimming goggles - safety first!

We are finally home!

2009-07-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it really been two months? I know it's been awful quiet around here (Aidan sent me an email saying, and I quote, "You need to update your blog, you're beginning to look pathetic!"). Thanks dear. So here I am, finally!

We've been very busy around here, after two big moves we are finally home!!!

I think that was one of Aidan's happiest moments, pulling that sign out of the ground. I think Maeghan's favorite moment was the "loud" party we had on the first day. We let the kids scream as loud as they wanted for as long as they wanted! It felt so good after years of constantly shushing them. Now we can let them be kids. It's awesome!

Notice the lovely brown carpets.......or actually, try not to!

I swear there is nothing more attractive than a man who'll clean the toilets.
(picture taken on the sly by Owen)

The first major renovation was a new roof, hopefully the roofers will be done by tomorrow. The big bin finally left today. I can park in my garage again! That is a novelty in itself! A garage! The only other work going on right now is renovating the kids bedrooms. Here is Maeghan painting her room. She chose the color and I think it will be very pretty when it is done. I will do a before and after post when everything is complete.

Last night we had our first fire! I know, in the middle of July. It's been cold this week and we've shut the heat off until fall. Boy was this a long time in coming. When we purchased our townhouse 5 years ago, one of the selling features was that it had a wood burning fireplace, however, we were never able to use it due to the chimney not being safe and the long drawn out process of the Strata figuring out whether they would pay, or if we had to, to get it fixed. As soon as that fire was lit the whole atmosphere of the evening changed. It was lovely! And the best part? We actually have TWO wood burning fireplaces in this house. I can't wait till winter!

Mother's Day Update

2009-05-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Mother's Day Tea was awesome! Owen greeted me at the door with a shiny silver necklace that he placed around my neck before taking me by the hand and leading me to the table where we would be sitting. He had decorated the table with a place mat that he had made for me, a tomato plant he had grown for me, and a beautiful card that he had made me. It was a very fancy tea, pretty teapots and linen tablecloths. The grade 5 class were our server's. They did an excellent job and took very good care of all of the mom's. I was not thinking, and am kicking myself for not bringing my camera, I was probably too traumatized by the Rice Krispie Squares.

Ahhh yes, the Rice Krispie squares. They did not turn out well. They were so hard and crispy that I almost broke a tooth when I tried one out. Seriously. I could not figure out what the heck I did wrong. Then suddenly a light bulb went off. I used a 4 cup measure, my brain thought I was using a 2 cup measure. I had put in far too many Rice Krispie's! But, it was too late to make something else, so I brought them anyways, warning Owen to stay away from that particular plate of goodies. Fortunately when I got to the school I was one of the first ones there and was able to slip the plate onto the food table without anyone noticing. No one knew that I brought them! Later on Owen pointed out to me the plate that we needed to avoid in a five year old "whisper". I pretended to not know what he was talking about.

On Sunday we headed to the park to have a picnic with some friends. Owen was thrilled to have a boy to play with, and he and his friend Tomis spent most of the day wrestling in the grass.

While Maeghan drew with chalk with the twins.

It always amazes me how they are both naturally drawn to doing your typical gender related things. You would never catch Maeghan wrestling with her girlfriends in the grass, or sitting for hours at the skateboard park watching the big boys skate, and while Owen loves little kids and chalk, he definitely prefers the "boy" pursuits of skateboarding and pretend fighting.

Anyways, Jane is coming along, I love how she is turning out, and can't wait to be done! Hopefully I won't get stranded on sleeve island for too long! I should have pictures soon.

P.S. Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions on cleaning my Krispie pot. I did end up soaking it in hot water and it all came off quite nicely. I do not know where my brain was last week. I will definitely be trying to make them in the microwave next time!

Just Call Me Martha

2009-05-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sure by now most of you know that I'm not much of a baker. I've made some attempts at bread, which have been favorably received, but I am not one to bake on a regular basis, nor do I have the desire to. When Owen came home from school with a notice saying that his class was going to host a Mother's Day tea and that I needed to bring a tray of goodies, I immediately thought "no big deal, I'll just swing by the bakery and pick up something yummy!" But what I failed to realize immediately was that one of Owen's little buddies has severe allergies, and whatever I brought in had to be completely nut free. Yikes. I wasn't confident that I could find something nut free/made in a nut free environment so I decided that I had better make something myself. How hard could it be? I decided on Rice Krispie Squares, seemed simple enough. I've never made them before (I know, seriously?) but I had all the ingredients on hand which made it the perfect choice from a grocery budget stand point (yes, I'm on a strict food budget...more on that to come).

The marshmallow melting went smoothly enough, nothing burned. Then I mixed in the Rice Krispie's and stirred until I thought my arm was going to fall off. Mr. Rice Krispie said to add some vanilla to the melted marshmallows, but thankfully he said it was optional, because I forgot. Yes, there are only 4 ingredients, and I forgot one of them. Nuff said. The kids are 5, they won't notice. Oh....but the mom's, darn it, I forgot about the other mom's. They are probably all homemakers extraordinaire, they will all know that I suck at even the simplest "baking". I may have to spike their tea.

I had thought ahead, though, and lined the pan with plastic wrap that I had sprayed with Canola so at least the removal from the baking pan wasn't a nightmare!

As I was pressing the whole schmoz into the pan I realized that I was crushing all of Rice Krispies. Boy you need to press hard, I was manhandling the stuff and it still wouldn't go nice and flat like the picture. Oh well, my squares have character.

But now what. How the heck do I get the remainder out of the sauce pan? I mean, it is like glue. I put it back on the burner and then as soon as some melted I would quickly eat it before it could harden again. My stomach hurts now and there is still lots left in the pan! This is a process people! So this is my question to you. Is there some secret that I'm missing out on on how to clean the damn pan?!!!

Ah, maybe I should just chuck it....

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

The kids woke up to an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning. Then proceeded to eat so much candy that they were bouncing off the walls for a couple of hours, followed by a big cranky crash. You gotta love Easter.

We decorated Tye Dyed eggs this year. Not sure if they look technically tye dyed or not, but they sure are funky!

Yes Oma, I believe Owen may need an apron of his own soon!

So the kids are back to school tomorrow, I am lucky enough to have the rest of the week off. I see a lot of these in my future....

But I can't seem to find any packing tape. Does not having any tape get me out of all of the packing? I really need to work on Jane.......or get a root canal.......either would be preferable.

FO: Central Park Hoodie

2009-03-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

So I finally sewed this sucker together, and then didn't get any photo's until today. I've worn it quite a bit in these last two weeks, the weather has been perfect for a cozy wool hoodie.

The color in these photo's is a bit off - a little too blue, the yarn is actually a beautiful deep garnet color. Very pretty. I had to cut off my head in the above picture...I look a little ragged thanks to a great night of bowling and beer with my girlfriends. We had a great time, but I sure don't bounce back like I used to!

The hood is a little pointy, but honestly, I probably will never wear it up anyways. I do love how the cable runs all the way around it though. Nice feature.

The cable running down the sleeve is another beautiful feature. It just makes the sweater, I think.

I look like a line-backer in this photo, I think it's the angle that Aidan took them from, he's a bit taller than me and the pictures seem to be angled down a bit. And I don't think my ass looks like that in real life. I'm sure it's much larger.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Garnet
Needles: US 8's and 10's
Mods: Lengthened both the body and sleeves, and I knit the sleeves in the round. I also knit the button band in one piece and used a three needle bind-off to graft the hood together. Everything else followed the pattern.

Verdict: I love this hoodie. It took me a long time to complete (I started it last May!) due to many other projects that got in the way. I liked knitting the individual pieces, but I really didn't like sewing it all together. The button band was a pain in the arse...so many stitches to pick up. The yarn is a beautiful color, and isn't too scratchy on my bare arms, but I wouldn't wear this next to the skin on my torso...I'm pretty sensitive to the itch, I think it would be too much.

I may eventually make myself another one of these...in a beautiful heathered green....but it won't be any time soon! Too much stuff going on right now. I'm going to a book club meeting tonight - my first one and I haven't been able to get more than halfway thru the book, I better get off the computer and get reading!

The Moosehead

2009-03-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here it is. What you've all been waiting for......the moosehead!

We had a great time at the restaurant. Maeghan was thrilled when they put the moosehead on her! A little old lady even came by and slipped Maeghan a $5 and wished her a happy birthday. Maeghan was over the moon, it really made her day!

Today, we bowl.

Wish me luck with ten 8 year olds, and two 5 year olds (Maeghan is letting Owen bring a friend)!

Happy Birthday Maeghan!

2009-03-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Maeghan is 8 years old today!!!!!

I can't believe it. My children aren't allowed to get this old. We are going out for dinner to her favorite restaurant tonight (Montana's...she'll get to wear a moosehead while they sing to her), and this weekend we are having a bowling party with all of her friends.

I love you Maeghan. Have a very happy birthday!

FO: Shalom

2009-03-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Shalom! I actually have an FO....for me!!!!!! Love this cardi, so comfy and easy to knit up.

Pattern: Shalom
Yarn: Queensland Collection Uruguay Chunky
Needles: Knit Picks Options US 10 1/2

Mods: Like many others on Ravelry, I shortened the yoke by 2 rows in each section (a total of 6 rows). I only cast-on 10 stitches for the underarms.

Verdict: I love it. It fits me so well, no extra fabric bunching up in the armpits - which usually happens to me with raglans. The yarn is really cozy and soft. The alpaca in it is only slightly tickly and I can wear it with only a cami underneath and it is fine. I would definitely recommend this pattern.

We're Still Here!

2009-03-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hey all! We are still kicking around...just life craziness has gotten in the way of blogging! I also haven't blogged because I haven't taken any pictures in forever! Blog posts need pictures, don't you think?

So remember last summer when we worked like mad people to renovate our house in order to get it on the market to sell? Well, unfortunately the market tanked and a huge engineer inspection was done on our complex, the combination of the two them prompted us to wait to list. I'm thankful we waited too, our neighbors have been on the market since August and still haven't sold.

So we waited.

Then, after Christmas, we decided to give it a shot anyways, so we listed two weeks ago, and believe it or not, we sold in less then a week! The final subjects were removed on Saturday, and we will be officially homeless May 1st. Yikes!

We have a plan to start looking at what is currently on the market (detached homes) and if nothing suits our needs, we will rent something while continuing to look for the perfect house. It's hard for me to be patient, I don't like change very much, and not knowing where we will be in the next few months is a little overwhelming for me. The end result will be worth it though, and I must keep that in mind! I'm also a bit torn because I have an emotional attachment to this townhouse, it was our first real home together (I absolutely cannot count all the horrific rentals we have lived in along the way!). Owen doesn't remember any place but this, and I hope that once he figures out he won't be able to run outside and play hockey with his friends at any given moment that he'll be okay with that.

Anyways, that's where we are right now. We are going to visit 5 houses this week...I don't love any of them (from the outside at least) yet, but hopefully something will come up.

In knitting news, I have TWO FO's to show...just need to sew some buttons on. Can you believe it! I finished both Shalom and the Central Park Hoodie. I'm in shock. I will get the buttons sewn on today, and hopefully the weather will co-operate for a photo shoot this weekend.

Thanks for listening as I ramble on, there will be photo's in the next post, I promise...which hopefully won't take me a month to do!

FO: Butterfly Hat

2009-01-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

So I started a new excercise class on Monday. It was called "Cardio Kickboxing", and I thought it would be fun and a good workout. I expected the instructer to be a tiny waif of a thing dressed head to toe in spandex workout gear and that the class would be more "Cardio" and less kickboxing, nothing too serious. I was wrong. Apparently I signed up for "Kickboxing/Self Defence 101". My instructor dude is a martial arts expert who trained in Japan and works at a Martial Arts studio in town during the day. He thought teaching this class would be fun, and if we wanted strictly cardio we could go run around the lake. He was really scary. I loved every minute of it!!! We learned how/where to punch and kick our attackers, and how to karate chop him in the neck. It was fantastic! I felt so tough when I left there. Aidan told me not to let it go to my head.

I was really sore all week, but I also felt so good. I'm really looking forward to my next class! We're going to learn the front kick! Woot! Oh I should also mention that I learned how to count to 10 in Japanese...Kickboxing dude likes us to count out loud...really loud...in Japanese. Thankfully I have two Japanese co-workers who have been coaching me all week. I'm sure to impress him! Ha!

Okay, on to crafty things! This is the last project I finished in 2008. I had to wait a bit to blog about it though because Maeghan lost it the first day she got it! She wore it all day long in the house because she like it so much, and then when it came time for pictures, the hat was no where to be found. It did turn up eventually though, and today it was bright enough outside to finally get some pics!

Doesn't she look sweet in it! Looks can be deceiving though you know! Haha!

Pattern: Butterfly Hat (Rav Link) by Sofiya Cremin
Yarn: Vanna's Choice Solids - icky yarn, thankfully my last ball!
Needles: US 7's/4.5mm

This hat was much easier than I thought it was going to be. I kinda over thought the butterfly's at first - turned out they were no big deal at all! One day I will make another one of these in a better yarn. At least this one is fully washable and if she loses it I won't cry.
b

FO: Vesper Socks

2009-01-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

Remember these? I knit the first one way back in August and never got around to knitting the second one till December. As soon as I was done all of the Christmas knitting I picked this one up and had it done in no time. (Sorry for the same old pictures as before...winter does not allow for very good lighting!)

Pattern: Vanilla socks - 9st/inch
2" 2x2 ribbed cuff
6" plain stockinette leg
Slip stitch heel
Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in "Falling Water" from Knitterly Things
Needles: US 1.5/2.5mm

The first sock was done on DPN's and I did the second one by Magic Loop. I think Magic Looping socks is my new favorite. It went so fast! And the part I was worried about (picking up the heel stitches) was actually a piece of cake!

I love these socks and I love the way the yarn does such bold stripes. As long as they wear well, I will definitely be using this yarn again. I have a thing for stripes I suppose.

So I hit the Three Bags Full belated boxing day sale on Saturday. This was my first experience at a big sale like this! It was crazy. I stood in line outside of the store in freezing rain for almost two hours, thankfully I made it into the store when I did because the rain turned to snow! Then I was in line inside the store for another two hours. Four hours in line total. Totally not what I expected, but fun all the same. I met some great fellow knitters and got some really good deals.

- Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool at 30% off
- Cascade Eco + wool at 40% off
- DIC Smooshy at 15% off (not that great of a deal, but really yummy yarn!)
- Cascade 220 Heathers at 15% off (also not an extremely good deal, but the color is gorgeous!)

You'll see more about my plans for these yarns in the upcoming posts.

My legs are still tired!

Last of the Christmas FO's

2009-01-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

Let me start out by saying a huge thank you to all the nice, generous comments. I wish I knew how to respond to them all individually, but since I can't quite figure it out (anyone know?) I will do it here and now. Thank You!

So, here we are with the last of the Christmas knitted gifts. Please ignore my wierd smile in the following picture. It was freakin' cold outside and I was standing up to my knees in a snow drift on my back deck. While the scarf is cozy, soft, and warm, it's not warm enough to be outside without a coat in the middle of winter. Aidan was my photographer once again and I told him to pretend he was Nigel from America's Top Model (not that I watch it or anything). He took his job very seriously and had me turning this way and that way and looking this way and that way. Very cute, and much appreciated!

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf
Yarn: KnitPicks Gloss in "Dusk" - 2 skeins
Needles: US 7/4.5mm
For: My mom

I loved this pattern, but I had to use a lifeline throughout because if I got the least bit distracted I'd miss a yarn over or something, and I was horrible at trying to tink it back and then I'd screw it up so badly that I'd have to rip the whole thing out. So after a few false starts it dawned on me to use the lifeline and it was my life saver! I have a couple more skeins of this yarn in a dusty purple colorway, so after I give myself a break from this pattern, I will probably make one for myself too. I love it that much.

Next up are some felted clog slippers that I made for my Dad. Now these were a fun knit! The color is pretty bad in these photo's, but the yarn was actually a heathered brown with flecks of red in it. Very pretty. Not that my Dad wants pretty I suppose, but it sure helps a knitter to use pretty yarn.

Pattern: Fiber Trends Felted Clogs
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Needles: US 15/10.0mm

Here is the "before" felting picture:

I loved this pattern. It was such a fast, fun knit. I was a bit worried because my Dad has size 9 feet, and I knit the size 11, but I was able to felt them down to a nine, and he says they fit well. I will be making more of these.

I had the pleasure of going out with some girlfriends on Saturday night (Connie & Tara), and managed to get a wee bit smashed, but it was great fun and worth my horrendous hangover the next morning. Aidan was very kind to me and let me sleep till 11:30am. Once the Tylenol kicked in and my stomach stopped churning I was feeling much better. We don't get out together nearly as often as we would like, so when we do the wine flows freely and we have great conversation.

FO: Moss Grid Hand Towel

2009-01-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

Onward with the Christmas present FO's! I knit this lovely hand towel for Aidan's Grandma during the month of October.

Pattern: Moss Grid Hand Towel from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin, color Linen

The CotLin was pleasant to knit with, it didn't feel too hard on my hands, although I could only knit one repeat at a time before my hands started to get sore. I loved the finished product, I did make a mistake on one row it seems, but I didn't notice until I was taking photo's and there was no way I was going to rip back halfway thru the towel to fix it, even though it was a gift. I don't think Grandma is going to mind. ;) I will probably make myself a set of these one day, it is a very nice pattern.

New Years Eve was a fun night for us again this year. We had a family slumber party over at our friends (Connie and Kevin) and ate way too much food, and had plenty to drink, while we played the Wii. My left buttock is a bit sore from bowling, but that's probably a good thing, right? My Mii on the Wii is very cute, I want her to be my friend in real life.

New Years Day we were incredibly lazy, although, Owen and I did venture out to get groceries (good time to shop, the store was very quiet, everyone else was still in bed I'm sure!). And today we started organizing and cleaning before I head back to work, and the kids to school, on Monday. Aidan is doing some reno work on the upstairs bathroom in an attempt to make it a bit prettier without sinking too much $$$ into it. While the whole thing should be gutted, we are making do with new paint, light fixture, counter top, and taps. We don't want to put any more money than that into it before we sell.

My Central Park Hoodie is coming along, I've seamed it up and am now working on the hood.

Happy New Year!

FO's: Christmas Presents

2008-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Finally I get to post about some Christmas presents I have knit but haven't been able to show you! This first one I knit way back in August. It was a gift for my mother-in-law, Moira, and I LOVE how it turned out!

Pattern: Kureyon Kozy
Yarn: Noro Kureyon color 226
Needles: KP Options US 7/4.5mm

I really liked knitting this tea cozy, and I loved watching what color would come next. I found the base a bit challenging, but figured it out after a few tries. I was happy to find a Japanese teapot that fit the cozy perfectly and I think they look really nice together.

Next up is the Irish Hiking Scarf that I knit for my Father-in-law, Danny. He is allergic to wool, so I found a nice, soft cotton blend to use instead.

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf
Yarn: Knits Pick's Comfy - color Cypress
Needles: US 8/5.0mm

This was a fun pattern to knit, it was easily memorized and the yarn was really nice to work with. It came out super soft and cozy, perfect for a scarf.

Christmas was awesome, as always, it speeds by so quickly that you've barely finished preparing for it and it's over. My parents have left on a flight back home this morning, my fingers are crossed that they will be able to land because Terrace is expecting some snow today. Hopefully the majority of it will fall after they land! We were all spoiled rotten and had a really good time ripping open the gifts. Christmas is so much more enjoyable now that we have kids of our own. It is so fun to see all the wonder and amazement through their eyes. They spent a good deal of time on Christmas Eve peering up the chimney and trying to figure out how Santa was going to make it down such a small space! They really are quite clever!

I have three more gift FO's to show, I'll post again sometime in the next week.

Just a little bit of snow...

2008-12-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

We had a big snowstorm this weekend, thankfully I am now officially on vacation and didn't have to join thousands of other brave commuters on the slippery roads this morning! I love this kind of snow. It reminds of growing up in Terrace, the snow is much dryer there than what we typically get here. This is perfect snow for tobogganing (which we are doing tomorrow since Aidan also has the day off of work), and for snowball fights, and snow angels. I was supposed to bring my car in for an appointment this morning, but it looks pretty treacherous out there so I'm going to rebook for next week. Today, we stay home.

When I went out yesterday to shovel the sidewalk, I found a bag on the front porch that a neighbor had dropped off. It seems her son had outgrown his tuxedo and she was giving it to Owen.

How cute is that! He put it on yesterday and didn't want to take it off the rest of the day. He looks like James Bond with really bad hair. Speaking of his hair, we are in the middle of trying to grow it out, but Owen has a double crown which makes for some crazy Ed Grimley style cowlicks in the back. The hairdresser assures us that when it gets long enough they will settle down...we'll see. I may cave, though, and get Aidan to shave his head again, but I'm trying to hold out because Owen really wants to be able to do his hair in a mohawk. His double crown may come in handy for that!

I wish everyone a warm, happy Christmas, and hope Santa spoils you all rotten!

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

Rather than go to the store to buy our tree, this year we decided to take a drive out to a tree farm in Maple Ridge and cut down our own tree! We went to Alouette Tree farm, and it was an awesome feeling to make getting our tree so special for the kids. There were wagon rides, a petting zoo, and lots of different types of trees to choose from. We warmed up by a fire with hot cocoa, and filled our belly's with some complimentary hot dogs. (It's all about the free food, you know!)

Here are Aidan and the kids hunting around for the perfect tree.

Yay! We found the perfect one! It's a bit on the short side, but it is perfect.

Why yes, I am wearing my Meret!

Every Christmas this candlelit angel ornament was a big hit for us kids...now my kids love it just as much!

And at last, the tree. Perfectly decorated with way too many ornaments and way too many lights. (So much so that the tree actually fell over twice last night...Aidan had to perform some magic with fishing line to secure it until he could cut some more branches off the bottom this morning!)

I love the holidays. I get completely stressed out, and sometimes a bit overwhelmed, but creating traditions with our family is what makes it all worth it. My parents are coming to spend Christmas with us this year. I'm really excited to have them, I wish we could be with our families every year at Christmas, but unfortunately they live to far away.

I have a number of FO's to show you, but they will have to wait until after Christmas, I haven't worked on anything for myself for a while now, but as soon as I finish up this last gift that I'm working on now, I'm going to FINALLY finish my Central Park Hoodie. That thing as been a WIP far too long!

My Meret

2008-11-16T15:25:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased with my most recent FO. I took part in the Mystery Beret KAL on Ravelry put on by Woolly Wormhead. If you haven't checked our her hat patterns before, you really should, they are fantastic!

Pattern: Meret (Mystery Beret) (Rav link)
Needles: US 8/5.0mm
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in the Gothic Rose colorway
Mods: I added an extra repeat in Clue 2 to give it extra slouch!

I think this picture gives the truest color.

I love this hat, I don't wear a lot of hats because I get horrific hat hair, but I'm sure going to try now that I have TWO nice hats to wear this winter!

While we were at swimming lessons today with the kids, the pool had to be evacuated because of a chlorine leak! It was crazy...Owen had just finished his lesson and was dripping wet in a towel, and Maeghan was just about to hop in the pool with her class. The smell was very strong. We had to leave the building immediately, could not even spare time to get the kids dressed. Thankfully, the weather here has been pretty mild, 12 degrees C, so we just threw the kids in the car in their bathing suits and went home. I felt bad for all of the people who were swimming in the pool...they couldn't even get their things out of their lockers, just sent outside to shiver and wait until it was safe to go back in the building. As we were leaving four fire trucks arrived, much to Owen's delight, hopefully they got it under control quickly! Maeghan's a bit miffed that Owen got to have a lesson and she didn't. I'm sure she'll get over it!

So that was the excitement of the day. Back to work tomorrow! Yipee!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know I'm a week late. What's your point?

Here are the kidlets in all their Halloween glory.

Evil Witch

(Maeghan told me where the exact placement of her black warts needed to be)

Angry Pirate

(Those are supposed to be scars on Owen's face, just so you know, I was never very good at art.)

We had a great night, full of sugar and laughter! This year I got to stay home to hand out candy and Aidan took the kids out trick or treating. I was relieved, I didn't feel like going anywhere. We had far fewer kids than normal, which made my doorbell answering duties fairly easy. As did the beer...I may have given out large quantities of candy to the kids...I was in a relaxed and giving mood. I was also glad that I got to stay in and start working on my Mystery Hat KAL that Wooly Wormhead is putting on thru Ravelry. I finished the second clue yesterday...now I have to wait a whole week for the next one to come out! I will post some pics of it when it is finished, which should be the end of November.

Happy Belated Halloween everyone!

Attack of the Gecko's!

2008-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not very good at crochet. I find it frustrating and a little painful, yet I managed to whip off five of these cute little gecko bookmarks this week.

The kids are having a craft fair at school for a fundraiser. Every parent is supposed to donate at least 5 items that the kids can then purchase at the fair to give as gifts to family and friends at Christmas. I found it a bit hokey that I had to first pay for the supplies, take time to make the crafts, and then give my kids money so they could purchase things. I'm trying not to be grouchy about the whole thing, but it would have been much easier just to write the PAC (Parent Advisory Council) a check, kwim? This has not been the only fundraiser, it is one of many, and it is only October. At this rate I will need to quit my full-time job just to be able to take part in all of the fundraising!

Anyhoo...enough of my grumbling...look at the pretty gecko!

Ooohhhh, another one!

Pattern: Gecko Bookmark by Lion Brand Yarn
Yarn: the light green ones are Lion Wool, and the darker greens are a mystery yarn that my mom gave me. I think the ones in the mystery yarn turned out better, they are a bit smaller and drapier, perfect for a bookmark.
Hook: 3.5mm (E)
Mods: The first Gecko I made I crocheted as directed, all in pieces, this left a lot of ends to weave in which was quite annoying. So for the next 4 I decided to crochet all in one piece. First I made the body as directed, then I slip stitched around to each of the legs and tail and made them as I got to the right space. I think they turned out great!

I attempted to make some Frog heads with great long tongues that were the bookmark part of it, but I couldn't manage to make the head so I got frustrated and gave up. I know I just need more practice, but I'm not sure if crochet is my "thing", even though you can make such cute things like Gecko Bookmarks doing it. (Okay, as I read back that last sentence it sounds really dirty...get your minds out of the gutter people! That is so not what I meant!!!)

I hope you don't get the wrong idea from all of my grumbling above...I really do enjoy helping out at my kids school, I just wish I had more time for it! Hope you all had a great weekend! See you soon.

FO: Felicity

2008-10-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

I love my new hat.

After knitting and ripping 4 times, I was finally able to get a good fit.

Pattern: Felicity
Needles: US 7's & 8's/5 & 5.5mm
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in Moss Green

Mods: I cast-on 90 st. and went up a few needle sizes to almost get gauge.
I did the increases starting with K9 M1
I increased till I had 130 st, knit 6 rows, and then started the decreases as written in the pattern. Next time I think I will add a bit more slouch by adding the 6 rows missed at the beginning of the increases in somewhere. Maybe even increasing to 140 st. total.

I couldn't get a cast-on of 70 st. or 80 st. to fit over my noggin'. And I don't think I have a particularly large head either. Anyways, I really like how it turned out. It fits better with a pony in than without, and when I make my next one (which I definately will) I will go down one needle size for the beginning band for a slightly snugger fit so I can wear it without a pony in.

I wore it out to Owen's soccer practice last night and it kept me toasty warm, and did not itch a bit. And I have a particularly sensitive head to itchiness.

Aidan is home now, safe and sound. I'm really glad to have him back.

Tomorrow we are heading over to the Carlson's for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm bringing mashed potatoes. I rarely make potatoes at home, so does anyone have a favorite recipe to share?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brrrrr.....

2008-10-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

It is getting rather nippy in these here parts! Yesterday I walked the kids to school and it was cold. Not freezing cold yet, thankfully, but around 8 degrees C which is scarf/hat weather for sure! I decided I needed a hat so right when I got home I cast on for the Felicity hat (Ravelry Link) by Wanette Clyde.

I cast on for this sucker THREE times!!! Apparently I really am a tight knitter, and I must have a rather large head because each time I couldn't even get it past my forehead. I'm limited in needle sizes so I have decided to add an additional 10 stitches to the cast-on. I'll let you know what happens. This of course meant that I walked to school again this morning with a cold head. I will also need to knit myself a new pair of slippers because these new floors are a lot colder than the carpeting was! I've even turned the furnace on. Every year Aidan has a little furnace war with himself, trying to hold on a little longer each year without turning it on. Considering he is in Miami overlooking this

from his hotel room (sorry for the crappy pic...it was taken from his blackberry and then emailed to me, probably to rub it in how warm he is!) I could give a rat's ass about his little war! (hee hee! Love you babe!). Apparently he went to a jazz club the other night that share's a wall with this place

That's right folks, Miami Ink. He said that if they had been open he would have come home with a new tattoo, thankfully they were closed. It's not that I don't like tattoo's, but he already has two, one of them fairly big, I think that is enough. Wow! I really sound old. Anyways, I'd better get going or I won't have a hat for tomorrow. Later!

Happy Birthday Melissa!

2008-10-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

A few months back I completed a few gifts for my sister's birthday. Her birthday is on Saturday (Happy Birthday MySisa! - when my brother was a baby he couldn't say her name and he called her MySisa, so cute.) and she recieved the package and opened it on the phone with me yesterday. Let me tell you, she was really excited to receive a parcel in the mail. I don't think it even mattered what was in it! Half the fun is in the anticipation and the surprise, right?

These are Maine Morning Mitts found in The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. Knit with Noro Kureyon on size US 7/4.5 mm needles. They were quick and easy and I love the colors! I tried to make them match, but it didn't quite work out, I do love the color's in them, and while bothered with their non-matchiness at first, I have decided to embrace the color changes as they are (Thanks Julia!). They were quite snug on me, which isn't a bad thing, but if I were to make a pair for myself I think I will go up a needles size to make them slightly bigger. They are very cool. Maeghan is modeling them for me in the picture.

The other thing I made for my little sis was this Hot Water Bottle Cozy, another quick knit which was fun to make. It is knit out of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted on size US 7/4.5 mm needles. Melissa's lives in Prince George which has the longest, coldest winters known to mankind and I thought that she really needed something warm to help her get to sleep at night. I'm being completely serious, she had a glass of water freeze in her living room last winter. Yowsa!

Aidan is flying out to Miami this weekend for a work conferance. He'll be gone a week so it'll just be me and the kids. I booked a week off of work so I could just stay home with them, the daycare doesn't open early enough for me to be able to bring them there and get to work on time so this will be a perfect opportunity to take a bit of a breather. Hopefully catch up on some laundry. Ah, who am I kidding...I sense some completed CPH sleeves in my future! (I'm going to make my CPH with buttons down the front.)

Well that's all I've got for now. Have a great weekend!

FO: Raglan Sleeve Baby Sweater

2008-09-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well now, it has been a while. The return to school and work has made our lives a whirlwind again. No energy for anything really except collapsing on the couch at the end of the night in exhaustion. I have been knitting, of course, and it helps that we have formed a small knitting group at work during our lunch hour. It's pretty funny actually, my co-workers are as nuts as I am, so it makes for a pretty good time.

An old friend of mine, Tracy - no "e" - recently had a baby girl (we didn't think we would ever see the day...out of all of my friends she's probably the one I would bet on never having kids, I just about fell out of my chair when I found out she was expecting!) Maggie is absolutely adorable, so I knit her a sweater.

Pattern: Raglan Sleeve Baby Sweater by Linda Bohrn
Yarn: Vanna's Choice
Needles: US 8's
Mods: I changed the neckline/cuff/hem ribbing to seed stitch as I wanted more of an A-line shape.

My favorite parts of this little sweater are the buttons.

Aren't the ladybugs adorable? Tracy has a small tattoo of a ladybug just above her big toe and I knew as soon as I saw these buttons that I wouldn't find anything more fitting. They are so cute. I really think they make the sweater.

I hate the yarn. I was looking for something extremely easy care for the new mom, but this was the wrong choice. The color is gorgeous, but the finished fabric is kinda stiff...it has no drape to it. It also concerned me a bit that the faster I knit with it, the more it smelled like burning hair. Needles of fire I suppose. Ha! I will not use this yarn for a garment again.

Owen has started up with soccer again. Have I mentioned that Aidan is one of his coaches? I think it is so cute that Aidan is really getting involved with the team like this. It's a pretty great team too, the kids are all really nice and many of the parents have volunteered to pitch in whenever they can. It's been pretty good weather here these last couple of weeks - no games in the rain yet, but I'm sure that will change soon.

Maeghan is doing gymnastics this year and so far is having a great time. She's wearing a gym bodysuit that was given to us a few years back by her "cousin" Hera. I thinks it's really neat that Maeghan gets to wear the same one. It's like there's a little piece of Hera here with us, all the way from Phoenix!

First Day of School

2008-09-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our summer is officially over and school has started once again.

Who wants to go back to school?

Rock/Paper/Scissors to see who is happy about it.

Well what do you know....they both are!!!

Owen started Kindergarten today. He was a bit worried about it last night, but this morning he told me that he really like Kindergarten, so we are in the clear! The goofy guy would not stand still for a picture this morning.

I can't believe my baby is old enough for big kid school. I have to admit that I got tears in my eyes when it was time to leave him in the classroom. Before I know it he'll be graduating!

In the previous post's picture I actually was not working on my sock...I was working on some secret knitting, here is the finished sock!

Totally not red! I love the stripes in it. It was really fun to watch the colors emerge! The second sock will have to wait a bit while I work on some other stuff. But since I was able to knit this in just over a week, I think it'll be done soon.

Look Ma!

2008-08-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

Originally uploaded by Red Yarn

I'm knitting! This is probably the only picture that has ever been taken of me knitting. I didn't realize I looked so stern!

Owen was pretty funny the other day, or at least I thought so, I don't think he would agree. I was working on my sock and he wanted me to get him something from the cupboard. I told him to hold on for a minute, I was just going to finish my row, he stopped, turned to look at me, stomped his foot, and emphatically told me...

"All you care about is your knitting. You don't care about me anymore!"

I don't think it helped the situation very much that I burst out laughing! I mean, seriously buddy, I cater to your every whim....and then some! But I guess that's pretty typical of kids, they are the center of their worlds, they haven't really learned much about selflessness yet. One day he will see....one day....maybe when he has kids of his own? Hopefully sooner.

PS I love my sock...almost done one of them...pictures of my progress to come!

PSS I blogged this from flickr, just for fun. I'm crazy like that.

FO: Cable Footies

2008-08-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

I can finally show you an FO that's I've been sitting on for awhile. They were a birthday present to my dear friend Connie. I hope that she finds them cozy and warm this fall/winter.

Pattern: Cable Footies from One Skein
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino
Needles: US 7/4.5mm DPN's
Started: May 29, 2008
Finished: July 11, 2008

These would have been a very quick knit, but I paused after I knit one of them to make those baby booties from a few posts back. The pattern was very straight forward, and they make such cozy house slipper socks. I will definitely be making myself a pair as well! Even though these were finished before Connie's birthday, I'm sad to say that I only gave them to her last night!!! I'm such a numbnut, that every time I saw her between her birthday and now, I had forgotten them at home! Nice friend, eh? But I hope she loves them enough that it makes up for my delinquency!

So I know I said I was going to start working on my CP Hoodie again, but the other night I got distracted by some delicious sock yarn that arrived in the mail and have cast on for a pair of socks instead. Hopefully this time around it won't take me a year to complete the pair!

Bathroom Reno's

2008-08-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

Aidan worked very hard, cramped in a tiny space in 32 degree (celcius) heat to renovate our powder room last weekend. Here are some before shots - it's really hard to take pictures in such a tiny room!

Vanity and countertop - the mirror had already been removed:

Toilet - yes I realize you probably did not need to see my toilet, but here it is anyway! That wooden thing at the top of the picture is a cabinet.

And here are the after shots! New mirror, sink, countertop and a fantastic new faucet (it looks like an old pump, I love it!).

The cabinet was painted white and new hardware attatched.

Another toilet shot - at least this time it's new!

And a new cabinet on the wall above the toilet.

And here is a close up of the new tap. Cool, huh?

We are currently working on the upstairs bathroom, just a few minor touch ups as we can't afford a complete reno, but then we will be done! Since there has been a delay in listing our place, we will get to enjoy the reno's for a few months before we sell.

I have been knitting, but unfortunately, nothing I can show here, mostly Christmas presents and a few birthday gifts thrown in for good measure. I need to get back to work on my CP hoodie if I'm going to have it finished for fall, I've been getting distracted by too many other things.

Well that's it for now, thanks for checking in!

Summer of Firsts

2008-08-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have been a delinquent blogger, but in my defense, we have been busy! We had a wonderful vacation in the interior with my family. We celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday and retirement over a fantastic long weekend at my sister's house in Prince George. We also went camping for the first time since we've had the kids. It was interesting to say the least. We used to camp all the time when we were childless, but the last time was 10 years ago. I have discovered that I am not a good tent sleeper. Every single noise kept me awake all night. I was terrified. I know, ridiculous, and although I knew I was being irrational, it didn't help. And the Loons! My word, they were eery, and loud, and they "sang" all night long. Hopefully I'll get over it because we will be sleeping in a tent for the next few years at least!

It was a vacation of firsts.

First weiner roast:

First 4-wheeler rides:

First fish!:

First tadpoles!:

And first dinghy ride into the sunset:

We had so much fun. It was worth all of the work that went into packing/unpacking, and the long hours in the van (which we had to rent because we couldn't fit all of our crap in the car!). I look forward to next summer so we can do it all over again!

I need an intervention.....

2008-07-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

I just can't get enough of these:

Mmmmmm another reason I love summer!

FO: Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties

2008-07-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Finally, a FO to show you. These were made for my friend Michelle who recently had her third baby girl - Shelvy Elizabeth. She's a gorgeous baby too, tons of platinum blond hair. She's also lucky baby girl because she has two very special older sisters - Charley and Soleil.

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Christine's Stay On Baby Booties
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berry
Needles: 2.75mm dpn's

These are the most adorable booties I have ever seen. They are sooooo tiny - newborn size. They took a little longer than I thought they would, but still were done in only a few days. I started them out on 2.5mm, but decided to rip back and start over on larger needles in an attempt to make them a bit bigger. I was going to do i-cord ties, but they were taking sooooo long and I needed to finish them so I could mail them off, so I decided to do a crochet chain instead. I love them. These are definately going to be my go-to booties from now on. And apparently they really do stay on! This is a great project for using up leftover sock yarn. This yarn is leftover from my very first (and only so far!) pair of socks.

I have a few friends from work who will be popping in August, so I'm gonna whip off a few more pairs of these...I may try a dk weight yarn next and see how big they get following the same pattern. Since neither of my friends knows the sex of their babies I'll need to use something neutral...I have some red Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece left over from Red Gable. Can boys wear red booties?

ETA: My mom had mentioned that these looked so small in my hands, I just wanted to mention that those are actually my 7 year olds hands!
Also edited to fix the link!

Our House

2008-07-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

So most of the major reno's are done, we are waiting for an engineer report to come back, though, before we list the townhouse for sale. I didn't take any actual pics from before we started, just this one which was just after we ripped up the carpet and tore off the baseboards.

Before:

After:

Here is a close up of the floors that Aidan installed. It is a 12mm laminate floor called "American Black Walnut." I love them, they feel solid under my feet and are durable...two kids, a hockey stick, and a ball = no scratches!!! The color is pretty close, but it is a little darker in real life.

Living Room:

Hallway: you can notice the new baseboards that Aidan created from scratch. He also did new door casings with the same character style mouldings on the top that he did in Maeghan's room.

Dining Room: (ugly old table!)

We painted then entire basement, main floor, both stairwells and the upper level hallway. Owen's room was painted a light yellow, he also recieved new mouldings and a new tiled window seat just like we did in Maeghan's room. We also changed all the hardware (door knobs and closet knobs from the original brass to a new brushed nickel. Everything is very neutral and clean. There are just a few odds and ends left, hopefully they don't linger for too long, it'll be nice to not have to worry about any of it anymore!

Honestly? I may not want to leave...we should have done all of this when we first moved in 4 years ago!!!

Summer Has Begun!

2008-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today is the second day of my "summer vacation". I've moved into the part-time line that I will be working all summer. I'll be home with the kids M-F, and then in to work on Sat/Sun. I'm in heavan. Well, so far anyways! We'll see what happens when the kids are completely sick of each other, and me, and it is 35 degrees outside. Hopefully we'll all still be friends at the end of August!

The house reno's are almost complete. I'll try to post some pictures soon. My knitting completely stalled while we were renovating, but I finally was able to pick it up again last night. This is the back of the Central Park Hoodie, I've already completed the left front. I'm sure I'll be working on this off and on throughout the summer while doing other projects in between, I'm hoping to have it done by September.

Here Maeghan demonstrates what the beginning of summer really means.....time to get DIRTY!!! She didn't even know she looked like this when she came inside the other night. She was having such a good time making dirt pies with her friends.

Yesterday we brought out the swimming pool, I think that it is hilarious that the kids insisted on wearing their goggles for it.

I love summer!

Graduation Day!

2008-06-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

We have a scholar in the family. Owen has graduated from Preschool! Here he is just before we left for the ceremony. He was pretty excited.

Their opening song was "O'Canada", and man was it cute. All the kids had their hands over their hearts and were singing so loudly!

Here he his recieving his diploma from his teacher, Miss Noriega.

"Woohoo! I graduated!"

What a sweet boy.

It was fun to see the slideshow that the preschool put together...Owen has really grown up in the last two years and is looking forward to starting Kindergarten in the fall!

We are frantically working on our townhouse to get all the updates done before we sell. It is being listed in 10 days. I hope we can get everything done in time. Tonight we ripped up the carpet on the main floor and started prepping the floors for installation of our beautiful new laminate flooring which Aidan will be putting in next weekend. A friend of ours installs flooring (hardwood and laminate) for a living, so he was able to get us a really good price. Aidan has never laid floors before, so hopefully he'll get it right on the first try. We had always thought that we would go with real wood floors, but since we are doing it to sell we went the cheaper route, but we did get high end laminate so it won't look cheap. I'm excited to see it finished. I'll post some before and after pictures once it is all done. Monday and Tuesday will be spent painting the main floor and stairwell/landing of the top floor. We have managed to complete the basement already so at least that is one thing done!

Wish us luck in a speedy sale!

FO: Red (Green) Gable

2008-05-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Shhhhh.....what's that noise? You don't hear anything? Me neither!!! My house is silent. The kids have gone over to Saltspring Island to visit some friends with Aidan, I couldn't go because I have to work all weekend. While going to Saltspring would have been lovely, being home alone for 3 days has it's merits too! It does feel pretty strange though. I got home from work and the house was silent. I had to turn on the TV so I wouldn't feel so lonely. It takes some getting used to, I have hit the ground running after work every day for the last seven years, and to come home today to an empty house and nothing to do was pretty wierd. I'm sure I will get over it though and start relishing in the alone time.

I have finished up Green Gable, although mine is red. I love it! It fits so well, the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece is really nice to knit with and feels lovely against the skin.

Here are the specs:
Pattern: Green Gable by the Zephyr Gals
Size: XS
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in "Candy Apple"
Needles: US 7's/4.5mm
Mod's: I added a few extra rows before removing the sleeves and I added some extra waist shaping. I also knit to a total length of 16", measured from the armpit to the hem. It's a good length. I was worried it would still be a bit short, so I increased the ribbed hem from 3 rows to 5 rows. I did a row of single crochet around the neckline to help prevent the "curl" problem that so many other people were having.

I LOVE it. Aidan told me it is the nicest thing I've knit yet!

In other news, I had a good 5 inches cut off my hair yesterday. It feels so light, and I really like the style, for once. Usually I get home from the salon and just think "meh", but this time I really like it. But I guess it is often that way when it gets blown out and styled by a professional. We'll see how it is when I have to do it myself! I noticed that my hairdresser had curly hair so she probably would be a good person to cut Maeghan's hair. I asked her, and she said that she is quite experienced at dealing with curly hair (this is a must or you get someone who cut's the standard "poodle doo" - although, my fingers are crossed because this girl was maybe pushing 19 - how much experience could she possibly have on someone other than herself?) I told her I would bring Maeghan in to have her hair cut soon and she then went on about how she could show Maeghan how to just wash and go/diffuse her hair if she was running late for work or something...........

Talk about making someone feel old. She thought I was old enough to have a daughter who was old enough to work. Maeghan's 7 for Pete's sake, just how old do I look? But I guess I can't get too upset, when I was 19 I thought 32 year old's were ancient too!

The Tooth Fairy Strikes Again!

2008-05-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering why a four year old has already lost a tooth. Usually the first tooth is lost at around 6 years of age. In Owen's case, he had some assistance from one of his buddies at daycare. He was on the receiving end of a headbutt to the teeth, poor little guy. His other front tooth is hanging by a thread...that one's gonna go too. So this means that Owen will have no front teeth for the next two years!!! I think I'm more traumatized than he is.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2008-05-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I taught Maeghan how to knit. It was really exciting for me, now I have a stitchin' buddy! Woohoo! She picked it up really quickly too, and now we sit together on the couch and knit. She watches me, I watch her...she's getting pretty good, soon I'll have her making her own socks!

The day after I taught her, a parcel arrived in the mail from Granny. Inside was a knitting bag for Maeghan containing yarn, needles, and a pattern book for kids. I don't know how Granny does it, but she just knows what to send us and when. It was perfect timing. The yarn that she sent was pretty special too because it used to belong to Maeghan's Great Granny, whom she was never able to meet.

So now I envision long, lazy afternoons of knitting all summer long, I just have to get Owen to use the needles for something other than weapons, then he can join us too!

Big Bird

2008-04-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

I discovered this bird, the other day, sitting up in this tree overlooking the basketball court in our complex. It may be hard to tell from this picture, but this bird is HUGE! We have some large herons flying around in our neck of the woods, but I'm not sure if this is one or not. It's hard to tell when you can't see it's legs. Anyways, if you look closely at this poor bird it looks like it's wing is broken! Every few hours I would look out my window and it would be still there. The last time I had looked, though, the bird was gone, so I'm hoping that maybe it was just resting it's wing in a wierd way and was really okay after all. I can't get this bird out of my head. I hope it's all right.

Anyways.....

Contrary to popular belief....my kids do get along!

Prison Breaking Bread

2008-04-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

So Connie and I decided to do a little hiking in Golden Ears Park in Maple Ridge on Tuesday. We were on a little bit of a time limit because I had to pick Maeggie Moo up from school and take her to the Dentist. We thought that we should have more than enough time, however, because the hike, round trip to the falls and back, was two hours. So we started out and made it to the Pitt River bridge before we hit our first delay - an accident on the bridge. We patiently waited (besides Connie uttering threats under her breath at the girl in the next car who wouldn't let us merge! - but we won't go there) waited our turn to cross the bridge. Now we were truckin' along, the drive to the start of the trail was a bit farther than we expected, so that ate up some of our hiking time as well. As we drove I perused the info guide that Connie had brought along, and scoffed when I read "if you are lucky enough to hike on a clear day" part of the description. Obviously the author had never spent much time here, we get plenty of days that are clear. I felt a bit offended. I looked out the car window, the weather was great!

We finally make it to the trail head, notice a few clouds rolling in, but I'm positive it will remain nice. We come across a sign that indicated we had to pay for parking, yet there was no parking meter in the lot we were in, so we had to drive around to find one. There was next to nobody in the park. We drove through the campgrounds on our search for the parking meter and came across the odd tent here and there but that was pretty much it. By this time it was starting to drizzle a little, but, no matter, a little rain never hurt anyone (although, I frequently tell my kids that I'm made of sugar and could melt!). We rounded a corner and up ahead I spotted a dude in a bright red jumpsuit raking one of the campsites. I said that we should go ask him for some directions, obviously he worked there. As Connie pulled up along side of him, rolled down her window and started asking him, (and when I say started to ask him, I mean in her best flirting "please can I have free parking" kind of asking) I looked up and noticed at least 10 other men working...all in bright red jumpsuits. There was also an "officer" looking guy....hmmmm.....I fervently tried to whisper to Connie under my breath so the dude wouldn't hear me..."Connie, they're PRISONERS!!!" which she had also noticed at the same time as me.

We had stopped to ask directions from a group of convicts.

The Corrections Officer came forward at that point and let us know that we didn't have to pay because none of the meters were active. Great. I felt like was in an episode of Prison Break! So we slowly backed up and headed back to the parking lot, thankful that we didn't get car-jacked by a mob of escaping convicts - although they wouldn't have been able to hide out too well in Connie's BRIGHT yellow car.

So while all this was happening, it started raining a little bit heavier, but we were not backing out of the hike now. Connie strapped on Ryder and we headed off down the trail. It started raining even harder. Then it started hailing. The trail became muddier and muddier, but that didn't stop us. Only time stopped us because pretty soon we had to turn around in order to make it back in time for Maeghan. Next time we will make the whole hike. I now NEED to see those falls!

Unfortunately I was too nervous to pull out my camera and take a picture of the convicts, but I did get a shot of Connie and Ryder being pummelled by hail.

I guess this is the kind of weather one could expect when one lives in a rain forest as we do. I would go again in a heartbeat.

Maeghan started throwing up on Tuesday night, Aidan stayed home with her yesterday, and I stayed home with her today. Poor little thing, she can't keep anything down. I took the opportunity to do some baking and made my first "not baked in the bread maker" bread. I did let the machine mix and knead for me, then I removed it and baked it in the oven. I don't like how dense bread machine bread is, baking it this way made it much better. While the bread was rising I also made a few dozen chocolate chip cookies...mmmmm....maybe a mistake since I will probably be the one to eat them all!

Somebody likes his bread!

FO: First Pair of Socks

2008-04-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Finally! After close to a year, I have completed my first pair of socks! Yipee! I didn't think that I would ever see this day!

Pattern: Harlot's basic sock recipe from Knitting Rules
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berries
Needles: 2.25mm dpns

I have discovered that I don't like using bamboo sock needles as I am a fairly tight knitter and it was a lot of work sliding the work around on bamboo's. I switched to some Knit Picks steel dpns partway through the second sock and it was much better.

I had a few problems, I messed up the heel on the second sock, but really, who looks at the heel anyways? Also, my ssk's seem to be too loose as can be viewed in the sock on the right in the below picture. Specifically, where I am decreasing after picking up the stitches after the heel. You can see a line of holey, stretched stitches going down. Does anybody know a way to rememedy this? I don't want to always have a little line of holes running down my socks! The K2Tog's look fine though.

I enjoyed the process of learning to knit these socks. I had a hard time being motivated to do the second one, I found my hands cramped alot using the bamboo's. But now that I've switched, I think it will be better. I might try toe-up socks for my next pair as I had quite a bit of yarn left at the end and it would be nice to have used it all up.

This was my last WIP that needed to be finished before I was allowing myself to cast on for something else. It feels good to have nothing lingering in my knitting basket anymore, but it's making my hands itch to cast on for something new. I'm going to swatch for Green Gable tonight and hopefully cast on as well, if I have enough energy! I've also ordered yarn from the WEBS Anniversary Sale for the Central Park Hoodie. It is some Cascade 220 Heathers in Garnet. I've never used this yarn for something that I wasn't felting, I hope I don't find it too scratchy! I've heard the Heather's are a bit softer than the regular 220.

Thank Heaven For Little Girls...

2008-04-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

Early this morning I awoke to a gentle poking on my shoulder. I rolled over, opened my eyes, and there stood my sweet Maeghan with a glass of water in one hand and a teddy in the other. She had brought me a glass of water because I had been coughing, alot, all night, and the teddy so I would have something to snuggle. She told me to just rest and to try and go back to sleep, so I did. A while later there was another little tap on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see Maeghan holding a tray of freshly made scrambled eggs! She had made me and her dad breakfast in bed! Being only 7, Maeghan is not allowed to use the stove, so she cooked them for us in the microwave. They weren't half bad either! Thank you Maeghan! You made getting up a lot easier this morning!

Last weekend Maeghan had a birthday party at the bowling alley with all of her friends. It was a really fun time, even for Aidan and I, for once we didn't have to clean the house before and after a party! This is the cake that she had requested, chocolate of course, I trained her well. She wanted it to be red, but it's really hard to turn white icing red, so we decided white and pink would be the way to go.

I'm not much of a cake decorator but I tried my best!

She got a brand new bike, which unfortunately is a bit too big for her, but she insisted that we keep it, she's planning to grow!

Owen had a hard time with Maeg's birthday this year, he didn't think that it was fair that she got all the gifts, and he thought that August was WAY to far away. Lucky for him he has such a generous sister and she was willing to share almost everything with him.

Next post I'll have an FO for you! I just have to get some pictures, it has been a particularly dreary day.

FO: Gathered Pullover

2008-03-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, two posts in one weekend! I'm a wild woman!

I finally have something finished! Woohoo! May I present....The Gathered Pullover!

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason - Interweave Knits Winter 2007
Yarn: Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb in Charcoal
Needles: KP Options US9/5.5mm
Skills Learned: Magic Loop (I'm hooked!)
Mods: Knit an extra inch before and after the cable motif, also added an extra inch and a half to the sleeve length.

This sweater took me a long time to knit, only because I've been too tired most evenings to even look at it! I liked the knit, the pattern was straight forward and easy to follow. I did not like the seaming. It's one thing to seam something that is straight and the rows line up perfectly, it is something completely different to seam a round hole where sometimes the rows run the same way and sometimes they don't (armpitts and shoulders - I'm looking at you!!!). It makes me not want to do set-in sleeves again, but I know that the more I do them the better I'll get at it, so I must try again!

Now my goal is to finish up the second sock that has been hanging around since last summer, then I'm thinking about Green Gable by the Zephyr gals. I already have the yarn from my failed attempt at Rusted Root.

Thanks for checking in! I'm off to bake some muffins with Maeghan!

I've Lost My Mojo

2008-03-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. I really haven't had a lot to say. My mind hasn't been very creative lately, as all I want to do after the kids finally go to bed is curl up on the couch in a comatose state and vegetate. I'm tired. But there is an end in sight (at least a temporary one) as most of you already know. I've successfully applied for a part-time job for over the summer. I will only be working Sat/Sun in July and August. That means no daycare for the kids, yipee! I'm really looking forward to being able to spend the summer with them, and hopefully de-stress myself in the process! Maybe my creative side will make a bit of a comeback! This means, Charmaine, that this is the perfect summer for you guys to come for a long visit...hint hint!

The Gathered Pullover has been coming along very slowly, but I'm happy to say that I've finally finished the knitting and it is blocking as we speak. Well, actually, it has been blocking for about a week now, but I haven't gotten around to doing anything with it. It's in a bad spot too, pinned to my bedroom carpet, I had to warn the kids that when they make their nightly sojurn to my bed, they need to try and avoid it!

We spent Easter Sunday at Darren and Robin's where we enjoyed a fantastic Easter dinner (thanks Panago!). Kevin, Connie, and wee Ryder came too, it was fun to be with everyone and play Guitar Hero (my first time). Owen, of course, was a natural!

It was really good to spend some time with my nephew Gage as well. I hadn't seen him since before Christmas! Way to long! Isn't he cute?

This afternoon we are throwing a bowling birthday party for Miss Maeghan. She's a wopping 7 years old now you know. 7 going on 17 for sure! Haha! I'll try to make another post soon with a finished GP and some birthday stuff. Take care everyone!

Pink Eye and a Sleeve

2008-02-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of staying home with a very cranky 4 year old these past two days. Owen has pink eye....mmmmmm....yummy. It takes two of us to pin him down to put the drops in. It's looking much better today, though, and I think he'll be back at daycare tomorrow.

I've finished the body on the Gathered Pullover. I tried it on the other day and it actually fits quite well. I don't love the line of decreases/increases in the middle, but I lowered the cable motif by an inch and now that line falls right under my bust so it's not so noticable. I've seen a couple on Ravelry where the line cuts right across the center of the bust...it looks a bit strange. I was going to remove it all together, but, being small chested, I thought I might need it to help draw it in a bit.

And I taught myself "Magic Loop" to knit the sleeves in the round on one long needle. It's quite fun actually, much easier than I expected. I do find it hard to push the stitches back onto the needle however, it seems to be quite a snug fit. I'm sure it would be much easier if I was doing work with a smaller needle, mine is a US 9/5.5mm.

Swimming lessons start again tonight, I'm sure the chlorine will kill anything coming out of Owen's eye. Maeghan can't wait, she is such a little water bug! Well, I better go figure out how to fix the vacuum, my house is a stinkin' mess!

I'm back!

2008-02-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well, actually, I have been back since Sunday but have been way to busy to even think about posting! Let's just say that when mommy leaves town for the weekend not a lot get's done! Aidan did a fantastic job with the kids and the house, but apparently there is a lot of little behind the scenes stuff that I do to prepare for the week that he doesn't know about. I have felt about 5 steps behind all week long, and still haven't caught up!

Phoenix was wonderful! The weather was gorgeous (warm...at least 18 degrees the whole time!), I was wearing short sleeved shirts outside in January! What a novelty! Ted took such good care of us. We ate out at some pretty cool places (cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory...heaven!), and spent a lot of time relaxing and just hanging out.

Friday night we went to a murder mystery dinner. It was fun, but I was nervous the whole time that I was going to get chosen to go up on stage...I'm not very brave in front of other people! They probably didn't pick on me because my bra was hanging out the whole time! (see below picture) (thanks for telling me girls! Yeah right you didn't see...nice try!) Thankfully that didn't happen, and we laughed a lot and had a great time!

Saturday night we headed down to the site of the Super Bowl where they had live music, fireworks, and huge crowds! It was fun to be a part of all the excitement. We hit a fantastic wine bar, sat outside drinking and eating chocolate fondue, and just talked and talked. It was so good to do that with my very best friends again. It has been way too long! I really miss Charmaine and it was so wonderful to get to spend some time together. Hopefully she'll be back this summer to escape the Arizona heat, and we'll get to see her and the family again! Thanks Ted for a great get-a-way. I enjoyed every minute of it. Except for the part where Connie couldn't stop barfing...but I must say, she is a very graceful vomiter, it could have been worse!

Not a lot of knitting got done this week, but I'm hoping to make up for that this weekend. Gathered Pullover....here I come!

Snow Day

2008-01-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

What could be better?

A foot of snow fell overnight. Schools and daycares were shut down, commuting extremely treacherous. What could be better than staying home? What could be better than the pure joy on the faces of children as they careen down the hill on a tobaggan?

Except maybe the beauty of it all. There is nothing prettier than snow on a bare tree.

WIP and some goodies....

2008-01-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

Finally I have some down time where I can update the old blog! We've been extremely busy since school was back in session. Work monopolizes WAY to much of my time, and the kids have started skating lessons on Thursday nights as well. Add that to the soccer practices, games, and ballet, and it seems we are barely ever home! I've been working on the Gathered Pullover for the last few weeks. I've had to rip back a few times because of a dropped cable stitch, and then because of some indecisions, but I am halfway through the cable chart, and hope to make some progress in the next few days. Here it is as it stands right now...

I've also done some baking...I know...I don't bake...but part of my New Years resolution was to provide healthier food choices for my kids. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to have cooked everything from scratch, but I'm going to start trying, and my first effort is these Banana Bread Muffins. It is the same old recipe as I have made before, but I have made it healthier by adding whole wheat flour and flaxseed meal. They turned out fabulous! So good in fact that I had to take some pictures of them and give you all my recipe.

Shannon's Healthier Banana Bread Muffins

Preheat Oven to 350F

1 1/2 C. banana (3 large bananas)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 C. milk w/ a dash of lemon juice
1/4 C. melted butter
1 C. white flour
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1/4 C. flaxseed meal
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
sprinkling of cinnamon
chocolate chips (as many as you want...chocolate is healthy...who said so? I said so!)

Mix wet & dry separately
Add wet to dry
Mix just to combine (don't over mix!)
Add the chocolate chips
Bake 30 minutes and enjoy!

The next time I make them I will decrease the white flour, and increase the whole wheat flour accordingly...the more whole wheat the better, I'm just not sure how they'd turn out if I went completely whole wheat, or if my kids would eat them!

Aidan cooked us a fabulous pasta dinner the other night. Maeghan loved hers so much she asked me to take a picture of it to put on my blog...here it is.

Dang it was good!

In other news, Owen got his first black eye in a street hockey game the other night. He's hilarious, he was really upset until I got out there, and then he didn't want me to look because he wanted to be a tough boy in front of his friends! He wiped his tears a way and went back out to the game. He's a pretty tough kid! I think his friends might think that he has a strange mother, though, since when they came to get me they could see me taking pictures of muffins through the window. Who takes pictures of muffins? Apparently me. I'm just disappointed that the pics didn't turn out better. Anyways, I have to go pick up the kids from school.

Only one more week to the Fabulous Girlfriend Getaway! Woot woot! More on that in the next post!

FO: Calorimetry

2008-01-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

First FO of 2008...woohoo! I decided I just wanted to do something quick and easy...instant gratification...so on New Years Day I cast on for Calorimetry, finished it in a few hours, and then cast on for a second one for Maeghan the very next day! I think they both turned out very well, but if I ever make myself another one it will have a slightly larger circumferance.

Here are the specs of mine:

Pattern: Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf from Knitty Winter 2006
Yarn: Patons SWS color "Natural Earth"
Needles: 5mm/US 8's KP Options
Mods: I changed the cast-on from 120st to 92st because I have read that most people find it ends up way to big if following the original pattern. I repeated row 5 11 times instead of the original 15. Next time I will increase my cast-on st to 96.

Maeghans:
Yarn: Patons SWS color "Natural Plum"
Needles: 5mm/US 8's KP Options
Mods: I cast on 88st for Maeghan's and repeated row 5 10 times. It fits her perfectly.

Surprisingly I don't find this yarn itchy at all...I've read that some people do, and since I'm sensitive to the itch factor, I was pretty uncertain how I was going to like it, Maeghan doesn't think it is itchy either.

I can see myself making many more of these as gifts...so fast, so easy, I enjoyed every minute of it! I do think though that Maeghan looks way better in it than I do, she is just one of those people that looks great in any type of head gear. So now that I got that out of my system, I'm ready to cast-on for Gathered Pullover...well, at least swatch for it anyway!

FO: Ryder's Blankie

2007-12-31T17:37:00.000-08:00

After working on this baby for almost 9 months...here is Ryder's Blankie!

Crochet was really hurting my wrist for some reason (I've made other stuff and never been bothered - could be the yarn), so it has taken me a lot longer than I had wanted to make this blanket. Ryder was born in July and this was supposed to be part of his shower gift! Ooops!

Once again I have enlisted the help of my kids to model for me...

If you look closely at Maeghan's mouth you can see the stitches she received at the Dentist last week after she had a frenectomy done. Your frenum is the skin between the two front teeth that connects to the gums...if it is too big (as in Maeghan's case) it causes the front teeth to have a large space and perhaps grow like this /\, removing the extra tissue allows her adult teeth to hopefully come in closer together and straight. We'll have to see how hers progress because one of her adult teeth is mostly in and definately shoots out crooked like this \. Maeghan is also apparently a tongue thruster (when she swallows, her tongue pushes on the back of her upper front teeth instead of the roof of her mouth), and this can also causes two front teeth to push out at odd angles. Looks like we'll be buying shares in the local orthodontist business soon!

Anyways, here are the specs of Ryder's Blankie:

Pattern: Soft Waves by Jan Eaton
Yarn: Bernat Satin in shades of blue and cream
Hook: 5mm - H

I think the blanket turned out really well. The yarn is very soft with a nice weight to it, and is very easy to care for. Machine wash and dry. Perfect for a busy mother! I hope it becomes his favorite one!

My goal over Christmas was to clear up all of the Works In Progress, and I have pretty much done that now. I'm still working on my remaining sock, but that has become more of a travel project so it's moving pretty slowly. I think I really don't love the bamboo needles...it takes too much effort to slide the work around, I am determined to finish it though. The next socks I make I'm going to try Magic Loop...maybe I'll like that better. As it stands now though, my plan for my hang-over day tomorrow is to cast on for the Gathered Pullover:

Happy New Years Everyone! I need to go prepare for my guests!

Christmas and an FO!

2007-12-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone, and in the madness of it all, I didn't even manage one post! Maeghan's Christmas concert was really great. No pictures to post, as I was the video taping queen once again, but she looked so great! There was a dress rehearsal in the afternoon, which Connie and I attended, and the real performance was later that night. Maeghan knew her poems so well, I could hear her voice above all of the other kids, and she looked so beautiful up there on the stage singing the songs. We loved every minute of it!

We were very happy to have Granny and Grandpa came to stay with us over the holidays. It was nice to share it with them. Every year we open one gift on Christmas Eve, and the Christmas Eve present is the same every year...new pajamas. I suppose Owen is a little young to have remembered this from last year because he waited all day in anticipation of opening that gift. He kept asking me "Mommy can I open it now?" and I had to keep telling him that he had to wait until after supper. Finally the time came and the kids excitedly ripped off the wrapping paper. Owen took one look at his new pajamas and exclaimed "THIS IS NOT COOL!!!" He was so disappointed that it wasn't a toy. I was laughing so hard that I completely forgot to grab the camera. Poor little guy! He got over it though when he saw that everyone else also got pajamas.

Christmas morning was a whirlwind as always. The kids slept till 6:30am and then dragged us all out of our beds. Santa spoiled them rotten, and so did everyone else. Thank you everyone for the great gifts! As always, I was dismayed at the amount of wrapping paper that ends up in the trash/recycling bin. So Moira and I went the other day to the fabric store and bought all sorts of Christmas fabrics on sale for 65% off. During the next year, I'm planning to sew some drawstring or velcro closing bags to use for wrapping instead of paper next year. They can be used over and over again and I won't feel so bad about all of the waste! Another tradition I'm considering nixing is sending out the Christmas cards. Just think about all of the fuel that is burned flying millions of cards around the world every year, as well as all of the paper used for the cards, only for them to be tossed after a couple days. Yikes! I know email cards may be a little more impersonal, but they do seem a lot more environmentally friendly! Hmmmmm.....anyways, back to Christmas.....

After lunch the kids got busy with all their loot! Maeghan painted some beautiful piggy banks (from Aunty Melissa - thanks!),

And Owen rode on his new motorcycle video game...not even an eye injury could keep this little guy from riding hard! Heehee! (the cold cloth makes it feel better!)

And later in the afternoon Kevin, Connie, and Ryder came to have a delicious Turkey Dinner with us. It was a pretty relaxing day for me as I didn't have to do any of the cooking! Grandpa took over and served up the Turkey and all of the fixings. Yum Yum! We spent Boxing Day at Conor and Holly's, it was nice to see everyone again!

And finally, on to the FO - Tudora

Tudora was a Christmas pressie made for my mother-in-law Moira. I used one ball of Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends and size 4mm needles - US 6. Not surprisingly there is pretty much no cashmere in this yarn, but it does feel very soft, showed the stitch definition well, and was very affordable - especially with a 40% off coupon from Michael's! Hehehe. I think the toggle button I found at Walmart looks very nice with it!

I hope everyone had a safe, happy holiday season!

Owen the Brown Nosed Reindeer

2007-12-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Wait a minute...it sounds kind of funny calling him a "brown nosed" reindeer, but, I swear he really just had a brown nose! The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy as usual, and the highlight of the week was Owen's Christmas concert "The Night Before Christmas"." He was a fantastic reindeer, and was right into the whole performance. It was really entertaining! I didn't take too many pictures as I was video taping the whole thing, but here is what I got: Owen being mauled by Santa,

And here is the little reindeer showing off the loot that he got from the big guy.

(Sorry Aidan it was the only picture I had!) I've been madly trying to prepare for Christmas already, I don't have much time off before the holidays so I'm doing as much as I can now. Can you believe that I bought for 15 neices and nephews! CRAZY! I didn't realize I had that many, I'm going to have to up my monthly payments into the Christmas Budget so I'm better prepared for next year (payroll savings bond...I thought if I started this last year I wouldn't go into debt this year...it helped, but unfortunately still wasn't enough!) I think that I'm going to also plan for more handmade gifts next year, the time just got away from me this year.

Well, that's all I've got for now, stay tuned for Maeghan's Christmas concert which takes place next week, and at least one FO is on it's way!

Houston, We've Got a Problem...

2007-11-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

How about a closer look:

That's right folks, I've already worn a hole in my fuzzy feet. How did this happen so soon you might ask? Well I'm thinking there are three possible answers.

1) Patons Classic Merino does not felt well: I tend to disagree with this theory as I have heard on many occasions that this is a fabulous felting wool.

2) I have not felted these long enough to provide a nice sturdy fabric: this is a pretty good theory, and you can see for yourself in the above photo. Way too much stitch definition. I should have felted them longer.

3) I am in denial of the actual size of my feet: This theory probably hits the closest to home as I had to stop the felting process too early because I was in fear of them not fitting my feet. Apparently I need to knit a larger size and then felt longer.

I'm going to try to sew them up and throw them back in the washer for another round of felting.

Wish me luck...I just hope this won't be another item on my long list of things to do that I never get around to doing!

In other news, Owen is going to be a reindeer in his Christmas concert. Has anyone seen a long-sleeved brown shirt for really cheap? Unfortunately we have a short-sleeved one, but that is not the requirement for his costume. At least he's not wind again.......

IT'S A BOY!!!!

2007-11-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Bronagh and Jeremy on their new baby boy! Baby Jack was born last night at around 9pm weighing a wopping 9 lbs! As far as I know (Aidan took the message cause I was sleeping, and unfortunately he's not that reliable for the details.....) mom and baby are doing fine. I'm going to go see them later today. I love new babies!

Edited to add.....

Baby Jack was born at 9:40pm weighing 9 lbs 4oz. Mom and baby are doing great! He looks a lot like Isaac did when he was born...crazy hair!

Oh boy...I'm in for it!

2007-11-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

My ever growing children have shown me once again that I'd better start thinking of some suitable answers to some tough questions. Aunty Bronagh is in the hospital today having the baby!!! Yay!!! So this was obviously a topic in the car on the drive home today.

Owen wanted to know how the baby got out of Aunty Bronagh's tummy. So I tried to explain it as honestly as possible without grossing them out too much. Owen then wanted to know if the baby would be covered in pee...I said no...how about poo?...I said no once again. I really need to start thinking about these things in advance to come up with some better answers. They really had me stumped at first, I wasn't sure how much information they would be able to handle.

The second topic that threw me tonight was that Maeghan told me her boyfriend broke up with her. She's six. How can a six year old have a boyfriend? Does she really even know what that is? I asked her what he said to her and she told me that he just told her he didn't want to play with her, but that she was sure he was breaking up with her in his head. Once again, she's six. Does this already start at the age of six? Crazy, I thought I would have a few more years. How do I approach this in a way where she will always feel comfortable coming to me, and confiding things in me. What do I say to her? A couple weeks ago she told me she kissed a boy (the same boy) in the library at school. I asked her where and she told me on the lips. I told her that if she has to kiss a boy to please just do it on the cheek, because she doesn't want to get any germs and get sick. Hopefully this will stop the smooching. I want her to grow up with confidence in herself, and not be one of those girls that is always dependant on having a boyfriend so I also mentioned that it is WAY more fun to just be friends with boys than have them as boyfriends, especially at her age.

I'm probably reading too much into all of this, but I would appreciate any advice I can what I should be doing/saying. This is all new to me!

Maeghans "New" Room!

2007-11-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

Finally, the finished pictures of Maeghan's "new" room. If you will recall from a previous post, Maeghan requested a PINK room. A very pink room. So that is what she got. I think it turned out really pretty. Unfortunately I didn't take any before pics, but I will remember to do so when we do Owen's room. Aidan did a fantastic job...I remember years ago, when we still lived in rentals, asking him to do fix-ups around the house, and he would never do them. He would always tell me that it wasn't that he couldn't do them, but that he didn't want to sink any money into someplace we didn't own. I told him I would believe it when I saw it...and look now. He proves is capabilities once again! Well done Babe! I made the pictures small because there are a lot of them. Just click on them to make them bigger and you can see more detail. So here it is...Maeghan's finished room.

First shot is of her bed from the doorway.

Pretty canopy given to Maeghan for her birthday from Aunty Connie

Picture of the window with a new curtain from your favorite as well as mine...Target

Check out the new character style moldings created from scratch by Aidan, it looks amazingly better than the old window.

And the pretty new tile in the window seat. I briefly considered putting a comfy cushion in there, after all it is a window seat, but I kept picturing Maeghan sitting there reading and then accidently falling out the window and landing two stories below. I think not. Tile it is! This was Aidan's first time tiling EVER. I think he did a great job.

Here is the freshly painted closet with new satin nickel handles. The closet was also painted a slightly darker pink to help it stand out more - on orders from Princess Maeghan. You can also kinda see the new baseboards that Aidan made...they go well with character style moldings around the window and door.

And the new shelving unit from IKEA, I like the detailing at the top, makes it look really feminine.

Gorgeous new moldings around the door to match the ones around the window. I love them, they add so much to the room. Way better than the early 80's style that was there before!

Pretty new door! (Well newly painted anyway). Also new hardware (hooks and handle).

Maeghan did most of the moving in and organizing herself. This is the shelf that is up beside her bed. It holds her very precious "Super Bear" which was a gift from her Uncle Conor on the day she was born. This is one amazing bear. It protects her from any bad dreams or boogeymen, and just having it there, looking down over her, makes her feel so much safer.

Juliet And I Are On a Time Out

2007-11-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

(Warning to my non-knitting pals...this will be a very boring post for you!)

I finished the lace portion on Juliet last night and took it off the needles to try it on before I finished up. It was too big. Not extremely big, but the arms were big and the back seemed really bulky and hung out quite far from my body. So.........I ripped it. Sniff sniff. It was hard to do, I really wanted to be done it and to move on to something else, not that I don't like knitting it, but I think I have a fairly short attention span and crave a new project. Anyways, I'm going to start again tonight during Grey's Anatomy on the XS and hopefully it'll work out. I'm considering decreasing the increases on the set up row for the lace. Maybe doing K1FBF instead of K1FBFB. If I do that 13 times (on the back section only), that will remove one section of the lace, and hopefully decrease the bulk in the back. Any thoughts? I don't want it to end up too small though. I am making the cropped version if that helps any fellow Juliet knitters out there. Partly to blame is probably my yarn choice - Patons Shetland Chunky...it is a bulky yarn, therefore a bulky cardi will be made!

2007-11-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the long delay between posts. I feel like I never get the chance to sit down long enough to actual post, either that or I'm too tired. Anyways, life, as always, has been extremely busy around these parts. We've completed another set of swimming lessons - much to my amazement both kids passed, yippee!!! I've been working away on Juliet, I'm about halfway done now, and I've also finally cast on for the second sock in my pair - just started the heel flap.

Miss Maeghan has lost another tooth! Finally! This one was just hanging there for quite some time. I was trying to convince her to let me yank it, but she wouldn't hear of it. Eventually, a boy at school accidently kicked her in the mouth (not hard!) and the tooth came flying out. Unfortunately she lost it, and is quite worried that the tooth fairy might not pay her a visit if there was no tooth. I told her to write a letter explaining what happened and hopefully the tooth fairy will feel sorry for her and still leave her a few coins. I'll let you know what happens.

Owen has still been playing hockey with all the big boys, recently it was his turn to play goal. Here he is decked out in all the goalie gear which is ginormous on him. He is so happy!

Halloween was a lot of fun again this year. Maeghan was a scary witch, and Owen was a brave knight. This is such a great age for trick-or-treating. We only went to the houses in our neighborhood and the kids thought that was great. I know soon enough they'll want to be out for hours, but thankfully at this point they are just as happy handing out treats as they are getting them. Aidan decorated the house up again...it was the scariest house in the complex. He had red lights glowing from all the windows, and the shadow of one of Maeghan's dolls was swinging in the window. Pretty spooky!

Owen's hair had been getting really shaggy and long, and the only way he would allow Daddy to cut it was if he was able to cut Daddy's too. I think there is a certain thrill for all little kids if they get to hold a set of buzz clips to their Dad's head! He loved it! It was pretty funny, he didn't do too bad of job either!

Well, I think I've mostly caught up. I've got to try and post more frequently. I'm sure I'm missing sharing with you a lot of the little things that really brighten our days. Some of the things that come out of the kids mouths are hilarious...I've got to start writing them down, and what better place?

We are waiting on pins and needles for Bronagh's baby to arrive! Her due date was yesterday, and so far as we know, nothing. Isaac believes that this one will be a girl, and he's already named her Lucy. He is going to be bitterly disappointed if it is a boy! I'll let you know as soon as we hear something. It's baby # 3! It should come pretty fast!

FO: Fuzzy Feet

2007-10-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I love my Fuzzy Feet!!!

Before:

After:

They are so cute and comfy. And felting is so fun! They were a very quick and easy knit. I'll probably have to whip off a few more of these for gifts! I'm wearing them right now and my feet are toasty warm. This is a very good thing considering that Aidan won't let us turn the heat on yet. He likes to beat out the year before in how long we wait to turn it on. It's a good thing we live in a townhouse because we are benefiting from the heat of our neighbors!

I'm off work this week on a mini vacation. Owen has had to stay home from preschool these first 3 days because of a nasty cold he received courtesy of one of his little friends. He's starting to get a little stir crazy this afternoon, and he keeps asking when Maeghan will be home. This is a first, he usually wants to know when she'll be leaving! Haha!

Well, that's it for now, I'm off to play an exciting game of Chutes and Ladders...wish me luck!

FO: Ms. Marigold

2007-10-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Finally something finished! It feels like it has been a while! This is Ms. Marigold -we've had a love/hate relationship. I'm leaning towards the love side right now...we'll see how I feel after I give it a wash. I hear alpaca tends to grow, so it may be HUGE afterwards!

I had a real tough time getting gauge with this tank. I ended up going up a few needle sizes from what was called for and getting a somewhat looser fabric which I don't love. It is very soft and comfy though, not itchy at all! I wish I didn't feel so self-conscious when I am wearing stuff I've made myself. Hopefully I'll get over that after I've made a few more things that I like! I will probably make Ms. Marigold again in the spring with a different yarn. MLE made a really nice one out of Rowan Wool Cotton which I may give a try.

Here is my little soccer star. First time playing in goal and he loved every second of it! Why do they have to make the jersey's so large for such a little guy? Poor kid! He looks like he's wearing a dress! Didn't matter to him though, all he care about was diving on the ball anytime it came near the net. Even if diving was completely unnecessary. It was all about getting dirty!

Hello New Car!!!

2007-09-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

My new car is HOT!!! I absolutely love it! Yes, it is a brand new, 2008, Mazda 3 Sedan. It has a lot of hutzpa (well, I guess compared to the crappola Neon, anything would feel powerful!), and I don't feel like a "mom" when I'm driving it, which is great, considering I am a mom. Not that being a mom is a bad thing.....well, anyways, I'm sure you know what I mean. According to Aidan, the only thing hotter than my new car is me IN my new car. How sweet is he!

Owen has become the splitting image of his dad. He is out skateboarding all the time, I am surprised he can evan ride on that thing! I sure can't. He's even doing tricks and board flipping moves - yes, you can tell how well I know the lingo.

Look at him ride it! He's a little pro!

We went for a good walk the other day down in False Creek. Vancouver is a beautiful city, especially on a hot sunny day! I had never been down to this particular area before, and was pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous view of the city from across the inlet.

And here is my dear Miss M, or gap tooth as we now like to call her. She wants to help with everything and won't take no for an answer. Here she is grating cheese for our lasagne the other night. I hovered over her in fear that she was going to shred her little fingers, but no blood was lost, and we had a great supper.

We have begun to renovate Maeg's bedroom. Today we emptied it out (I can't believe a little girl can have so much stuff!!!), she's bunking with Owen for the next week or so. It's hard for us to do it quickly because we both work five days a week and I'm also working some overtime tomorrow so that makes for a very short weekend. We ripped out all the baseboards and mouldings, and scraped off the sticky tile laminate that was in her window seat. We also taped around the ceiling and primed over the flowers that were painted all over her walls. The highlight of the day was when I removed the door handle while the door was still closed and we were locked in for a few tense moments. Actually, Maeghan was the only tense one, tiredness and hysteria had set in for me and I laughed uncontrollably until Aidan managed to figure out how to open it! I'm such a dumbass! I have never really renovated anything before, so already I feel like I'm learning a lot. Aidan doesn't usually let me help him when he does stuff, I'm not sure why.................

What color are we painting her room you ask? Well pink of course! Apparently no other color will do for our little princess! I tried to talk her into a nice soft green, or a bluey lavender, but she was so not into it. It just means we'll have to repaint it in a few years when she grows out of it. I'll post some pics when we are done. Hopefully that will be in the near future.

Ms Marigold is coming along. I'm on the bottom waist ribbing now. I haven't been able to work on it very much these last few days. Hopefully an FO to show you soon!

From the Mind of a 4 Year Old

2007-09-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Owen: Mommy, I like ketchup the best.

Me: Oh yeah? Why is that?

Owen: Because it comes from Ketchup Cows...

School Is In Session!

2007-09-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ms. Marigold in progress. She's a really fun knit, she feels like she is just cruising along after that darn sock! That thing took forever! A few people have asked me if it's for me or Maeghan because it looks so small, but the fabric seems to be pretty stretchy so my finger's are crossed that it will fit me!

Maeghan has started Grade One! Yipee! She's an all dayer now, and thank goodness so far she loves it! I had to work on the morning of her first official day of class so Aidan was given the job of photographer before they left. Unfortunately the camera batteries died after only one shot, and here it is:
She's really not that subdued about the whole thing. She was really excited, and I'm surprised she didn't even crack a smile! She looks kinda like a snotty teenager. She was wearing a really cute pair of black knee high boots, but Aidan didn't manage to get that in.

When she got home that evening, I asked her how her day was and she said that she loved it and she couldn't believe she got to stay there all day. I asked her what her teacher's name was and she said "Mrs. Humming Clams" MRS. HUMMING CLAMS!!!! Is that not the cutest thing you have heard today! The teacher's real name is Mrs. Cunningham, all week Maeghan has been practising to get it right, and she's at the point now where she calls her Mrs. Cumminghams. Getting closer!

FO: One Sock

2007-08-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

One sock down...one to go. When? I don't know...I need a break from those tiny needles!!! But here is the one...

Besides the fact that I need a pedicure...it's pretty good, eh? I love it! It's a little on the snug side, because my gauge ended up being a little off of what I thought it was. Still fits though, and that is all that matters. I need to pick up the stitches along the heel flap differently though because when I am wearing the sock you can see little holes where it is pulling. I thought I read somewhere to pick up through the back loop? Or do you pick up under both strands and then on the next round knit through the back loop? I haven't a clue. I'll figure it out though.

And here is my sweet Miss M. Finally lost that front tooth. It was hanging there for 4 weeks before it came out. We had nicknamed it "Snaggletooth". She looks so cute. So now comes the awkward stage of her adult teeth growing in and looking far to large for her little mouth! She put the tooth under her pillow, but I think she wasn't really sure if the tooth fairy was real or not because when she woke up in the morning she looked under her pillow and shrieked "The Tooth Fairy IS real!" I love it!

Happy Birthday Owen!

2007-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

My baby is 4 now! Owen's birthday was on Friday, and we had a birthday party for him and his friends today. They did a trip to the firehall, and then back to our house for cake, presents, and play. I can't believe 4 years have gone by since he was born, and I thought it would be fun to show how much he has changed over the last four years.

Here is Owen, just one day old. I can't believe how tiny he is. He looked like such a wise old man in the first few weeks. He was born two weeks early weighing 6lbs 10oz.

And here is Owen at his very first birthday party. He was such a sweet baby, always full of smiles. He started crawling at 9 months, and walking at 11 months. He was always trying to do things that were way too old for him, including riding his dad's skateboard, and his sisters bike. I really miss this age.....

This is Owen at age 2. He was not afraid of anything. He loved to play hockey out in the parking lot with boys 3 times his age, he held is own too!

This is his third birthday...already turning into the little man we see today. He learned how to ride a two wheeler bike while he was three. I've never seen such a little guy on two wheels going sooooo fast!

And this is Owen now, four years old......

Little man you have grown so much over the last few years! I'm really looking forward to the next four. You are very smart, athletic, and tons of fun! I love it when you are being silly, and your breakdancing is amazing! Besides being one handsome little guy, you have a really great personality and I am really thankful that I get to be your mom. I love you!

Happy Birthday!

Melissa's Wedding and a Sock

2007-08-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Finally I have some time to show you some pictures from Melissa's wedding. Here is the "Maid" of Honor (mom says I was actually the "matron" of honor, but seriously, could it make me sound any older?) I look all pretty and graceful in this shot, but I swear, not 30 seconds after this picture was taken I tripped on the aisle runner and am very thankful I was able to recover before I did a face plant. Seriously, flip flops on an aisle runner. You've got to be kidding me!

And of course the beautiful little flower girls. That is Maeghan in the middle, on the left is Adin's niece Bronwyn and on the right is my brother Dave's daughter Brooklyn. They were so precious...Maeghan did a really good job of keeping the other girls heading down the aisle. She is a pro now, this is her 5th time if you include her "honorary" flower girl status at Conor and Holly's wedding....she was only 5 months old then. My mom made all of the flowergirl dresses and the flower thingy's they were holding. She's very talented, that mother of mine!

And here comes the gorgeous bride! Doesn't my dad look hot!!! Melissa was stunning, not surprisingly.
First Kiss!

And of course, no post would be complete without the baby shot! My handsome nephew, Gage. He's totally starting to laugh now! What a cute kid!

Here is gorgeous shot of my sister and the back of her dress.

My parents and Gage:

We had a really great time at Melissa and Adin's wedding...it was pretty hectic, but having all of the family together really meant a lot. It doesn't happen too often!

And on to the sock...

Oh yes, I know this is what you have all been waiting for. My first sock...almost complete. It has been a really slow go because I'm having some wrist problems stemming from work, but I've been plugging away at it, and now am at the toe decreases. I will have to wait a while before I cast on the second sock, my hands got a little cramped up from the small needles on this one and I need to give them a bit of a break. Hopefully I will be able to model it for you over the weekend.

Secret Project # 1

2007-08-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of two secret projects that I recently completed! I have just given it to Baby Ryder so I can now show you what it is!

Mason Dixon Baby Kimono in blue! I knit it in Lion Brand Cotton Ease, color Lake. It turned out really nice, the yarn is fairly soft, I sure hope it washes up good! I had planned to put pink ribbons on it in the off chance that the baby turned out to be a girl. Ryder looks really good in blue, and I took some pictures of him wearing the Kimono, but unfortunately he didn't co-operate very well and is pulling some pretty freakish faces in them. I'll try to take more, but I don't know how long it will fit him for. It seems to fit perfectly right now...but who knows by next week considering how fast he is growing!

I'm still plugging away at my sock...a few more inches on the foot and I start decreases for the toes! Yipee! I'm getting a little bored of it because the yarn is so thin (fingering weight), I'll probably finish this one sock and put it away for a bit before I start the second. I have some plans to make felted slippers next so I'll probably do that in between.

My sisters wedding was awesome! We had such a good time. Aidan forgot my camera in the hotel though, so I don't have any pictures just yet. I'll do a whole post about the wedding when I get some.

Chowder!

Miscellaneous...

2007-08-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the long awaited picture of Ryder McLaren Carlson. Isn't he cute! He looks a lot like his dad in person...not too sure about this picture though!

And of course, that is me! Having a first snuggle with the sweet little guy!

Things have been crazy busy around here these last couple of weeks. My girlfriend Charmaine is up from Arizona with her three girls for a good part of the summer, and has been staying with us for the last week and a half. This is what dinner time now looks like at my house.....

Good times! Crazy fun! Poor Owen is a little out numbered by all the women, and it doesn't help that Aidan has been doing some pretty late hours these last weeks studying and working overtime. This is Isidora eating her first ice cream cone. She is a pretty funny little girl...she has lot's of character!

And the rest of the kids enjoying ice cream on the porch.

Now the final preparations are being made for Melissa's wedding. We had the stag last weekend, it was a total blast...all I know is that I am not very sexy when I'm trying to pole dance! It is really hard to look hot as your arms can barely hold you up as you are swinging around the pole...not that I swung much, my "dancing" was more like falling, but it was still great fun! Guzzled back a few to help with the courage, and a good time was had by all! I have a new respect for the ladies out there that do it for a living. It is tough! As a result, I wasn't able to walk properly for a few days, and now my legs are left with a few bruises which hopefully will clear up before the wedding. Today was the rehearsal, and the wedding is on Sunday. I'll have lot's to tell you about then.

Not a lot of knitting getting done, but I am just past the heel flap on my first sock. I'll post a pic later! Ciao!

IT'S A BOY!!!

2007-07-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well it is official, Connie and Kevin have a new little boy. 9 lbs 8 oz, born on Friday morning. Mom and baby are doing fine, I will post a pic if I get permission from the new mommy.....

Welcome to our family baby Ryder! (otherwise known as Gigantor aka Zompitez Plendor, or Zompy for short).

An older FO

2007-07-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Finally I can post an older finished object that I made for my dearest friends birthday. I've been sitting on this one for a while now, itching to show it to you all. It is the Vintage Bubble Bag (a pattern I got from a friend at work), and is made with Cascade 220 in a dark brown, and Noro Silk Garden. The bag is knit holding two strands of yarn together through out (one casacade 220, and one Noro). Then it is felted in the washing machine until it is a decent size. Here is before I felted it:

and here is after:

It is hard to see the difference, but I assure you, the prior felting bag was huge!!! The after bag is much smaller. Next time I will put a ruler next to it in the shot so you can see better. I would have liked to felt it even more in order to lose some of the stitch definition that you can still see, but I was afraid the bag would get too small.

Happy Birthday Connie! I love you!

PS Connie's baby has not come out yet...we are still waiting and it is over a week past it's due date! Let's send her some labor vibes......

First Sock

2007-07-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Voila! The beginnings of my first sock.

This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berry. Such pretty colors! I've never knit with anything so small before. The yarn is fingering weight, and the itsy bitsy bamboo needles are size 2.25mm. They feel like they are going to snap in my hands! I'm not very far yet, but am finding socks are a great project when you have kids and have to keep setting it down!

No baby from Connie and Kevin yet. Connie's due date was on Saturday, and I can barely contain my excitement for this baby to arrive! I think Connie is pretty ready too, she's had enough, and is feeling really uncomfortable. I'll keep you posted and let you know as soon as there is news! I have to go get fitted for my bridesmaid dress now, unfortunately I've gained a few since I ordered it, so hopefully it won't need too many alterations! See ya!

Just a quick post....

2007-07-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have noticed in my time browsing blogs on the internet that many people have made the Mason Dixon Baby Kimono, but nobody has actually ever seen a baby in it. Well all that is about to change as I present to you my nephew Gage, who is actually wearing the sweater.

Yes, he has almost grown out of it and he is only 9lbs. Next time I will have to add some extra rows to the arms, Robin tells me she can barely get his little hands through the sleeves, the rest doesn't fit to badly.

Not too bad for my first baby sweater, eh?

Harrison Hot Springs

2007-07-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend. After a very hectic week full of preparations for our vacation, we finally arrived in Harrison Hot Springs for a relaxing long weekend. I've never been there before and enjoyed every minute of it. We rented little cabins on the lake, and spent most of our time on the beach, playing in the sand and water. I couldn't ask for a nicer get away. And the weather was awesome! When we arrived in Harrison, the sun was out, and it was hot, so the first thing the kids wanted to do was jump in the pool...

According to Aidan, it was FREEZING, but of course kids can't feel the cold, so Maeghan and Owen were happy as clams!

Then, not an hour later, the weather was like this....

What is it about Maeghan eating yogurt in the rain? I seem to recall another post referring to the same thing!

Over the weekend we perfected the art of baby monitors again...we were a little rusty, not using ours at all anymore...but once the kids were in bed in all the separate cabins, out came all the baby monitors, and the drinks, and the parents enjoyed some down time outside. The kids slept pretty well while we were there, thank goodness, and this is what we returned to after a particularly enjoyable evening.

Relaxing on the beach was definately the best part of our days, Aidan was the head hot-tub builder for the kids...

Of course, the best part of building a sand hot-tub is breaking it afterwards and watching all of the water woosh out.

Harrison Hot Springs really goes all out for Canada Day, and we had a fantastic time dancing in the streets with Grandpa to live music.

The kids just wanted to keep on Congo-ing, long after Grandpa dropped off the Congo line and I had to go chasing after them so I wouldn't lose them in the throng of people. Maeghan could have danced all night. We managed to tear her away just in time to get back to our beach, set up chairs and watch a fabulous fireworks display. It was a great end to the night.

Now we are home, back to reality, lot's of laundry, cleaning, and unfortunately...ants. They have swarmed our front walk, and I'm scared they are going to start coming in the house, so I've laid out tons of traps, hopefully that will do it. Hope you also had a great long-weekend, I can't wait for the next one...somebody's getting married!!!!

Happy Birthday To Me (la lala la la la)

2007-06-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

(lala la la la la la) Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Yipee!!! It has arrived. I went today to pick up my new Namaste Messenger Bag.

She's lovely, isn't she! (The color isn't quite accurate because I had to use the flash, but pretty close).) I had originally wanted the chocolate brown one, but there was none in the order at Urban Yarns, and I would have to wait until July/Aug for the next order, and there was no guarantee that they would be able to get it then either...so I got the next best color...cranberry (or cabernet as the store called it...I kinda like the name cabernet better so I think that is what I'm going to call it!). I love the fabric on the inside...it is so vibrant...it makes me happy just looking at it! The outside of the bag is a soft cordurey (looks almost suede in the photo, but it's not!) The bag is larger then I thought it was going to be, which is strange, because I saw my friend Julia's bag in person. And it needs to be worked in a little bit (it feels a little stiff and boxy), but once it get's broken in, it will be perfect.

I also got this:

My first sock yarn! Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the color Mixed Berry. Now I just have to learn how to knit socks. I also bought the teeniest, tinyest little bamboo double pointed needles to make them with, I hope I don't lose them!

There's my excitement for the day! I'm ready for you now Charmaine!!!

Rrrrrrriiip!

2007-06-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

That was the sound of my Rusted Root late last night.

Before

After:

I tried it on when I got to around 2 1/2 " past the armpitts, and I just wasn't happy. It seemed a little on the big side, and I've heard that cotton yarn has a lot of ease, so it would probably stretch out even more. Also, there were a couple spots on the back where my yarn joins were kinda sloppy, and you could really see them. That taught me, join new yarn under the arms where it is less visible.

I like the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece as a yarn and fabric, however, I'm not impressed by the number of knotted yarn joins in just one skein. There were three, and of course I didn't notice them till it was too late, and rather than frog back a bit to place the join under the arm, (which I was afraid to do because of the lace section - I have a hard time figuring out where and what the stitches were in that section) I cut the knots off and joined again right where I happened to be leaving a noticable weird spot. Anyways, I will start it again, probably in a couple weeks because I really must get the secret projects finished first. I also have yarn ready to go for Ms. Marigold

which will be my next project after Rusted Root. Boy, I have all this stuff lined up to do, and no time to do it in! I have to blame Facebook...I am embarressed to say that I have become addicted to it...and I'm sure that once I get my Ravelry invite, that will be another huge problem for me as well. Well, I'd better get out of blogland and go work on some stuff or I'll never have a FO to show!

2007-06-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week as usual. My mom was here for a visit, she came down to meet her new grandson, and for Melissa's bridal shower. We had a lot of fun at the shower. Melissa was a good sport, even though I know deep down she hated the bubble gum game!

She looked absolutely gorgeous, as usual!

Aidan celebrated his birthday last week, I feel bad because it was in the middle of a crazy week, and we didn't do nearly enough for him. I will have to take him out on a date to make up for it!

Other than that, not too much is happening around here. I have a day off to myself today, I'm going to try not to do to much, and just relax and work on some of my projects. I have to go over to the hospital later today to get a CT scan done of my back, hopefully that appointment won't take too long. Hopefully the next post will include some FO's!!!

Great Weekend!

2007-06-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

I celebrated my "28th" birthday a couple of weeks ago. I was spoiled rotten, as usual, and spent the evening with my family. I received a few really great gifts...magazine subscriptions, books, clothing......but the best gift of all was a Namaste Messenger bag (scroll down to see the Messenger Bag). I have both the chocolate and mauve bags on order so I can pick which one I like better in person. I haven't received it yet as it is on order, but I'm really excited about it and will post actual pictures as soon as I get it!

We had a really great weekend. Saturday we threw a "Welcome to the World Baby Gage" BBQ, and had a great time! He is one cute baby! The weather was gorgeous and is was really nice to hang out on the deck in the hot sun with a cold beverage in one hand and a tiny little baby in the other!

On Sunday we took the kids to the Coquitlam River celebration at a park near our house. The kids got to release salmon into the river which they really enjoyed, and they kept running back to refill their little baggies of fish. I swear they are responsible for the re-population of salmon in the Coquitlam River!

The release wasn't always that gentle as excitement took over and the fish went on a wild ride from baggie to water!

It was really hot out, so we stopped for some ice cream, which really hit the spot.

Maeghan got her face painted...which oddly enough, the woman used crayola washable markers to paint it. I thought that was kinda weird. Especially on a hot day when sweat causes it all to run. Here is a shot of it before the running began...

A Panda Bear! And while Maeghan was getting her face done, Owen and a friend of his were taking drum lessons.

They were right into it, and pretty good at keeping a beat too!

I have been working steadily on a few secret projects, but I do have some progress on my Rusted Root that I can show you.

I'm a couple inches below the armpits right now. I tried it on and so far it fits! I've been working on it much slower than I would like, but hopefully I'll have time to really work on it again soon.

My goal this summer is to get Charmaine to teach me how to knit socks. I can already picture it in my head, the two of us sitting at the beach knitting socks while the kids drown each other in the lake. It will be magical! Hehehe. The yarn store where my Namaste bag is on order is really nice, and Aidan told me that I could buy some yarn when I go pick up my bag as part of my birthday gift, so I'm going to get some sock yarn and needles, then I'll be all ready for when Charmaine gets here! I can't wait!

I'm Back!

2007-05-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Yipee! Up and running again! This is going to be a picture heavy post, so sit back, grab a cup of coffee and browse at your leisure!

Since I last updated, Maeghan has been in two dance competitions! Second place in the first one, and 1st place in the second competition! I was one proud mama! She tried really hard to do well, and was a little bit upset when some in her group made mistakes, she frowned at them really hard while still on stage, it was hilarious. I told her she just had to let it go and keep performing because the audience will notice her frowning at the other girls more than any mistakes that they made! Anyways, here she is with her second place medal...

One very happy little girl!

Nothing like eating yogurt in the rain.....

In the last couple of weeks, both of the kids have learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels. Maeghan finally worked up the courage to try it, and she was very nervous and had a few tumbles, but after some encouragement she would try it again until..........bam.........she was going.........(the cape makes you bike faster you know)......Super Girl to the rescue!

Not to be outdone by his older sister, Owen demanded that we take his training wheels off too, and even though I didn't think he would be able to do it, he was up and going the first try! That kid is amazing! After a few weeks of practice we decided to take them along the trails by the river. They are a little bumpier than the kids are used to biking on, and this was the end result...

...a bloody nose, a fat lip, and a scrape on the chin! Poor kid, he went down a pretty steep part, lost control and face planted right in the dirt. Blood was pouring out of his nose, and a first he was pretty shook up, but after a few minutes of recovery time, he climbed right back on and biked all the way home. What a trooper. Everytime we passed someone on the trail they would take a second look at poor Owen's face...it was pretty messy!

In other news, I have a few FO's (finished objects) to show you. First of all is this:

Pattern: Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting
Hat: My own with some help from the Yarn Harlot's "Knitting Rules"
Yarn: Organic Cotton from Blue Sky Alpaca
Needles: US 6 circulars from Boye (I did not like these needles...but my fancy new Knit Picks Options set (http://www.knitpicks.com/Options+Knitting+Needle+Set_ND90245.html) hadn't come in yet, so I had to slum it!)

I also completed a baby blanket a while ago........

(Sorry Robin, but this was the only picture of the blanket I had! I promise, she really wasn't angry!)

Pattern: Hooded Baby Blanket (without the hood) from Lion Brand Yarn http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/cpl-bafg.html?noImages=0
Yarn: Can't remember...something by Patons or Bernat I think........
Hook: Who really cares?

And both of these items were made for this little stinker

My sweet new nephew! Welcome to the world baby Gage!

I was present in the delivery room for most of the labor, but had to leave really close to the end (sniff sniff) because I had no one to get the kids from daycare. I'm so happy to have been invited to be there, it was a really moving experience (even though I didn't get to quite see the finish), and as a result I have a special place in my heart for Gage, it's hard not too, he's so damn cute!

So now the count down begins for the next member of my family to be born...hurry up Connie...I want to meet your baby! And while we wait for him (or her if the ultrasound is wrong), here are some more babies to see.

Baby ducks from the lake near our house...aren't they cute!

Sorry for the delay....

2007-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

There has been a delay in posting once again as Aidan is renovating the office, which holds the computer that has all my photo software on it. I do have a bunch of pictures to show you, and I don't really want to tell you about all of the stuff that has been going on without the pictures to go along with it!!! Hopefully he'll have most of it done by the end of the weekend.

The kids have started swimming lessons again, and Owen actually put his whole head under the water to retrieve something from the bottom of the pool. Unbelievable! He's starting to get more comfortable in the pool, and LOVES his class. He has a big grin on his face from the start to the end of his lesson. Maeghan is doing really well too, she is working really hard on her swimming, and is almost swimming on her own! Last session she kept trying to race the other kids by running in order to beat them instead of swimming, so we had to remind her that she was there to learn to swim, not to race, and that she should concentrate on that! She did very well last night, and really tried hard.

I have been working like a mad woman on various projects, most of which I cannot talk about! I did finally cast on for Rusted Root last night, but I had to rip it out, I must have been tired because I had already screwed up by row 2! Oh well, I'll try again today. I have the day home by myself (yipee!), but I do have an awful lot of stuff to get done. I'm meeting some friends for lunch, and I have to get the shopping done before the weekend. I also need to do some cleaning, so I'm not sure how much farther Rusted Root will get today, but I'll try to get a little bit done.

We are heading over to Conor and Holly's tomorrow afternoon for a visit, and then I have been invited to a............well, how can I put it nicely...................a special party for women only.....similar to Tupperware, but dirtier, if you catch my drift. I've never been to one of those parties before, and I'm a little nervous that I'll be red and embarrassed the whole time! And when I'm embarrassed my eyes tear up (which is extremely annoying), so I guess I better wear waterproof mascara and bring some tissue. Although, I will also be bringing a bottle of wine, so that should help a bit!

Take Care and have a great weekend! I'll hopefully have pictures for next week.

Maeghan's Birthday And Some Other Stuff

2007-04-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I can finally post some pictures from Maeghan's birthday. Here is the cake that I made:

(Sorry the pics are a little dark...I was too lazy to edit them!)

Not too exciting, but there was a couple of important features that Maeghan insisted were on the cake.....her name......a four leaf clover......and green icing (we had her party on St. Patrick's Day). Voila! That's what she got. I wasn't too imaginative this year because I was scrambling to decorate it the morning of her party since I worked all week and didn't have time otherwise.

She loved it and that is all that matters! We had a party with some of her friends from both the complex and school, and we made some masks as a craft...then, rather than playing games I let them run hog wild in the basement. It was CRAZY! I should have taken an after picture of the basement. It looked like a bomb went off. We finally cleaned it up last weekend...a full two weeks after her party. I couldn't face it before then!

A week later we had a family party on her real birthday. She had a lot of fun tearing open the packages from Oma and Granny. But when it came time for blowing out her candles....

Owen beat her to it!!!!

Not a happy girl....so Daddy re-lit the candles...

And she tried again....

We've had some nice weather lately, so finally the kids have been able to play outside. Owen just goes and goes...he loves riding his bike, I won't be surprised at all if the training wheels come off this year...hopefully for Maeghan too!

He will be the next NHL star in our family, I'm sure!

However, he will need to stop doing this:

(Disclaimer: The following photo may not be suitable for all viewers. Parental supervision is strongly recommended!)

Or they may not let him in! It's Lester the Molester!!! Doesn't he look creepy? He called me into the bathroom the other day because he was so proud of what he had done. Apparently in his world mascara belongs on your eyebrows. I told him we would have to try and wash it off, and he said "Why? I like it!" His poor little face was raw after the scrubbing it took to get it off!

So I think we've caught up a little bit. I'm working on a few more projects right now, but unfortunately I can't post them yet because I don't want anyone to see them.

My next project for me will be this:

as soon as the yarn comes in. Hopefully I'll have wrapped up a few other things in the meantime. Have a great day everyone!

Okay, I suck!

2007-04-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

I have been working so hard on all of my projects lately, that I have been really slacking on the posting, and now the computer where I store all of my photos is out of commission while Aidan does some upgrading, so this post will be unfortunately without pictures. I have a whole slew of photos to share, so when everything is back to normal I'll will have a huge post!

We had a wonderful, but short, visit with Ted and Charmaine and the girls on Thursday night as they pass through town on their way to Terrace. We'll catch them again on their way back which I'm pretty stoked about. I can't believe how old the girls are getting. Athena is practically a teenager now, and Hera is not far behind her! Little Isi is just the cutest thing ever. She has a really great personality! So funny.

Well, that's it for now, I don't have a lot to say without the pictures it seems. Hopefully soon.

See ya'll later!

Edited to add:

And a wonderf ul visit with my dear friend Connie who served us a delicious dinner and entertained us with the hockey game, and her growing belly. Kevin was there too.

Wicked Is Finally Done!!!

2007-03-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...my first finished sweater. I took my time on it and really tried to do a good job, which is kind of unlike me because I tend to just want to get things done, even if it doesn't turn out perfect. I'm not saying Wicked is perfect, and if I saw it in a store, I don't know if I would buy it, but I love it because I made it, and I'm pretty sure I'll wear it alot because of that fact!

Presenting for the first time..........Wicked!

My darling photographer "Miss M" took these pics for me because I wanted to post them so badly to show the world that I'M FINISHED!!! She did a really good job too, even though my face is a little bit blurry...which actually is a good thing...it helps to blend in my wrinkles! Boy, she really knows her stuff!

If you click on the pics and make them larger, you may be able to see the detail a bit better. Please excuse the messy kitchen, sometimes knitting is more important than cleanliness!!! Take a look at my fridge...I think it's time to clean it off!

I had wanted to do a longer post today and catch up from Maeghan's birthday, but the kids are itching to get out the door to go to Bronagh's to play. So I will do my best to post again this week. Until then....ciao!

WICKED!!!

2007-03-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, my first sweater. This is Wicked, and it has been a lot of fun to make so far.

Here is a close-up of the neckline, my first cables! Yipee!

And this is what it is supposed to resemble when it is finished.

We'll see how I do. It has been a lot of fun trying it on as I go to see how it fits. So far so good! We've had a pretty uneventful week. Really busy as usual with work and school, but now I get a few days off, so I can finally relax! Somewhat. Maeghan woke up with a fever and really sore neck yesterday morning, and this kinda worried me so I took her in to see the doctor. It's just a virus though, nothing serious, and she just needs fluids and rest to hopefully get over it soon. Since we were there anyways, I got the doctor to check out Owen's cough (he's had it for a month or so now), and he's a little tight and wheezy in the chest so he has to go back on the nebulizer again. He's pretty upset about the thought of being medicated, and doesn't remember the nebulizer at all from last year, so we'll have to pin him down to strap it on, I'm sure. However, he is much bigger and stronger now, it may be more difficult. I'll have to come up with some kind of incentive for him to do it. He is a lot like his mother in his love for chocolate, so maybe some mini eggs will do the trick! Although chocolate right before bed doesn't sound like such a great plan!

Take Care Everyone!

2007-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here it finally is. My best attempt at a hat so far.

What do you think? Do you love it? I think it turned out really well. Owen was kind enough to model it for me even though he wasn't feeling very well. I actually made it small for Owen's head, but apparently I knit pretty big because once again, there is "room to grow". At least it will fit him for a while. He picked out the yarn himself. I think he did a good job!

Now that my family is finally getting over the flu, and I have enough energy to post, here are some long awaited photos from Darren and Robin's wedding.

Aren't they a beautiful couple? I'm so happy. Oh! And check out these three hotties.....

What else can I say except....hubba hubba! And here is me and my terminator...

(Don't you think he looks kinda like the Terminator with those glasses on?) There aren't alot of pictures of Aidan and I together, so I thought I would share one that wasn't too bad! However, I may have forgotten to suck in my gut in this one!

And of course, my crazy father and loon of a sister...

Nice glasses guys! Here my beautiful mother is keeping dad in line...

Ohhhh, young love!

So that is a brief look at a fantastic day! Not a lot else has happened in the last little bit. We were all home for a week with that nasty virus, I'm so glad we are starting to recover now. It is really hard to look after little ones when you are feeling really crappy too! I have my very first sweater on my needles right now. I'll post more of that at a later date. Hopefully it turns out. Take care everyone!

Great Weekend!

2007-02-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had a really wonderful weekend, my brother Darren got married! I still can't believe it, my baby brother is now a husband, and soon to be father. He's all grown up! And I couldn't be happier with who he chose as a wife! Robin has already felt like a real member of our family for some time now, so we are really happy now it's official!

My brother Dave and his family stayed with us over the weekend for the wedding. Owen and his cousin Brooklyn got along really well. They were so cute together, and had a blast at the wedding. It was a really fun day, I was exhausted....and a little tipsy (along with Melissa! Heehee) by the end of the night. It was nice. Now everyone has gone home and it is quiet again, which is probably good because my family is all sick now. There are some really nasty bugs going around!

I have completed another hat for Owen this time, it turned out really good, I'll post a picture when I have time to take one. I am so tired......I need to go lay down.

2007-01-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? I've actually made something that fits!!! Here is Maeghan modeling her new hat....made my moi!

I'm so glad she likes it. She has now requested one in pink with a pom pom on the top, and Owen has chosen some blue yarn for his. I guess I'll be making hats for a while!!!

We've been pretty busy around here lately between work and swimming and school...I feel like I never talk to anyone anymore unless it is through email! So hello everyone! I miss you all!

Melissa and I went shopping for material for flowergirl dresses last weekend. We had a hard time finding the right fabric, so we went home to get the flowergirl dress that Maeghan wore in Connie's wedding, and Owen was so kind to try it on for us!

Isn't he a doll? He was a really good sport too, he kept posing for pictures and wanting to see them right away! He also pulled on a pair of Melissa's "hooker boots", but I think that picture is too much for the general public to view! Really funny though! I wonder if Melissa is considering letting him be a part of the wedding party now?

Le Chapeau

2007-01-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here it is. The thing is a monster. I can spin it around my head. I've been searching for someone with a large head to give it to...unfortunately no one has a head this large. I thought about frogging it, but I think it is destined for the tickle trunk. However, in case Connie's baby is born with an afro, I should probably hold on to this hat. It might make a good baby gift.

We had an interesting week. My second day back from vacation Maeghan's school called for me to come pick her up because she was sick. Being the concerned parent I am, I high-tailed it out of work (yipee!) and came home to see poor little Maeghan sitting on the couch with her dad reading a book (Aidan had to take an early lunch to pick her up because I wouldn't make it there before Kindergarten ended). Full of smiles, she looked up at me and said that she had had a stomach ache at school but was feeling much better now. Further investigation revealed that she was not sick, never was sick, and was just playing hookey from school. Now, I know they say like mother like daughter, but I won the skipper of the year award in Gr. 12!!! Not Kindergarten! We had a long talk about when it was appropriate to phone mommy home from work, and she has promised me she won't fake it anymore (unless of course I really want to get out of work and we "pre-plan" it! Hee hee!).

Not an hour after I got home we lost power again (6th time since the end of November) due to another wind storm, and we sat in the dark with a few candles lit trying to work on preschool work books without catching our hair on fire. Owen on the other hand was playing sock football - which I had to put an end to rather abruptly because he kept trying to get the sock in the candle. That kids' got good aim! I took the kids out for dinner where they behaved rather well, and then off to swimming lessons. Thank goodness the pool had power!

Huge snowstorm on Wednesday night, so much so that the daycare shut down and I had to stay home with Maeghan on Thursday. Owen and I walked her to school and then went to Tara's to play with Tomis and the twins, then back to pick Maeghan up from school and home again. After a good lunch we went tobaggoning in the "stone park" in our complex. It was really fun.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Yesterday we took the kids tobaggoning at the golf course which was a blast because the hill was huge! I can't believe how the older I get, the more fear I have. I was so scared to go down the hill...but Maeghan and I did it, and after we got over the initial fear we did all right. Owen and Aidan have no fear, so they were flying down so fast, over and over. I meant to bring my camera to take some pictures for you to see, but I left it at home, which was probably a good thing since we wiped out a couple of times and probably would have broken it.

Well, I'm off to get ready for work...working nights this week...should be fun.

What is it?

2007-01-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Anybody know what this is? What's your best guess? I really want to be a sock knitter, so I decided that I needed to practice knitting in the round....voila.....my first hat. Unfortunately I have a 22" head, and the pattern only had choices for 21" or 23". I didn't want to make it annoyingly small (who wants to be constantly tugging on their hat?), so the larger one seemed the obvious choice. This choice may not have been so bad if I had been able to get the correct guage. What I thought was 5 stitches/inch actually turned out to be 4 1/2 stitches/inch. Now to some of you this doesn't sound like a big deal, but believe me, it makes a huge difference on the resulting size of the hat. This hat is going to be a monster. I am sorely tempted to frog it and start over, but I figure I still need to switch to double pointed needles as I start to decrease, and I've never used them before either, so I'll probably screw it up anyway. I might as well resign myself to the fact this one is going in the dress-up box for the kids. It's good practice anyways!

I'm off to do a little shopping with Melissa today. I have a gift card that needs spending, and it will be really nice to hang out with my sis for once with no one else around. She said that she's going to moniter my gift card spending and make sure I only spend it on myself, not the kids. She knows me too well...but what can I say, it is easier (and more fun) to buy for the kids than it is for myself. Then I don't need to try anything on only to come to the realization that nothing fits a woman with "curves". I can continue to live in my little happy land and never be the wiser.

Wish me luck.

What a Great Christmas!

2006-12-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

We had a very hectic but wonderful Christmas this year. The kids were spoiled rotten, as usual. Thanks to everyone that gave them gifts. They loved unwrapping everything and had a really great time. Christmas Eve we went to Willingdon Church with Adin and Melissa. It was fun, they had a trombone quintet that the kids loved, and a group of teens called "Alive" that put on a performance for all of the kids. Maeghan and Owen went up to the front of the church and got to sit and watch the performance from there. Owen was so cute, he didn't want to come back and sit with us when it was over. All of the other kids went back to their seats, but mine never appeared, so Aidan had to go down to the front to look for them, and there was Owen, sitting right below the pulpit, not wanting to leave. He was the only one left. Eventually Aidan convinced him to come back, and he did, though not very happily!

After we returned home, the kids got to open their Christmas Eve presents - new pajamas! They put them on and we got the cookies and milk ready for Santa, and a carrot for Rudolph. Owen kept looking up the chimney to see if Santa had arrived yet!

Finally the kids went to bed, but they had a hard time falling asleep in all the excitement, and kept asking if Santa was here yet!

Christmas morning they woke up and raced downstairs, and Owen looked around and said "Ohhhh, Santa didn't come!" because he didn't see the Santa presents on the couch, once he realized they were there though all hell broke loose and they started tearing into their stockings and gifts. What fun! Later in the day, we had a very busy, but happy, Christmas Dinner with a bunch of friends and family. It turned out great, and we were all very stuffed! After opening more gifts, all the kids put on a dancing show for us - the boys did alot of break dancing (I tried to get Aidan to break out the cardboard - but he just gave me a dirty look. I don't know why he won't do it, I've heard he was very good as a kid!), and the girls twirled around like ballerinas, and kept getting angry at the boys for getting in their way! It was pretty funny!

Boxing Day we headed over to Conor and Holly's for the annual Boxing Day Bash. It was really fun, I'm so glad the kids are at an age now where they just run around like maniacs and have a great time, and I don't need to keep an eagle eye on them. They had a great time playing with their cousins, and I really want to try and do this more often because we don't get together enough! The food was great, the music loud, and the beer flowed freely, it was a really nice way to end the holidays! Thank you Conor and Holly!

So far we have no plans for New Years. I think Jeremy is trying to figure something out, but we'll see what happens...I'll probably be asleep on the couch by 10pm.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The Weather Outside is Frightful.....or not!!!

2006-12-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I spent the bulk of yesterday preparing for more power outages, as another big windstorm was predicted to hit overnight. I got caught up on all of the laundry (which was a huge amount because I've just finished my work week), I finished the Christmas shopping, cranked the heat all day so hopefully the house would retain some of it's warmth when the power went out, I turned up the fridge and the freezer so they would be colder (hopefully it would stay colder longer!), I vacuumed the whole house (no one wants dirty carpet and no power!), and I even arranged for morning coffee at my neighbors because she recently purchased a generator. I had put out the candles, and even had a little flashlight in my pocket so I would be ready. And the power did go out. For all of one minute. Just long enough for the kids to freak, and for me to forget about the flashlight in my pocket and almost fall down the stairs trying to get to them so they wouldn't be scared. Then, just when the panic had ceased, the lights came back on! That was it! So today, there is no laundry to do, no more Christmas shopping, no vacuuming, I have cold food and hot coffee, this is turning out to be a really great day!

I'm on vacation for the next couple of weeks, and I plan to relax, knit (yes I am a dork - which really I shouldn't call myself because I recently found out that a dork is actually a male whales certain "appendage"!), and help my body prepare for hibernation by eating everything in sight. Most of which will be very bad for me, I'm sure!

I'm A Little Present ...(to the tune of I'm a little teapot)

2006-12-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy night last night. I worked until 3:30pm, raced home to pick up the kids from their respective daycares and made it home by 5pm. Then we had just enough time for a quick dinner before I had to help Maeghan get all dressed up for her Christmas Concert. We made it to the school on time, dropped Maeghan off at her classroom, and then Owen and I found some seats in the gym to watch the performance. It was so good. Maeghan was all smiles as she sang the songs and recited the poetry. She did really well. Owen on the other hand was pretty miserable for the most part (partially due to a long day already, and I think he was pretty bored), and since Aidan wasn't able to make the performance because of a final exam, I found it pretty hard juggling the camera and trying to keep Owen entertained. But we made it, and I did manage to catch a few snippets on film so Aidan could watch it later at home.

Christmas shopping is coming along. I feel that I may just be able to be done everything - including some baking- before the big day. I have also manage to squeeze in another completed knitting project (but I can't say what because it just may be a gift to someone who may read this), and started a brand new one. I found the most gorgeous sweater pattern that I'm going to make for myself once the latest project is complete. Here's the link: http://www.kpixie.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3005 I want to make the long sleeve one, and the yarn comes in a gorgeous deep red color which I think I will pick. The only problem is that it is a little pricey, and I'm going to have to save up my allowance before I order the kit to make it.

Today I have cleaned, done laundry, and knitted a bit...I'm debating whether I have enough energy to leave my house and do some more shopping. I don't really want to, I'd rather just veg a little more, but I still have some more running around to do. Only five more working days until vacation...woohoo! I can't wait. I need a break that doesn't involve sick children and goopy eyes!