Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone who celebrates 4th of July has a great one! It is a day off of work and I plan on knitting all day! Yippee! Nothing new here. I have just been working my tail off. My mother came down the second week in June and that was very nice. I miss her lots! She is coming down again in August, right before Zachary goes to school. Zachary is having a great time at camp, which is great! He is getting so mature and is speaking more clearly and transitioning well. He seems to get better and better every month. I love my boy so much! I better stop before I get teary eyed. Much love to everyone! :-)

Well, well, well, where the hell have I been?

I know, why haven't I posted anything? I can only say that I wanted to post things, but life got in the way. I have been knitting some things and definitely trying to not buy things, but somehow, yarn has been arriving at my doorstep. I got some gorgeous Blue Moon Geisha in the moody blues colorway, just gorgeous! I was thinking of making the Arbor top or the Lotus blossom top, can't decide which one to make. Also, Zachary had a birthday, he turned 10 years old in March, pictures below. He also got a cool Spongebob cake and a good time was had by all. Some people had a better time than others! I also got the loopy ewe sock club kit for May and WOW! I also got the Woolgirl sock club kit for April and another WOW!

I also got a Namaste laguna bag in Hollywood Pink, LOVE IT! Look at all of the crap that fits in it! Can you believe it?

Happy February.

My mother was down from Altona, NY (so far north that they can get take out food delivered from Canada!). She and I had a great time, knitting, watching t.v., knitting, playing with Zachary, knitting, you get the idea. She also loves to buy me things, which is great and great for my stash. My husband isn't happy about it, but he will live. Pictures tomorow, must run and get back to work. Love to all. I will leave you with a picture of how happy Zachary was that she was there (not enough to tear him away from the computer, mind you, but happy nonetheless).

Mom is heading this way!!!

I am so excited that my mother is coming to see me and her grandson Zachary and, of course, my hubby! She will be flying in tonight around 6 pmish, not exactly sure when she will get here. I am taking half of Thursday and all of Friday off of work! Yeah! We will go to a couple of yarn stores in the area and hang out, knit and eat cheese, crackers and potato chips. A fun time will be had by all, except for my poor husband who will be probably be cooking like crazy. On the cardigan front, I have decided that there is definitely not enough yarn to finish it so I bought some more from eatsleepknit.com, which was the only store that is still carrying that color (Dusky Aurora). All of the other online stores are sold out. At least I won't have to worry about any dye lot issues, which will still be okay as I only have the collar and ribbing on the front to finish! Also, I am in desperate need of some work pants, so my wonderful husband has allowed me to buy some gorgeous pants from Victoria Secret's (yes, they carry clothing!) and the more exciting thing is that they were all 25% off from their already clearance price! I got three pairs of seasonless stretch pants (christie fit), angels secret embrace bra, PINK cami top with shelf bra and a PINK coin purse for $118.00. My hubby is the best, I love him so! I may not blog again until Monday, so have a great weekend everyone.

Well, it is a holiday and I am working...

Can you believe that I am working on a holiday? It sucks. At least I found out that my mother will be in town on Wednesday, the 23rd. I am so excited! We can relax, watch TV and knit away. I will probably take Friday off and maybe half of Thursday as well! That would be wonderful. On the knitting front, I am finishing up the second sleeve of the Mr. Greenjeans cardi and I should have enough yarn to finish the sleeve, but I am not sure about the ribbing around the border. I bought three skeins of Dream in Color worsted (Dusky Aurora - love the color and the yarn!). I knew that it would be close, but now I am thinking that I will definitely not have enough. Thank god there is no dye lot on that yarn, but I have to act quick as this particular color tends to sell out. Sucks, but true. What do you think? Do I have enough? It will be close as what is shown attached to the sleeve that I am currently working on is all that I have. I also modified the pattern to made the sleeves a bit longer and started the cabled rib a bit earlier as it looked better on me that way. I only bought three skeins as that was all that I could afford. I could make the ribbing around the collar and the left and right sides different, but I don't know if I will like that or not? I wanted this cardigan to be a staple in my wardrobe that I could wear with any color and if I make the ribbing a specific color than that will limited my choices of what I can wear it with. I found a website that is carrying it for only 16.50 and will only 5.00 shipping, but I don't what my husband would say. Any suggestions??

Doing the Happy LOOPY EWE SOCK CLUB DANCE!!!

I am so excited that I got into the loopy ewe sock club!!! I will finally have a chance to try Wollmiese yarn and get some semi solid colors! I can't wait to see what Sheri has cooked up for the club. She is just great! Thank you so much. Yippee!!! I am so happy for me, but sad for the people who did not get in, which is usually me. I am never a lucky person, but I guess we all have to be lucky at one time or another and this was my time to be lucky. I wonder if maybe the people who didn't get into the sock club can get advanced warning on the next Wollmiese sock yarn update? That would be nice or perhaps some other token, maybe a special sock kit put together just for them as a one purchase if they wanted it. Usually, it is me on the other end of not winning something or missing it by a bit. I am generally always the one who is sitting between two people who just picked the right number to win a new car or some great prize and all I get is a thanks for playing along, here's a tshirt. Have a great life. This time, I won. Its a great feeling. Now that song won't get out of my head, Sheri, baby, I love ya!

Waiting...loopyewe...Waiting...loopyewe...Waiting...

I know that I, like so many of us, are anxiously waiting for notice as to whether we are getting into the 2008 sock club. Last year, I missed it by a few hours, unfortunately, as I was unaware as to how wonderful socks clubs were or even how great it was to knit a sock! I also missed out on STR for 2007, initially, but was waitlisted only to get on later (yeah!). That was a good one, but just too much for my budget this time around. I am also in the Woolgirl one, which I love dearly and is a bit closer to my heart since her website started when I was already aware of sock yarns, etc. I feel like I missed out on the loopy ewe before the craze. Woolgirl on the other hand, I was right there from the beginning. They are both wonderful websites, so I am happy. However, I would really like to get one shot of getting the loopy ewe sock club, just for the Wollmiese, which I missed again. What can you do? I wonder if it is even worth it? I won't know until I try it. It's too bad Sheri can't send out a little bit of Wollemiese in a sample card, that would be nice. How about it Sheri? I will keep you updated as to whether I got in. I am sure that my husband will be happy if I don't get in, I know him so well!

Work...missed Wollmeise

Well, I have tons of work to do, but my boss is out of town and I am in no mood to do it. I still feel sick from the cold that I am just getting over and my sinuses aren't too happy either! Oh, well, what can you do? I missed the Wollmeise sneak up from last night, which is good, considering I don't have any money anyway, but I might have made it into the sock club. I won't know until later on in the week. At least I can live vicariously through the other people who got some. I am working on the Mr. Greenjeans cardi (pattern from knitty.com), hoping that I have enough yarn. I am working on the first sleeve, already finished the body, minus the ribbing. I am using Dream in Color classy in Dusky Aurora. I only bought three skeins hoping it would be enough, but it looks like it might not be. At least the yarn is not in dye lots! I do love working with the yarn, it is soft and easily manipulated. I guess I will get back to staring at the work I am supposed to be doing.

Gorgeous Yarn!

It has been so crazy the past week! My birthday was last week, which my loving husband would not let me forget! I am the older one in the relationship so when my birthday comes around, he always reminds me that he is the younger one (only by six months, but it makes him feel good, so I let him have his six months). Turning 30 was not a problem for me at all, however, turing 35 is kinda sticking in my craw. I don't know why, but it is. Last night my father told me that it was because I was half way to 70 (isn't he sweet!!!). I have also been fighting a cold, which has my sinuses going haywire. On the knit side of life, I having been working on and finished over the weekend some socks in the Unique Sheep sport weight, colorway woolgirl with a twist. I love the yarn and the colorway! Jennifer of Woolgirl is having a big sale that you must go to. Isn't the yarn just gorgeous! The pattern is Swirl socks (I used a magic loop toe start and a short row heel (that looks like I picked up stitches). I love that too! The pattern was a free online pattern from Cidermoon, but I think that the website is still down so I don't know what is going there. Well, I better get back to work. Happy Knitting.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is having a great New Year so far! I had a great New Year's Eve, with friends and family around me. This morning, however, did not start off very well. I woke up to hear the sitter coming in, which meant that my alarm never went off! Then, I found my cell phone in the dryer, which can only mean that it got washed! So, my cell phone has been sitting next to me at working drying out. Hopefully, it can be salvaged. At least Christmas was a great time, with Zachary and I were terribly excited about seeing Santa (as you can see in the pictures), which brings me to my New Year's resolution of getting my belly gone (more on that later)!!!! I started on some socks for me using the Unique Sheep sport weight yarn in the woolgirl with a twist colorway and it is looking great, no picture yet though. The pattern is called Swirl Socks and I am using judy's magic cast on for a toe up sock so I can make the leg as long as I want! I will also leave you with this picture of beautiful RSC seduction socks (I am such a fan of 50/50 merino/tencel) in the Rooky colorway (gorgeous). My other New Years resolutions are: exercise 4 times a week, drink more water and knit from my stash (we will see how long I can do that!) Love to all.

Life can be strange and fleeting...

Well, I was going to post about the progress on the mitts that I am making my mother that are almost finished. I was also going to post the pictures of the gorgeous yarn from blue moon that I received in the raven series. However, all of that seems ridiculous, pointless and who gives a shit about yarn right now? I am at a loss for words. One of the associates that worked in our office died suddenly on Sunday. He was running on a treadmill at the gym. He collapsed, his heart stopped and he is dead. He was 50 years old and in seemingly perfect health. I just do not know what to say about it. His wife is, of course, devastated. He is survived by three children, one in college and two in grade school. I can't imagine having to tell my children that their father is dead and they will never talk to him or get hugs from him again. I just do not know what to say. The funeral is Thursday at 11:00 am. The firm will shut down and we will all attend the furneral. My thoughts are with his family right now.

Hello All!

I had a great thanksgiving as I hope all of you did as well! A couple of weeks ago we went to Flamingo Gardens during our "cold front". You can see how cold it was here, seriously, it got down into the low 70's! I have also been working diligently on my mother's gift and it is coming out great! I am so happy that I chose the green beads with this, it really brings out the bits of green in the colorway of this yarn. I also ordered some of the RAVEN from blue moon. It has shipped so I should have it in a few days. I can't wait to get it and show all of you. The colorway is Rook-y in the seduction yarn, YUM! YUM! I just could not resist, but I have actually been really good as far as yarn goes and I think that I can make it till the end of the year without getting anymore! On Sunday, Zachary went to a classmate's birthday party. I was so worried that Zachary would not be happy there or not have a good time, but he was so well behaved! I was so very impressed. He is maturing so quickly. I just wish that his speech would improve more, but that is all part of the disorder. Well, I better go as it has been busy at work and I need to get back to it. Love to all. By the way, don't tell my husband but I am getting him something for Christmas whether we have the money or not. Guess what it is!

Hopping to the frog pond!

I have decided to frog the sock that I started with the Killer Bees colorway from the booty club with the glitter yarn mix. I just do not like the top of the sock and I wanted these socks to be longer than my usual and the top of the sock is so tight (as you can see) that I can't get it that far up my leg, so I am frogging it. It is not going to be easy so I am going to start working on my mother's christmas gift instead and will frog when I am in the right frame of mind. I am looking forward to her gift. The pattern is from heartstrings (beaded hand warmers)! She is an avid, wonderful, amazing, knitter, but would never knit something like this for herself so I am thrilled to make it knowing she is not making one and would never make one. She thinks that knitting with beads is too much trouble, but I on the other hand love to do it. I have to start now or else I will never finish it. The yarn is from Whitewillow on etsy in the colorway "Alice's Garden" which has pinks, light green and russet purple and the beads are a light rainbow green. It is going to look amazing! I will keep you updated. Oh, and work totally sucks! Why do I have to work??

Miss Babs Color Contest

Winner #2: BelindaYarn Name: Pookie – Dark chocolate brown/cream/olive

Description: "I call him Pookie. My son’s eyes have always reminded me of the teddy bear that the comic strip/cartoon character Garfield has so I have called my son Pookie from the day that he was born (not his real name!). When you look in my son’s eyes they are so dark brown (almost black) like a teddy bear, deep, deep brown, with no flecks of any other color, but they have a lightness to them that radiates from within like a creamy olive when the light catches them the right way. Quite spectacular, actually."

I can't believe that I was a winner in the color contest! I always enter these online contests be they guessing games or any other type of game and I never win! I am so excited! My son is such a sweet boy and his eyes really do look like Pookie's eyes. He is always happy, no matter what is going on, he always has a smile on his face. I love him to pieces! Above is a picture of him with his equally handsome father! That picture was taken at Flamingo Gardens this past weekend. The weather here has been just gorgeous, sunny (75%) and humidity free. On the knitting front: I am working on the grinchy, grouchy sock pattern, but I am using the last yarn pirate club colorway in Killer Bees with some fingering glitter yarn that I am carrying along until I get to the heel (or until I run out), then I will stop using it. I am not sure that I like how it looks. Will post pics tomorrow so you can see what I mean. I may rip it back, but would hate to do that as the glitter/mohair will not like that at all. Well, I must get back to work. Talk to you tomorrow.

Argh! Bye Bye Booty Club!

Oh well, sometimes you need a kick in the ass to realize that you are spending too much money. I love the Yarn Pirate Booty Club, however, it is slashing into my budget. My husband pointed out to me this morning that he is worried that I am spending too much money. He is absolutely right. I have been spending more than I should. I have so much sock yarn it is coming out of my ears, really I have a lot! The booty club is really not that expensive, however, it represents a charge coming out of our account every month on yarn that I don't really need. You yarn girls (and guys) out there know exactly what I am talking about. It would be fine if I just had the booty club and only spend the $30.00 a month, however, I don't stop there. So, in a show of good faith to my husband and to show myself that I have some type of control over my yarn addiction, I have let the booty club go. I had really been thinking about it for a while, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, but I finally did it! I do actually feel a lot better. As a further show of good faith to myself mostly, I did not renew my membership to the rockin sock club for 2008. See, I was really in too many sock clubs anyway I just was not ready to admit it. Now, on to more pleasant things. I finished my mother in law's socks and they look great, but took way too long so everyone else is getting heart shaped mitered sachels! I also finally got a chance to wear a sweater that I finished some time ago. Our weather has finally dipped down into the 70's, yeah! This is my favorite sweater (yarn is Gedifra chandra and the pattern is slow striping mama). I want to make another one, maybe next year. Check out the birds that I saw this morning on my way to work having fun in a puddle by an intersection. Have a great knitting day, everyone.

Happy Halloween!

Zachary was a vampire for Halloween at school. Tonight he will be Spongebob Squarepants. South Florida is in for some bad weather with Tropical Storm/Hurricane Noel just south of us. It is projected to head out to the Atlantic, hopefully that will take place. I am about 1/2 inch away from starting the toe decreases for two socks at once. It seems to have taken forever. My mother made a hooded sweater and a pair of men's socks during the time that I have been working on the two socks at once. I am just not that quick at knitting. Pictures of knitting tomorrow. I am in love with some sock yarn at Blue Moon (who isn't). It is called Count Cluckula. I am thinking of getting it...will have to wait though...bummer!

Wedding Bells, Hangovers and Fun Times

My brother-in-law, Anthony got married yesterday. It was a beautiful wedding at the Signature Grand in Davie, Florida (near the Nova Southeastern University campus). The bride was completely calm, until the moment arrived for her to walk out to the ceremony room, then she just couldn't stop crying. We (the bridesmaids) waited a few minutes, then she composed herself and we went to the ceremony hall. Everything was just gorgeous. Her dress was stunning and the bridesmaids dresses were beautiful on everyone. The color was a blush pink, which I thought would wash some of the girls out, including me. However, the color looked good on everyone. Anthony was very happy, a bit too happy. Apparently, he had some controlled substances before the ceremony and during the reception. He did seem a bit loopy to me, but I just assumed it was wedding day jitters. I should have known. He has never smiled that much in his life! He is a bit high strung and moody. He is the complete opposite of his brother. My hubby Rob is very easy going and calm, generally. I hope everyone is having a great Monday. I should have taken today off, but I just took time off last week since my mother was down here to visit so today was not going to happen. Oh well. I have had some Tylenol, so I am feeling much better.

Where has the past two weeks gone??

I am so sorry for not blogging sooner, but I have been just crazy busy! First, my mother comes into town. The pictures above show where she slept in the guest room with all of the yarn, which is her favorite place in the house, of course! Second, our brand new (finished in July, 2007!) $10,000.00 roof started leaking. Third, I have to get fitted for my braidsmaid dress for a wedding that is happening this Sunday (I can't believe that my brother in law will be married!). I had a great time with my mother. We went yarn shopping at local LYS, make up shopping at Sephora and book shopping (knitting books, of course!) at Borders. I also had some progress on the two socks at once and had some beautiful sock yarn come in. Have I mentioned how much I love the yarn pirate? Her latest installment (Killer Bees) is just gorgeous and it came with two needles! She is the best! I normally would never pick these colors, but dyed together they are just stunning! I also got some amazing yarn to go with it from Cherry Tree Hill at the local LYS, it is a small skein of fingering weight alpaca and glitter in the same colorway (minus the black). I am going to make socks with glitter cuffs! I don't have a picture yet of the CTH yarn, but will show it later this week. I also received some sport weight yarn from Zen Strings, which is another amazing dyer in the Pumpkin King colorway. Just gorgeous! I have so many gifts to make and it has taken me three weeks to get halfway with my mother in law's socks, so my mother suggested that I make smaller stuff, which is a great idea. So, I decided to make heart shaped satchels and put lavender and vanilla in them for lingerie drawers or just for hanging. The pattern (from daily knitting) uses fingering weight yarn so I have plenty of that. Well, that about wraps it up. I am going to take my camera with me to the wedding so there will be lots of pictures going up. By the way, Rob's cousin loved the cardigan! I also got my future sister-in-law knitting. Her first project, a baby sock (her sister is pregnant)! I know, pretty bold, but I think that she is doing great. I have her using sport weight, which is easier than fingering weight. She is actually doing pretty well, actually great really considering knitting in the round on double pointed needles, heel flap, picking up stitches, turning of the heel and the decreases for the toe. After that, I will show her how to kitchner stitch and she can start the next one.