We had a really nice dinner with wonderful friends, and for a change, I had a good night’s sleep (6 straight hours – that’s HUGE for me!). I woke up this morning in a great mood (last night’s final score didn’t hurt… how fitting NY was playing NC, huh?) I actually kind of bounced out of bed bright and early, with some sort of “lemme at ‘em” mentality.

I rinsed some peas and set them to soak for a few hours in preparation for dinner tonight (that’s not the exact recipe I follow, but it’s kinda close. Mine is very much like my mom’s was, follow some basic steps and then improvise from there so each time is slightly different. My mom made the BEST soups ever. I like being able to try and come close to hers).

Then I got my 2008 Franklin Covey planner all ready to face a new month/year. Yes, I admit it. This techy electronics junkie cannot live without a physical, in my hands, paper and pencil planner. I scoffed at it for years, but once I finally tried it, I was hooked. I’ve been disappointed in the insert selections since they discontinued the Shoebox version (my all time favorite) a few years back, since I’m so not the “Blossoms” kinda girl, but I’m giving Non Sequitur a go this year to see how it fits.

It’s been almost 10 years now that I’ve been using the system (admittedly at some times more religiously than others), and my success with it has finally lured my honey in as well. He kind of toyed around for a year with his, but this year he actually asked for a refill and has his all set up and ready to go when he returns to work tomorrow.

I also I cleaned my desk off, and vacuumed the office. I had intended to show off pictures of it’s new look, but it’s not quite ready yet. The painting is done, yes, but the accessories haven’t been put into place yet, and the desks aren’t in their final location yet – in fact, I’m not even sure where that will be… but that’s another story. I hope to be able to post the reveal next weekend though, and since it has been a week since I posted the last sneak peek, here’s another… but I warn you, don’t jump to conclusions. And that’s all I’m saying.

I’ve also been knitting (and as soon as I finish this, I have to get back to it). I had started a baby blanket not once, not twice, but 3 times before I found the right combination of yarn pattern and needles. After finagling around with this pattern a bit (if, by a bit, I mean changing the yarn, the needle sized and the row counts completely) and now, I am almost 1/3 of the way through. Good thing too, I have until 4pm January 10th to have this thing knit, washed, dryed and wrapped. By my calculations (166 rows total, 67 rows completed, 99 rows to knit. 99 rows of 151 stitches = 14,949 stitches. In Or, 1869 stitches per day – which comes out to 12.375 rows per day, every day, between now and January 8, which should will give me ample washing/drying/wrapping time) I need to get back to knitting!!

I started it Saturday evening, when my migraine finally eased up enough to look at knitting. Here is where I am, as of maybe 30 minutes ago

Just about 1/3 of the way done… you can barely make out the 6 stitch seed border on bottom and both sides

Same picture as above really, color is more accurate on this on though

close shot of the front of the eyelet section

close shot of the back of the eyelet section

So, there you have it. A post with knitting, cooking, cleaning, and a teaser of decorating. And pictures even! I’m off to start the soup and start making a dent in today’s 1869 stitches.

Happy New Year

We had a very quiet and low key Christmas here – our family is all up north and friends are either up north as well, or traveled off to see their families someplace other than here. It was a nice few days off though, and we did make a nice dent in the boxes that remain to be unpacked. There’s still more in the garage, but the ones that were hanging out in the bedroom, the bedroom closet and the office have all been unpacked. I think I may have the Yarn Lair layout (aka the guest room) figured out too – I just need some cash to make it happen. Then we decided (rather spur of the moment) to paint the office. I’m undecided on my opinion yet since it is still not done (needs additional coats) but it is VERY bold. Eh, what the hell, it’s only paint

You can have a sneak peek of some of the prep (that won’t give away very much at all)

I had planned to show the progress on the last minute baby shower gift I am under pressure to complete by January 10th, however I have ripped both false starts and have no clue what the next incantation will be.

1st time it was the yarn (bought Saturday from a 50% off going out of business sale, along with 2 feet and a head – more on that in a bit). It’s splitty and I just wasn’t getting gauge, no matter what I did – up a needle size, then 2, i was either so far from gauge it was laughable or the fabric was so loose it was just ugly. Rrrrrrrrrrip!

2nd attempt was from a hemp cotton blend that has been in my stash for oh, 100 years or so (amazing what you find when you start to make a pass at unpacking boxes and maybe even organizing some). That didn’t work out so well either. It wasn’t hard to knit with as I have heard folks complain about, I just think I paired the wrong pattern with this fiber. So after this post, I am off in search of a good match since I think this will make a nice neutral colored snuggly blanket out of 1000 yards (it really does soften up nicely as you wash it!).

In addition to rash painting choices (it’s just paint. I keep telling myself we can always paint over it. Right?!?) we also went to the movies (liked it, but liked the 1st one better) and made a ton of cookies, and marshmallows. Yes, marshmallows. I caught a Good Eats rerun the other night where Alton was making them and I was intrigued. Fun!! Easy!! (and they make AWESOME s’mores!)

There was also a batch of the usual ginger cookies and snickerdoodles, and in addition to the marshmallows, caught up in some type of domesticated whirlwind, I was also inclined to attempt turtles, one of my honeys favorite candies. I was not following a recipe per se – just making caramel as I was taught as a kid (VERY similar to this one here, linked simply because I didn’t feel like typing it all out. Mine has slightly less heavy cream and a smidge more vanilla) and then adding in pecans until it looked like a good ratio, and then once those globs were cooled, dipping them into melted chocolate to cover.

There are no pictures of the dipping or the finished product because the batteries died. Sorry! I don’t like turtles – not a caramel fan really – but I’ve been told they are delicious.

And lest you think this will be an all food pic post, I have a few knitty type items to share. Consider it a reward for reading this far I guess. I mentioned the 50% off sale earlier – sadly, a LYS nearby is closing it’s doors as of January 1. Although I wasn’t by any means a regular in the shop it’s still sad when a LYS goes out of business. The owner was having a 50% off everything sale of Saturday, and Stacey, Fran (blogless AFAIK) and I ventured over. I got the aforementioned Universal Yarn and a few items I have been wanting for a while!

I hope to put them both to good use soon – right after I figure out what to make for this baby shower that’s in 16 days

And maybe repainting the office?

Designing patterns, rooms, whatever – it’s not easy! I give plenty of credit to the folks who do this for a living, you certainly earn your money!

I know, because I’ve been dabbling in both recently. I don’t know that you can call messing around with stitches to see what happens designing per se’, but I have this picture in my head of what I want the stitches to look like, and until I get it right, I’m afraid it will haunt my needles. Last Thursday I banged out one square for the Charlotte Knitting Guild blanket drive. I wanted to say I had done more, but the ride home was not conducive to knitting, so it was only 1 square. Then during the weekend, I started and finished another between shopping, and cooking for company and the usual weekend craziness. Last night, this idea came to me, and I have been messing around with the sticks n string trying to get it right – and maybe my mistake is I am using the Red Heart soft yarn for the blanket squares as my testing yearn, I don’t know, but it isn’t turning out quite right.

That’s one finished square, and one in progress. The other finished one is either downstairs or in my truck, and I didn’t feel like searching for it for the picture. I know, you can’t see much of anything in the pic. The bottom purple one is a take on granny’s favorite dishcloth, with a pattern inserted into the center. Sadly, taking up space with the missing square is the pattern notes, so I can’t tell you where I found it. It knits up quick and easy though! (When I locate the missing square and pattern I will update the post).

I wanted to get the pattern idea out of my head and onto the needles quickly since I wanted to bring squares to Cristi on Wednesday, but we’ll see how it goes. I know Charlotte Yarn is a drop off spot for the squares too so worst case I can drop ‘em off there. I’m hoping tomorrow night after work will turn out to be a sprawl out n knit kind of night.

The other designing has been frustrating as well. Not because we don’t know what we want, but because we decided (and have been sticking to) no charging – we are only buying furniture or items when we have cash to do so. Well, that and the fact that we can’t seem to find “just” what we want when we go looking… I will say it is coming together – slowly, but it is happening. I uploaded a few pics over on the flickr account if you’re interested.

Otherwise, things are pretty much the same around here. I am trying to get into the “spirit of the season” but how exactly do you do that in 80 degree weather? Seriously, on my drive home tonight, it was 80! We watched people in our neighborhood hanging lights yesterday in shorts and t shirts! Eventually, I guess I will get used to it. Our tree is up, sans decorations, but that will change this coming weekend. The lights were, ermmm, presenting a challenge to us on Saturday so we opted for walking away and letting cooler minds prevail. We had company yesterday and spent a good chunk of the morning cooking and afternoon/evening hanging with friends, so we didn’t get back to it – although there was deep discussion regarding causes and solutions, I think I’m better off not knowing

I have a few phone calls to make and then it’s knitting and some TV till I fall asleep. I’ve been trying to stock pile my shows on DVR so I will have stuff to watch once the new shows are out (I so wish they would resolve the strike!) but there are some shows you really can’t wait on – the talk is everywhere! Ah well, least I still have Net Flix !

We are home owners! After signing our names over and over for about 35 minutes, we were handed the keys to our new home, congratulated, and sent on our way.

I have a ton of stuff to post about, including an AWESOME Fiber God Mother package from the VERY generous IT Girl, and a RAOK from the super sweet (and observant) Lu, but it will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday. (If I were a gambler, I would bet on Sunday evening)

We have preliminary moving (and some celebrating!) to do!

Back soon!

I woke up this morning and the 1st thought I had was “I didn’t wake up 100 times last night because I couldn’t breathe!” What a wonderful feeling! And (even though I only slept my customary 5ish hours) I felt pretty good. Now if only he can catch up and feel better, things will be back to normal around here -whatever THAT means

We went by the house yesterday while we were out, and while they didn’t do a ton of stuff, there are definite changes. The latest pictures are here, last 6 shots were from yesterday.

When we were in the supermarket yesterday, I saw a SURE SIGN Of fall.

Pink Lady apples are BY FAR my favorite apples. They are tart AND sweet, and very juicy. When we lived in NY it was a bit hard to find them, but just like this time last year (when we came down to scope out places to rent) they seem to be available in every supermarket and produce place here. No good Chinese food, but Pink Lady apples abound! (Just a side note, as much as everyone complains about Pizza in the south, I have to admit there are 2 places we have found that have good, close but not quite home, pizza. It’s the Chinese food we can’t stand. Seriously. That. Bad.) If you like a good crisp apple, and can find them in your market, they are definitely worth a try. They are excellent for cooking, baking, and plain old eating out of hand. Maybe if these had been out 2 weeks ago, I wouldn’t have needed the Dr’s visit!

We did watch the CSI Miami DVD last night but all I knit on was a simple Project Linus Blanket (really just an oversized Grandma’s Favorite Dishcloth) since I knew the Woodland Stole pattern was not mindless. Needless to say, I have not taken any pictures of the humble beginnings yet. I did get the index cards yesterday and now I just need to sit down and put one line of the pattern on each card, then I can test it out. I still need to cast on for fingerless gloves for the Charlotte Purls Fall KAL, and there are a gazillion socks I want to start too. See what one projects worth of monogamy did to me? I can’t show any loyalty now at all! It’s a beautiful crisp day outside, and there will be football to watch later, so hopefully between now and then I can settle on SOMETHING to knit, and will have something to show for it. Plus, I’m off again tomorrow – every Monday in September – so after an appointment in the early part of the morning, the day is mine to knit as I please

And finally, for Kristi (aka Fiber Fool)… Go ahead and grab a copy of the questions and post them to your blog too, or comment on hers so she can count your thoughts as well!

1. What is your current favorite color? I don’t have one per se’ – I like deep jewel tones, and I also like colors I can only describe as “Autumnal”. And recently, I have been on a green kick.

2. Had your favorite color changed over the years? Not in a really long time, no

3. Is your current favorite color one that is currently trendy? (Do you see it in the fashion rags or on the clothes rack or in the linen aisle right now? How about 5 years ago?) I don’t think it is trendy, although I am seeing more of the greens I like

4. What is your favorite color combination? I don’t have one. Something that works in clothing may not work in a bedroom, or something I LOVE in someone elses kitchen may not work in my own, depending on the accents. When knitting for someone, I try to incorporate THEIR likes and dislikes, coloring, eye color etc rather than making color choices based on what I like.

5. Is that combination a popular one? (Is it use in prints you see in the stores and catalogs and magazines now? How about 5 years ago?) I have been seeing a bit more of the darkish sagey green with a red accent here and there, and I do like that combo

6. What is your favorite way of using color in your knitting? (Are you a stranded knitter? Do you prefer simple stripes? Do you prefer just accents at the hems/collars?) I will eventually learn stranded knitting. For now, I use variegated yarns as well as self striping and planned color changes to add color and interest to my knitting.

7. What colors look good on you? I have lightish blue/grey eyes that pick up what Im wearing so I tend to wear colors that compliment that. I FEEL good in deeper, richer colors. I have been told Red is good on me, but I don’t particularly like it on me

8. What colors look bad on you? Pale pastel-ly colors

9. Do you wear colors that don’t look good on you just because you like them? No

10. What is your favorite neutral color? black/white/ivory/tan/brown/gray – if brown or gray do you prefer cool or warm versions of those or does it matter? And, how dark? I like medium warm browns as a neutral color

11. Is there a sweater pattern that uses more than one color that you’d like to make, but you wish to change the colors from what is published? If yes, which one? What do you not like about the published colors? Not really an issue, if I don’t like published colors in any pattern, I change them to suit my likes.

Just as I was feeling all smug about escaping the annual Summer Cold, I woke up last Sunday moring, and my throat was scratchy. I took some extra vitamin C and let it be. I was off on Monday anyway (use it or lose it PTO time in my office for anything over 80 hours, so I got to schedule a bunch of Mondays off in September.) so I wasn’t too worried. When I woke up Monday morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck that backed up and ran me over a few extra times, I was less than thrilled. It was probably my own fault for tempting fate a bit too much by going to work every day where EVERYONE I work with has been hit hard by this crud. I ended up with a sinus AND ear infection, on top of all the loveliness that is a Summer Cold. Between sniffling, sneezing, coughing and not being able to hear, smell, taste or talk, I have been a joy to be around. And in seriously remarkable news, I have passed it along to my honey, who NEVER gets sick. He is a few days behind me, but at least I can tell him there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am still a little stuffy, throat is still a little scratchy, and I don’t feel 100%, but I feel WAY better than I have been.

Needless to say there has been very little knitting going on around here. I missed Knit Night this week (but will be there next week) and by the time I got home each night, all I wanted to do was drink the Nector of Relief (AKA Nyquil) and sleep. I did somehow manage to crank out the hat to match the Baby Cardi though. After the Miss Dashwood experience didn’t quite work out, I decided to just wing it – I cast on a guestimated number of stitches, knit a few rounds, threw in some YOs for eyelet holes, knit some more rounds and then decreased in a way that made sense in my cold afflicted brain. Then I just made a small Monk Cord , threaded it around the holes, and VIOLA’. Matching hat. (I take no credit for any of that, I’m sure many before me have done the exact same thing.)

The color is funky in both pics, but it will have to do. I gifted this on Thursday (I was supposed ot be at the party today but sadly, feeling as icky as I have, being around babies is probably not the way to go.) I am hoping when the weather cools some, her Mom will share some model shots

I did also get one full repeat of the Woodland Stole done. (no pics yet, sorry) One whole repeat. It’s NOT a hard pattern, but my congested brain was resisting coherent though and refused to pay attention. Knitting the Euroflax Linen probably didn’t make it any easier, but I do like the colors and I am sure once I pick it up again, I will do better with it. I also read somewhere (sorry can’t remember where – see congested brain) about someone’s great idea for using index cards to keep your place in pattern rows – meaning, write out one row of the pattern on each index card, and when you are done with that row, flip the next card. No losing your place or wondering where you left off! When we head out later (2 quick errands and back home to veg) I will pick up some index cards and see if I can make a go of it.

I also got my Fiber Godmother match up, and have sent out my initial Hiya! message. Now that I know who she is and what she likes I can start planning her package. I want to get it done sooner rather than later since we are (100% OFFICIALLY) closing October 12th and things around here are about to get hectic (-er!). This really is my last swap for awhile, I only joined this one since I had a great time in the 1st round about 18 months ago, and since it is a one off swap – a card or letter 1st, due in the mail by Sept 20th, and then the package is due by October 13th. Melissa and Michelle did a really nice job last time, and I know this time will be no different!

And finally, the driveway issue I mentioned recently? It’s a non-issue now. They ripped the driveway up, and repoured it, and it is MUCH better now. I know I have had a few bumps in the road but each one has been addressed and rectified fairly quickly. MUCH better than some of the things I have read and heard about other builders really… We sent off all of our final paper work to the attorney yesterday, and have got 2 painting quotes. They both came in WELL under what I was expecting and I am really happy that we will close the 12th, and one of the 2 painters we spoke with will be in on the 13th and 14th painting so we won’t have to. We have to set up the movers for the 15th (Monday) and then will have the whole week to start to get things settled in. My friend Shannon will be visiting from NY for a chunk of that time (can’t wait to see her!!) and while I don’t know the dates yet, my Dad is coming down to visit too (can’t wait to see him too!)

I can’t believe we have been here almost a year. (In fact, the weekend Mary and I are at SAFF will be a year) Time certainly flies! Aside from missing people (and some foods!) I think we have adjusted really well, and we both really like it here. With getting involved in some knitting groups I am meeting some really nice people (plus many more than there was words to link!) and learning more and more about the place I now live.

House pics and Woodland pics probably tomorrow (maybe later if there is a good Saturday Sky pic to post! – ETA – Posting the Saturday Sky pic now, but that’s all. I need to get a good shot of the 1 whole pattern repeat I finished before I can post it. And since we are sitting down to a CSI:Miami DVD after dinner, maybe I might actually get some more done!).

I’m off to get my outside stuff done so I can come home and watch my latest deliveries from Netflix and knit the weekend away ETA – outside stuff done, minus the index cards. I only found HUGE ones, which will not work. Maybe tomorrow. Dinner is almost ready, and the DVDs are set for after dinner viewing/knitting time.

In the interest of meeting deadlines, there are several things I cannot do right now that I really want to do. This is a true test of my project monogamy staying power and I would be lying if I said it was easy. I’ve been having this little rationalization debate in my head the past few hours going something like:

Me: OK, so I have to keep working on the baby cardigan because it has to be finished soon. But if I just cast on for the [insert siren song projects here] and do a row or two, it can’t hurt anything.

Me2: NO! You need to be spending all your knitting time and energy on the baby cardigan so it is done. Once you finish that, you can knit anything and everything you want

Me: But as soon as I finish the sweater, I won’t want to knit anything else. If I don’t start these other eleventy hundred projects RIGHT now, I may never get the urge again.

Me2: You know that won’t happen

Me: Are you reallllly willing to gamble on that?

That prompted a rummaging thru the stash and a review of some of my queue’d items on Ravelry (which really is not even a small portion of the things I am knitting in my head. I just haven’t had the time to spare to add queue items.) Lucky for me, I got distracted by a trip to Home Depot to look at color swatches with my honey. We grabbed a gazillions paint cards and will be taking them to the model home to match one of the colors (I am not negotiating on the kitchen color in the model. It’s EXACTLY the color scheme I want for the kitchen, I even picked the cabinets and tiles and counter around it. The rest of the house I am very flexible on, and am open to trying just about anything.) The latest pics are here (107-119) if you’re interested.

I actually did get some knitting in on the restarted baby cardigan as planned, and as of yet, I have not succumb to temptation. Check with me tomorrow, and we’ll see how that’s going . I am almost done with the increases for the arms though, and before bed tonight, I should be working on the body section.

Off for some dinner and either some podcast or TV knitting. I can’t believe the weekend is gone