Happy Halloween!

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!

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

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.....

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!

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

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

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.