Dances With Yarn

Hello World!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I've blogged.  How crazy is that???  And how is everybody??? What is everybody knitting???  I've been quite disconnected from the knitting world for the past year but am slowly getting re-integrated :-)

For me, it's been a crazy year.  15 months ago HWWL and I separated after 12 years of marriage.  We're currently working on the details of the divorce and hope to have that wrapped up soon.  I'm trying to stay in my house for another two years until Little Brother Football Star graduates from high school but that will be a big financial challenge for me.  After LBFS graduates I have no idea where I'll end up but am looking forward to a fresh start.

My kids are great.  Football Star Son is currently living back at home for a while after being out on his own for a year.  He's taking a break from school and is focusing on getting his finances in order.  Cheerleader Daughter just started her second year at Stephen F. Austin State University and LOVES it.  She's still in the ZTA sorority which keeps her quite busy but she manages to come home every other weekend or so.  Little Brother Football Star is now a Junior in high school, playing JV football, working at Domino's, and making straight A's.  All three kids have been amazing over the past 15 months (although there's still been our share of teenage-drama and "excitement") and ALL keep a pretty close eye on Mom.

Speaking of which, I have a new boyfriend :-) 

We met on Match.com and have been dating for the past 14 months. 

Life is good :-)

Despite being busy being "single", I have managed to get some knitting and crocheting done.  Well, more crocheting than knitting lately, as I seem to be on a real "afghan" kick these days, but that was before I saw this...

This is the Jackie Jacket (Ravelry link) by Sylvia Hager and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I ordered the pattern and some Debbie Bliss Como in Dark Sienna but when the yarn arrived the color was more burgundy than I wanted so I ended up using some Wool-Ease Thick & Quick I had in my stash instead.  Here is my finished version. 

 

 

I modified it slightly in the back by removing the back pleat and using waist shaping instead and like the results much better.

Now that the holidays are over I'll be beginning another round of the HCG diet, the best diet in all the world.  This will be my fourth round of this diet and I have to say after all the eating I did over the holidays I'm GLAD to be back on it.  I'll try to post my progress here if possible.

Happy New Year Everybody!

The "Diet" Revealed AND I actually Knit Something!

Drum roll please! 

Actually, I didn't intend to keep the diet a secret in order to cause some big mystery or surprise at the end but more so that I didn't have to contend with any well-intentioned nay-sayers (not that any of my readers could ever be nay-sayers!) who might cause me to lose faith in the program.  I'm glad to say however that "the program" is a winner!

I'm only halfway done with the diet and will pick up the second half after the holidays.  And no, I do NOT think I will gain the weight back in the interim.

The diet/program is called The Simeon's Protocol, also known as the HCG Diet.  Some of you may be familiar with the protocol, but for those of you who aren't and are interested in learning more about it, just Google it and you will find a TON of information about it.  Better yet, go to YouTube.com, enter HCG Diet into the search bar, and you will have access to hundreds of vlogs (video logs) from people currently doing the protocol.

I could describe the diet here, but with so much information already available online it would really be a waste of time.  I will tell you that the diet consists of eating no more than 500 calories a day, but with the HCG I experienced no hunger.  NONE.  Temptation, yes, but hunger, no.  To me, this quite amazing since I remember doing Weight Watchers years ago and feeling extremely hungry eating as much as 1200 calories a day.  The key (I found) was in the "loading" which is explained in the protocol manuscript.  On the diet, you eat only (certain) proteins, (certain) fruits, and (certain) vegetables (up to 500 calories a day) and are allowed no dairy, sugars, starches, or fats.  And naturally, the more organic you can keep your food, the better. 

Since I feel like I kind of sound like a commercial for the program, before I go on any further, I want to say that I'm not in any way affiliated with the program nor any of the products that I might mention while writing about it.  I'm just thrilled that the program actually worked and wanted to include it in my blog since it's been such a positive experience for me, and God knows I needed a positive experience :-)  I should probably also mention that I'm not advocating that just anybody should jump head first into this program without thoroughly researching it.  There's a TON of information out there available to the public and I highly recommend spending plenty of time educating yourselves before making any decisions regarding beginning the program yourself or even recommending it to others.  Having said that, I will include some helpful links at the bottom of this post for those who are interested in reading more about the protocol. 

Okay, on to the good stuff.  In 34 days I lost 12.7 pounds putting me more than halfway to my goal of losing the 22 pounds I gained since beginning Lexapro in January.  Most people lose about a pound a day on this protocol, but since I didn't have much to lose to begin with I set my goal at about 1/2 pound a day.  After doing the math, you can see that I didn't lose quite a 1/2 pound a day but I'm okay with that.  I did hit a pretty significant stall at about the 119/118 pound mark (as you can see below) for no apparent reason, but once I broke the stall I began losing pretty quickly again.

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10/9/2008	116.3 lbs / 52.8 kg
10/8/2008	116.7 lbs / 52.9 kg
10/7/2008	116.8 lbs / 53 kg
10/6/2008	117.5 lbs / 53.3 kg
10/5/2008	117.6 lbs / 53.3 kg
10/4/2008	118.2 lbs / 53.6 kg
10/3/2008	118.8 lbs / 53.9 kg
10/2/2008	118.5 lbs / 53.8 kg
10/1/2008	118.8 lbs / 53.9 kg
9/30/2008	119.2 lbs / 54.1 kg
9/29/2008	119.9 lbs / 54.4 kg
9/28/2008	119.4 lbs / 54.2 kg
9/27/2008	119.4 lbs / 54.2 kg
9/26/2008	119.8 lbs / 54.3 kg
9/25/2008	119.8 lbs / 54.3 kg
9/24/2008	122.1 lbs / 55.4 kg
9/22/2008	120.4 lbs / 54.6 kg
9/21/2008	122.4 lbs / 55.5 kg
9/21/2008	121.4 lbs / 55.1 kg
9/20/2008	121.5 lbs / 55.1 kg
9/19/2008	121.9 lbs / 55.3 kg
9/18/2008	122.8 lbs / 55.7 kg
9/17/2008	123.8 lbs / 56.2 kg
9/16/2008	124.7 lbs / 56.6 kg
9/15/2008	124.2 lbs / 56.3 kg
9/14/2008	124.1 lbs / 56.3 kg
9/12/2008	126.1 lbs / 57.2 kg
9/11/2008	125.1 lbs / 56.7 kg
9/10/2008	127.1 lbs / 57.7 kg
9/9/2008	127.7 lbs / 57.9 kg
9/8/2008	129 lbs / 58.5 kg

Keep in mind that I stayed on protocol all throughout the hurricane Ike evacuation (yay me!) which did take some determination but just goes to show what a little determination can do!

The reason I'm taking a break is because the protocol is designed to be followed as a 23 day program or a 43 day program.  I originally planned on following the 23 day program however decided to go a bit longer which is completely permissible.  After following the protocol for the 23 days (or 43 days), you have to stop for a period of 6 weeks (or longer) before you can start again.  The reason for this is because you can build up an immunity to HCG after a while which can be cause the protocol to stop working properly.  The cool thing is that this protocol somehow re-sets the hypothalamus which in turn somehow keeps you from re-gaining the weight back after you stop the 500 calorie/day diet!  How cool is that???  I plan to re-start the protocol after the holidays just to keep things simple.

My favorite part about doing this program is that I feel amazingly well.  I have no idea why really, but I honestly have not felt this good physically in at least 5 years.  My energy level is way up and I've got a super clean house to prove it (our housekeeper had to re-locate after hurricane Ike).  I'm not sure if overall sense of well-being is directly related to the HCG or whether it's because for the first time in years I'm actually eating healthy (non-processed) foods, but I plan on keeping close tabs on how certain foods affect me from this point on.  And even though I'm allowed to slowly introduce sugars and starches back into my diet over the course of the next few weeks, I'm choosing not to.    

http://hcgdietinfo.com/Dr-ATW-Simeons-Pounds-and-Inches.htm

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HcgDieters/

ETA:  This post was written over a year ago but was never finished nor published.  I'm sure I DID knit something at that time but right now I have NO idea what it was.  Whatever it was though, I'm sure it was AMAZING ;-)

DO Try This At Home!

9.2 pounds in 17 days!

Longer Length Knits

Will you knit them or will you buy them?  I'm torn about this....  I absolutely love the style but am torn over whether or not they'll stay in style long enough to warrant knitting them.  What do you think?

Magaschoni gray cable cashmere sleeveless hooded cardigan

$230 – Bluefly

Vince Sculpted Cable Cardigan
$285 – Intermix

   
JUCCA Cardigan

$234 – Yoox

    

Burberry Cable knit cardigan

$995 – Net-A-Porter

    

Cable Knit Pullover

$595 - Barney's New York

 

   

Snuggery Cardigan

$228 – Anthropologie

   

Lutz & Patmos Cable Coat Cardigan

$825 - Barney's New York

   

And my all-time favorite...

Stella McCartney Organic Long Cable Knit Cardigan- Bark

$1,195 – Barneys New York

which looks remarkably similar to this Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern (Ravelry link) I just happened to start a few months ago. Even the colors the same!  The only problem is.... I've got quite a ways to go before it's finished, but if I ever needed inspiration to keep going, I've got it now!  The good news is that it's made with 3 strands of LB Fisherman's Wool (held together) on size 10.5 needles and it goes pretty fast.... when I work on it ;-)

    

I'm also working on another EZ inspired sweater.  This one's just a cabled pull-over, knit in the round, made of several different cable patterns that I chose myself.  It's made from Kraemer Yarns Victor which is a super soft undyed chunky 100% Merino yarn.  Love, love, love.  I'm on my second attempt of this sweater (I was making my traveling cables wrong in the first attempt {at the top} which you can probably see if you look closely) and am simply frogging the first attempt to knit the second.  You can imagine how far along I was with the first attempt before I realized that I was doing something wrong, and if you can't let me tell you.... I was far.  Really far.  I was so far that I thought that maybe the wonky traveling cables didn't look so bad after all.  Then I thought better and started over.  Actually..... that's not exactly true.  Before I started over I thought I might be able to "fix" the cables by frogging each cable individually (a la EZ in one of her knitting DVD's.... Knitting Workshop maybe?) and spent twice as long "fixing" the cables as I'd have spent simply re-knitting them.  And the results?  Horrible.  After spending all the time unknitting and re-knitting every single cable section in the entire sweater it looked terrible.  There were ladders after each cable section that, try as I might, I simply couldn't re-distribute throughout the rest of the stitches.  So that's when I decided to start over.

      

I've also been crocheting.  A lot.  I've been working on two granny square blankets (don't ask me why.... I just got the urge to make them); the first one's made completely from my own handspun...

 

... and the other's made from Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool.

   

In other news, Cheerleader Daughter attended her first ZTA function, a Cowboys and Indians Social. 

   

   

   

Oh and I dropped another pound!

 

7.5 Pounds in 12 days!

No, I'm not fasting, nor am I starving myself.  In fact, I'm eating plenty of food and am not at all hungry.  I'm not exercising nor taking diet pills.  Oh and want to know a secret?  I started my "time of the month" the day before yesterday and still lost!

9/20/2008 121.5 lbs / 55.1 kg       
9/19/2008 121.9 lbs / 55.3 kg       
9/18/2008 122.8 lbs / 55.7 kg       
9/17/2008 123.8 lbs / 56.2 kg       
9/16/2008 124.7 lbs / 56.6 kg       
9/15/2008 124.2 lbs / 56.3 kg       
9/14/2008 124.1 lbs / 56.3 kg       
9/12/2008 126.1 lbs / 57.2 kg       
9/11/2008 125.1 lbs / 56.7 kg       
9/10/2008 127.1 lbs / 57.7 kg
9/9/2008 127.7 lbs / 57.9 kg       
9/8/2008 129 lbs / 58.5 kg        

Back From Ike

Since we live only 3 miles inland from Galveston Bay we decided to evacuate for hurricane Ike.  The evacuation itself was much easier than the last time we evacuated (for hurricane Rita) and while the storm was devastating for much of the surrounding areas, we suffered on minimal damage to our property.  We are truly blessed.  Our power was restored yesterday evening and our cable was (amazingly) restored this afternoon, however FSS's house (only 10 minutes away) still has no power.  FEMA has several POD's (Points of Distribution) set up nearby which is very comforting.  Slowly, things are getting back to normal in my area, however most of Galveston Island, a mere 9 miles away from where I live, is gone.

Little Brother Football Star's school is closed for the rest of the week which has allowed him the opportunity to catch up on lots of important chores and homework.

In all fairness, LBFS has worked hard for the past two days helping in the post-Ike clean-up so a catnap on the floor with Maverick is completely understandable.

Cheerleader Daughter, who's up in east Texas, also endured Ike's post-landfall storms as did much of the eastern United States. Before the storm however, she participated in an intra-sorority soccer game which they lost but not without a fight!

I spent my evacuation time shopping since the friends we stayed with live only 5 minutes away from one of the largest outlet malls in Texas.  I got a pretty good jump-start on my Christmas shopping, so hey when life hands you lemons.......

I was able to drop another two pounds during the hurricane weekend, so I'm a happy camper.  For those of you keeping track, that's a total of 4.8 pounds in 8 days.

I'm Back! Again....

Wow, it's been forever since I've blogged.  And it's been nearly as long since I've read anybody else's blogs.... but I'm back and I hope to be back for a while. 

As some of you know, and as I alluded to in some of my previous blog posts, the past year has been rough.  Very rough.  It's been so rough in fact, that I've not had anything substantially positive to blog about and therefore simply stopped blogging pretty much altogether.  I mean why blog when all you have to blog about is sad, scary, and depressing?  I certainly wouldn't want to read a blog like that!

Without going into the details, I will say that my absence has been due to clinical depression, both in myself as well as one of my children.  My depression is better (gotta love those SSRI's) however my child's isn't..... yet.  He was not diagnosed with major depression until this summer and we've not found the right medication for him.... but we will.  He was just prescribed a new medication (Remeron) today; we'll keep our fingers crossed and stay on our knees that it's the ticket he needs.  Again without going into details, I will mention that my depression was triggered by issues that two of my three kids had been dealing with.  One of the issues I've already mentioned, major depression, and the other issue involved a daughter who was in an abusive relationship that she absolutely positively refused to walk away from for over two years.  'Nuff said?

So now that I've sort of explained my absence, let me tell you what I'm up to these days.  Not much.  Haha, just kidding.  Well, sort of.....  I'm doing stuff, I just haven't been knitting.  Or spinning.  Or crocheting.  Well, okay I've been doing a little crocheting, but not a lot.  And I do have a sock that I take with me to doctor's appointments....   Anyway, I've discovered that I'm not one of those people whose knitting helps relax during times of trouble.  Nope.  For me, knitting during times of trouble just makes me feel worse because all I do whilst I knit is re-hash all of my problems (or my kids' problems).  So.  The die-hard knitting and spinning has been temporarily suspended until I can enjoy it again.  I hope that will be soon because there are some fall yarns that are absolutely calling out to me :-)

One thing I am up to is 129 pounds (thanks to the Lexapro I've been on).  And why oh why would I announce my weight and the fact that I've gained 22 pounds since January on a public blog???  Because it's coming off folks!  And I plan to document it right here!  So get ready!  One thing I'm NOT going to mention however is the program I'll be following to lose the weight until after the weight is gone since "dieting" seems to be such a controversial subject these days -- the last thing I want is for someone to tell me that I'm following the wrong program or that there's a better way out there which would be very discouraging to me.  And we will have no discouragement on this here blog! I will be using one of those cute little weight-loss tickers somewhere on my blog though for those of you who care to keep up with my weight loss.  And for those of you who don't, there will still be some knitting and crocheting going on, little as it may be right now.

In other news Cheerleader Daughter went off to school (Axe 'em Jacks!!!) a few weeks ago and is doing very well.  She pledged the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, is playing intramural tennis, and has also volunteered to be a "driving-jack" which is a person who is available to pick up fellow students that have had too much to drink and take them home.  I'm so so proud of her :-)  But the best news is that she's no longer in the abusive relationship that caused her so much emotional pain.  Praise God.

Football Star Son decided not to go back to Texas State this year.  He's currently attending one of our local community colleges and waiting tables until he's ready to go back.  He just moved into a lovely home with 4 (female) room mates and is just a few minutes away, which I love.  Oh and did I mention FSS's latest love?

Say hi to Maverick.

Little Brother Football Star Son has started his sophomore year in high school and is playing JV football, so yes there will be more football pics this year :-)

So that's it for now....  I promise to get some new FO pics up soon!

ETA: 

Hope's Shi Chi Pups

Happy New Year!

Hello Friends and Happy New Year! 

I've made it back to blog-land (once again) with some knitting and spinning news.

Spinning continues...

and continues...

and continues...

I even tried dyeing some of my own fiber!

And then knit these...

 

And out of Ella Rae Classic knit this...

And y'all thought I was slacking off, didn't you!

Those single mittens will have their mates soon. 

Knitting the second mitten isn't nearly as bad (for me) as knitting a second sock.  And it's lots of fun saying that

this...

was knit from this...

which was spun from this...

which was dyed by me!  My family fears I'll be raising sheep soon but I think not :-)

More knitting pics can be found here (Ravelry link).

And finally, for Glamaw, some Christmas pics... 

Pawpaw got a simple 3 X 3 rib scarf knit from some oh-so-soft Misti Alpaca Chunky...

Cheerleader Daughter got a new tennis racket...

and gear for college...

Football Star Son got a new TV...

and I got a hair cut.

Little Brother Football Star got Guitar Hero III...

 

that everybody else played with except him...

And where was Little Brother Football Star while everybody else played?

Under the desk keeping everything working properly for everybody else.  Now THAT is the true spirit of giving!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas Glamaw!!!

Here's a pic of what your Christmas present will look like. 

Or should I say, your Hannukah present?

Hope you like it!

We miss you and wish you were here with us!!!

Where Have I Been???

Spinning my little arse off, that's where!

Santa came early this year and brought me an adorable little Louet Victoria spinning wheel.  Many of you know that I've been toying with the idea of getting a wheel for quite a while now and well.... I finally decided to take the plunge.  Unfortunately, I don't have any spinning guilds nor LYS's near me to take lessons from so (as usual) I'm just winging it. 

Here is what my spinning looked like about 2 weeks ago when I first got my wheel and didn't have a CLUE what I was doing.

Yeah, it's pretty bad.  The bottom skein is some American Romney (from a ram named Desi) that I picked up at the Kid 'n Ewe fiber festival last year, and the skein above that is some ugly batt plied with a strand of Desi.  Ugly batts are a pretty good idea for a beginning spinner since you get SO MUCH fiber for SO LITTLE money, and even though the ugly batt plied with Desi looks pretty horrible, ugly batt plied with ugly batt doesn't look so bad.

With each skein I spun I could see improvement.... little by little.....

I've been experimenting with lots of different kinds of fibers to see what I like and what I don't like, and I've come to the conclusion that while spinning dyed roving is probably more interesting than spinning undyed natural fibers, I think I prefer the look of the finished undyed fiber yarns. 

I also think the undyed yarns will be more practical for actual knitting projects as I tend to prefer solid colored yarns over multi-colored yarns.  It is nice though to be able to take a break from spinning brown, beige, or oatmeal colored yarn and spin up some beautifully dyed roving, and some of the dyed roving does indeed spin up into a subtle somewhat muted colorway that I wouldn't mind using for a hat or scarf.  I've not actually knit up any of my handspun yet -- I think I'm afraid to actually, as I fear it will knit up all wonky and skew terribly to one side or another.  Soon enough though, as I'm hoping to knit up a pair of mittens (or two) as one of my first handspun projects.

But don't think I haven't been knitting too!

   

In other news, we celebrated Glamaw's 70th birthday with a huge surprise party!  Friends and family members flew in from all over the country....

Glamaw's baby brother and his wife flew in from St. Louis....

One cousin and her family flew in from San Antonio....

    

Another cousin flew in from Manhattan...

More cousines from Cedar Rapids...

And more cousins flew in from various parts of the country....

Friends Suzy and John Young (the astronaut) attended....

Football Star Son and Sarah did too....

There was cake....

And trick candles....

 

 

And birthday presents...

 

And lots and lots of celebrating...

The party continued the next night with dinner...

Dancing (the hora)...

And a special rendition of You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby from our favorite entertainer...

Glamaw, if this is what 70 looks like, I can't wait!

 

Happy Birthday!

What started out as a simple Halloween costume dress-rehearsal....

turned into a full fledged knitwear photo shoot!

Hello, I'm a knitwear model!

Starting from the top, you see a cute little red Gretel beret made for a cute little Red Hatter I know.

Specs:

• Pattern -- Gretel by Ysolda
• Yarn -- Hill Country Yarns Merino Silk in Fire Red
• Size -- Slouchy (yes, that's a size!)
• Modifications -- Used a regular cast-on 2 X 2 ribbing instead of the tubular cast-on called for in the pattern and went up a needle size for both needle sizes (used 6's and 8's instead of 5's and 7's).

Next up are a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves shown with the Haruja Scarf I finished.

Cheerleader Daughter knows how to "work" the knitwear.

Specs:

• Pattern -- Fetching by Cheryl Niamath
• Yarn -- Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Sealing Wax
• Size -- One size fits all
• Modifications -- added 4 extra rounds of stockinette stitch after the thumb and before the last cable, and could have added even more!

• Pattern -- Haruja Scarf by Tikru
• Yarn -- RYC CashCotton 4 ply in color 910
• Size -- At least 60" long (probably longer)
• Modifications -- none

Okay now, this is scary...

FO

Specs:

• Pattern -- Haruha Scarf by Made By Myself
• Yarn -- Rowan Classic CashCotton 4 Ply (less than 2 skeins)
• Needle Size -- 7
• Finished Dimensions -- about 11" X 60+"
• Notes -- If I ever make another one of these, I don't think I'd do the funky little edging stitches that are supposed to give a cabled effect.  First, they are all wonky, and second, I think the scarf has enough going on that it really doesn't need another design element.  JMHO....

Weekend Reno, Haruha, and Football

What do you do when your playroom carpet has worn out its welcome?

Oh and do you remember the old drop-cloth trick?

Hey, with three teens, two dogs, a husband, and a couple of cats spending the majority of their time in this room, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

In knitting news, it had been determined (by me) that a particular stealth FO for a particular person's birthday needed a bit of revision (the story can be read on my Ravelry page) so it was carefully unbound, tinked back a bit, and painstakingly placed back on the needles to be "altered" and then re-bound off.  Making the decision to revise this FO (which was fine to begin with, but I knew it could {and should} be better) wasn't easy but I'm so glad now that I did it.  I've also been steadily working on my Haruha scarf, which seems to be taking longer than I thought it would.  I'm about 34 inches into it (unblocked) and I'm thinking it should probably be about 60" long -- does that sound right for a scarf?  Believe it or not, other than some scarves crocheted out of some fugly novelty yarn years ago, this is the first "real" scarf I've ever knit.  I'm using Rowan Classic's CashCotton 4 Ply which is a super soft yarn -- I just hope that it will hold its shape after it's been blocked.  It took just one skein to do all 34", so two skeins should do the trick.  And can I just say that I'm loving lace right now?  I just can NOT get enough of lace knitting lately.  It does take some concentration though, which isn't always easy, but when the house is quiet and I'm able to focus a bit, I pick up a lace project and am completely absorbed.

In other news, Football Star Son came home last weekend for Homecoming, and this was about all I got to see of him.

He actually turned around at one point and asked me if I was okay because I was being so quiet.  Ha.  Anyway, several people have asked me how he's doing at school, and to be honest, I don't really know.  I do know that FSS is DEFINITELY spreading his wings, perhaps a little too far, but nothing out of the norm for a kid going away to his first semester of college.  Grade-wise, only time will tell in that arena, as there are no progress reports or parent/teacher conferences to rely on.  Yep, it's a lot of wait-and-see right now.... something I am NOT very good at, but am slowly learning.  Of course, there are two other teens who keep me very busy these days too....

 

And guess who's no longer the smallest player on the high school freshman team??? (Yes, I said high school freshman, augh!)

   

I'm Not Gonna Lie....

... the last month's been rough.  Sending a kid off to college can be a pretty difficult transition... if not for the kid, then most definitely for the parent.

Throw in to the mix a little credit card fraud, two additional teenagers, and some PMS and you get the idea...

But today's been a good day.  Cheerleader Daughter finally found a part-time job, I finally found a (much needed) house-keeper, and Football Star Son and the lovely Sarah are "working things out".  Don't ask.

And I cast on for this.

And finished one of these.

Yep, today's been a good day :-)

On My Mind...

 

Daydreaming of Fall.....

Back On The Blogwagon!

I received an email today from a friend who asked me if I'd "fallen off the blogwagon" since it's been so long since I've blogged, and basically, yes I had.  But just because I've been missing from the blogosphere does not mean I haven't been knitting (and doing all the other crazy stuff I normally do).  And so I figure since someone other than my mother is "reminding" me about my lack of blogging, it's time to get back on the blogwagon.

Now first, let me just say that there has been some stealth knitting going on.  And because it's for a certain someone's birthday, it can't be shown here.  It can however be seen on my Ravelry page for those of you who have received your invites.  And for those of you who haven't, from what I've been reading on the Ravelry blog, it sounds as if you will be receiving your invites any time now, so hang in there!  Anyway, so much for stealth knitting.

Also on the needles are the Sweet Pea Socks which is the first pattern to go out in the Hill Country Yarns Sock Club.

(I have no idea why Cheerleader Daughter's foot looks so HUGE in this pic....)

I'm actually quite a bit further than this pic (taken just earlier today) and am almost ready to bind off the first sock.  Woohoo!

I also accidentally felted my Something Red made from a scrumptious brown merino/silk blend and will tell the entire tale when I can do so without sobbing.

 

This "Something Brown" (now called "Something Felted") was probably one of my favorite FO's (and yes, it was completely finished before I accidentally felted it) and was knit to be worn while I was at Stitches Midwest, but alas.... it wasn't meant to be.  I loved this sweater so much though that I'm determined to make another one.  Some day. 

In other news, football season has begun once more and I'm down to a mere two games per week (Freshman football for Little Brother Football Star and Varsity for Cheerleader Daughter). 

Fall must be just around the corner.... I can't wait.

 

The Beginning of the Beginning

This summer has been a whirlwind of activity and I can't believe it's already time for back-to-school shopping.  Where has the time gone?  And why is it that the older we get, the faster time seems to go?  (heavy sigh.....) 

Speaking of getting older, guess who sent her first-born off to college yesterday?  That would be me! (again with the heavy sigh.....)  Much of the summer has been devoted to college preparations, and yesterday was finally Football Star Son's big day to officially "leave the nest" and go off to school.  The first order of business (or was it the last order of business) was for FSS to say his good-byes.

As you can see, he was quite sad to be leaving....

And on the girls' side of the dorm, the lovely Sarah was getting her room ready...

Sarah's room-mate's side of the room.  Oy.

I am so excited for you honey!  Be good, and remember, "Go Slow and Say No!" We love you and we're only a phone call away if you need us!

For you Ma!

Well, I've been getting a little flack from a particular someone about not having posted anything to my blog in a while, so here goes...

First, there has been knitting.  I've jumped on the bandwagon and am knitting a pair Monkey socks.  It took me four tries to find the "perfect" yarn.  My first attempt was with Hill Country Yarns Alpaca Sock yarn in a warm cinnamon color.  The yarn was yummy and so squishy soft, but the gauge was off and the sock was turning out to be ginormous!  Then I tried a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and that pooled like crazy.  My third try was with a skein of Happy Cotton Sock Color but I didn't like the colorway I was using and frogged it.  I finally settled on Hill Country Yarns Superfine Superwash sock yarn in the Aquarina colorway and I love it!  No pooling!  I'm actually quite a bit further than this pic and am already about halfway down the foot!  I used a garter stitch short row heel and am not too sure whether I like the looks of it -- I'll post a pic as soon as it stops raining and I can step outside and take a nice sunny pic.  I really love this pattern -- it's an 11 row lace pattern repeat that's actually quite easily memorized.

Also, Football Star Son and I attended his freshman college orientation.  This was my view from my hotel window.  Nice, eh?  Yeah well, despite the view from the hotel window, the accommodations were by far better than the dorms that most of the other suckers parents opted to stay in.  Um, no thanks.

And while we were in the area, we decided to do a little sight-seeing and headed up to Gruene for dinner at the Gristmill River Restaurant, which is a restaurant "built in the remains of a brick boiler house that was originally constructed  in 1878 as a part of a cotton gin powered by water from the Guadalupe River".  Very cool.  After dinner, there was shopping in the General Store of course, where I picked up some Cinnamon Honey-Butter and some Apricot Salsa!

Yes, I've been very busy knitting and traveling, but I have to be honest and tell you all the real reason I haven't had time to blog lately.  It's Ravelry.  Ravelry.  The Ultimate Time Vaporizing Website.  You know, when I first got my invite to Ravelry I swore I wouldn't blog about it until all other 7,000 (plus) of you got your invitations because I felt it was a little rude to do so.  You know, kind of like being inside of a really jammin' night club screaming to all those standing in line outside waiting to get in about how much fun you're having.  Just.  Not.  Right.  But having said that, let me just say that it's wonderful, it is worth the wait, and it will totally rob you of entire weekends without a moment's notice, so be warned. 

And finally, as if I'm not busy enough, I decided today that I'm going to fly to Chicago in August to attend Stitches Midwest!  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!  Let me know if any of you are going and maybe we can meet up!

Okay, my Monkeys are call me! 

Got Hair?

So we had bit of a garage sale and well, the girls got a little crazy with the attachable hair.

The garage sale was a huge success and my husband is very happy to have his garage back!

Cheerleader Daughter won the award for best helper during the garage sale, as she was up early both days (the boys slept in on the second day) and did a great job throughout the whole shebang.

In crochet news (I'll bet you thought I'd NEVER talk about yarn again!), I finished my second Babette Blanket.

   

I hate to say it but try as I might, I just don't like it. 

I don't like that (in my opinion) the predominating "design" you see is the zig zaggy diamond-ish pattern instead of the individual granny squares.

 

Aren't the squares prettier???  I think so.  I don't know why but when I first set out to make a solid-colored Babette, I thought the squares would be more distinguishable than they are.  So my recommendation is that you NOT make a solid-colored Babette if you want to be able to see the squares.  If you don't want a lot of colors and/or prefer a muted palette, choose colors that are similar but not identical.  In hindsight I wish I'd have gone for a half dozen shades of beige and cream as opposed to going with one color only.  The only benefit I found of using one color was that there were fewer ends to weave in and weaving in those ends was much easier to do since I didn't have to worry about the colored yarn showing through the other stitches.

I'm also nearly finished weaving in the ends of my first Babette!

It's hard for me to imagine that these two blankets are actually made from the exact same pattern with such different results.  Funny.... 

But aren't the colors wonderful?  And LOOK, no zig zaggy diamonds!

And since I finished my Babettes, I picked my striped crocheted afghan back up and have about 2 feet of it done.  Talk about color! 

It's SO incredibly soft and is made with Hill Country Yarns Country Alpaca in several solid shades.  I don't know what my deal is lately with afghans but for some reason that's all I'm interested in working on.  Oh well, it probably won't last long....  I just hope it lasts long enough to finish this one!

CSI Yahoo Part 2

Case closed.

Apparently my little hacker's been at it since (at least) 2001 and actually hacked into at least two of my email accounts.  She saved copies of all types of email correspondence including emails containing account numbers of all types....

...emails containing private stock information...

...emails to and from our home builder...

...email order confirmations from just about every online order I ever placed...

...private emails from friends and relatives...

She even hacked into my eBay account to see what I was buying and/or selling.

Seems someone had way too much time on her hands.

Football Star Son's Tribute to Kyle

Football Star Son was asked to honor Kyle with a tribute at the SFHS 2007 graduation ceremony.

Good evening, for those of you who don’t know us, my name is aaron and this is my best friend adam garza. I feel that God puts a certain person in everybodys life who is truly amazing. Kyle Jonas Adams was that person in many peoples lives, including the two of us standing here before you and many of you out there. Kyle was an A student at Santa fe High School, a member of the varsity football and baseball teams, and was a member of the national honor society. He strived for greatness at everything he did…and most of the time he achieved that greatness. There were struggles along the way such as mrs nolens freshman english class and mrs scullys world history class but he always gave 110%. He was a caring brother, a loving son, nephew and grandson and a loyal friend. I am sorry for all of you who did not know him because he was truly an outstanding young man. Kyle served as a light to those who needed guidance both during his life and his death. Whether you needed advice or just someone to vent to, Kyle was always willing and eager to help in any way he could. Adam and I both could go to kyle with any issue or trial we were facing and he somehow always found a way to make us feel better. Its hard to step back and look at my life without Kyle because he was such an important part of it for so long. But when I do this I realize that he is as present now in my life as he always has been and he is more important than ever.He is not with me physically but rather emotionally and spiritually, Kyle is with me more than he ever has been. I know that I can speak for adam and myself, and much of the graduating class of 2007 when I say that Kyle was the most caring, honest, humble and loyal person we’ve ever known. He was an asset in the hallways of santa fe high school because it was hard to catch him in a foul mood. His smile could easily turn the worst day of your life into your best day and he never missed the chance to prove it. His bright blue eyes could pierce into the very depths of your soul if he knew you were upset. The sound of his laugh made you smile, even if you didn’t feel like it. He was an all-American great guy and I thank God for putting him in my life, even if for only a short while. Kyle’s life was much shorter than it should have been and proves the statement that God only takes the best. He took Kyle, and he got the best. To my graduating class I say that Kyle’s memory lives on in us and I pray that you remember him in all the good times and the bad times. I wish everyone the best of luck in their future and go forth knowing that Kyle is watching over us all. The last thing I would like to ask of everyone here in attendance is to help me in recognizing the people that made Kyle who he was. Please join me in applauding Mr. and Mrs. Ken and Karen Adams………thank you for your time and all of the support that you have shown his family and those who knew him.

A Door Closes....

Last ride to school together..... ever.

 

Graduation gifts in the parking lot.... classy.

Stocking up for college....
   

Sarah's turn...

 

Yes, I'm exhausted and no, I don't have any knitting (or crochet) to show you :-(  Hopefully soon though!

What Knitting Has Done For My Crochet

So I figured before I posted more non-fiber related stuff, I should at least post a picture of my Babette-in-progress.

This tiny little thing is sections 1 - 7 or 8 (I can't remember) of my second Babette.  Did I mention it's tiny?  Because it is.  Tiny.  Clearly, if I want to cover anything more than a foot or an arm, I'll need to add more sections on to this baby, which is fine because for some unknown reason I'm still enjoying crocheting all the little squares.  I've already decided I'll be adding at least 4 more sections onto the 10 sections called for in the pattern.  I'm nearly finished with section 9 already, so even though I'd like to be done with it, I don't mind making it a little bigger.  And while I don't really like this solid-colored Babette as much as I thought I would, up close, the texture isn't too bad.

I do like the DMC Wool/Cotton Senso enough that I am planning on making yet another multi-colored Babette in it (even though I know I'll be adding on to it as well).  These squares really are addicting -- they're so easy to pick up at any time and it's really fun to see how they all look when seamed together (even in a solid color).

I have to say that knitting really has changed the way I view crochet now.  For me, knitting is slower than crocheting, so while it seems that these Babette blankets take a long time, I think I've grown somewhat more patient than I used to be before I knit.  For instance, it probably takes me about as long to knit a pair of socks as it does to crochet one of these blankets (with second sock syndrome and all...)   And the crochet seems a bit less monotonous than endless rows of stockinette, so that keeps it interesting.  Not that I'm dissing knitting, 'cause I'm not.  I'm just sayin'.  Or maybe I'm just trying to psych myself up to do another one of these blankets.....

In other news, tonight was Football Star Son's Honor Grads banquet. 

Congratulations Sweetie, we are so proud of you!

Then, after I'd gotten into my p.j.'s, Cheerleader Daughter decided we needed some mother-daughter My Space pics.  Why she couldn't have decided this BEFORE I'd gotten into my p.j's, I'm not sure...

 

I promise I'll have more knitting and/or crochet content soon, but with proms, banquets and graduations, it's pretty much all about the kids these days.

Prom '07 Part II

Absolutely no knitting content whatsoever.  Who has time to knit when you have two teens to help get ready for prom???

 

 

      

Prom '07 Part I

Nails $35.00

Hair $60.00

Toes $15.00

Shoes $75.00

Dress borrowed from a good friend

Accessories $42.00

Sending your daughter to her first prom......

Priceless.

Weekend Reno

Before....

After....

In fiber-related news, I'm crocheting steadily along all projects with not enough progress worth photographing.  Soon though, I promise!

This weekend is prom, and with two of my kids attending, things will be wicked-crazy for sure!  Wish me luck!!! 

Advice Please!

I'm looking for a knit afghan pattern to use to make Football Star Son a maroon & gold Texas State University afghan using Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (in Claret and Butterscotch).  I decided on a very "practical" wool blend yarn (as opposed to 100% wool) that would hold up if accidentally (or intentionally) thrown into the dorm washing machine.  Besides, it's not like a maroon and gold afghan will be much of an heirloom or have a shelf-life of more than about 4 years or so.  Anyway, I feel that the yarn is too thick to crochet with so this is why I'm looking for a knit pattern.  The thing is that I want it to reversible and most knit afghan patterns I've found aren't.  So, does anybody know of any reversible two-colored afghan patterns that would make a nice thick afghan? 

Also, I've fallen in love with a book that I wanted to show y'all.  It's called Ella Rae Bags (Book #8) and has some really cute knit felted bag patterns.  I hope to try some of these bags out substituting crochet where possible and incorporating the knit embellishments when needed.  Some of my favorite patterns in this book are:

and

Okay, back to crocheting with ecru string!

Why yes, I AM crazy....

.... thank you for asking!  And yes, that IS another Babette Blanket you see in front of you, thanks for asking again!

Okay, so maybe I've really gone off the deep end or maybe I'm just under the influence of some of those really good pain killers they gave me the other day in the emergency room, but either way I've gone and started another Babette Blanket, and this time with a very thin crochet cotton (DMC Wool/Cotton Senso), with a size D crochet hook, AND in a solid color (ecru) no less!  I can't help it!  The whole time I was working on my first Babette, I kept thinking about how nice it would be to make one in a solid cream color (don't ask me why) and for some crazy reason I did a test swatch using the DMC Senso and totally fell in love with the notion of THIS blanket made with THIS yarn.  Oh I tried falling in love with the notion of THIS blanket made in a THICKER yarn and even swatched with several others too but it was no use.  My mind was made up.  And so it goes....

And while we're talking about pure crochet craziness, I might as well confess that I've started (yet) another Carnival Shawl.  Okay actually, the first one was a Carnival Throw and so technically, this is my first Carnival Shawl so that's all good.  It's also made from the DMC Wool/Cotton Senso in (you guessed it) the same exact color as the Babette Blanket.

Some of you may be asking, "What ever happened to your first Babette Blanket, Jeanie?  it's been sooooo long since we've seen any pictures of it!  Has it ended up in the UFO pile along with so many of your other well-intentioned projects???"  Well, here it is in all its unwoven-ended glory.

 

It's finished and I love it, but AUGH I hate weaving in ends!  I'll take an official FO pic once all the ends are officially woven in and it's officially finished.  And for those of you with really good memories who may be wondering about my first Carnival "throw", I'm still seaming all the motifs together and it will be pulled from the UFO pile as soon as all the ends are woven in from my first Babette.

And for those of you without teenagers, here's what you get when you ask your (now) 17 year old daughter and her boyfriend to go and take some pictures of your crocheting for you:

 

About 20 like this....

About a dozen like this...

(yeah, I don't have a clue)

About 200 that look like this...

And two that look like this...

(note the feet)

In other fiber-related news, I was feeling the need for some color so I started a simple striped afghan out of some super duper soft Hill Country Yarns Country Alpaca yarn.  This afghan is a crocheted a little differently by double crocheting into the space in between each double crochet below it as opposed to into the double crochet stitch  itself.  This is supposed to yield a more "woven" type of appearance.  The difference is subtle, but I like it.  And did I mention it's super duper soft?  Here's the scoop on how long I estimate this afghan will take to make.  I timed myself to see how long it took me to crochet one row of this afghan, and under perfect conditions (i.e., no interruptions), it took me 11 minutes to crochet one row.  So under normal conditions, I estimate it will take me about 15 minutes to crochet one row.  It takes approximately 3 rows to make one linear inch of the afghan, hence it takes about 45 minutes per one linear inch of afghan.  Using these figures, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it will take me about 9 hours per linear foot of afghan, and about 54 hours to make a decent sized 6 foot (length) afghan.  Sigh..... why do I get myself into these things???  Ah well, I'm not in a hurry and it's a nice change of pace when I grow tired or ecru colored string.

In other news, as some of you may have deduced, Cheerleader Daughter celebrated her 17th birthday!

(Is that a face impression I see in the cake???)

Happy Birthday Darlin'!  You definitely win the "best sport" award!

And finally in medical news, Glamaw is doing well.  Thank you to each and every one of you who sent her well wishes in comments and via email.  After a week of recovery followed by another grueling week of intensive physical therapy, Glamaw gets to go home tomorrow.  Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as the next few weeks will most assuredly be quite challenging for her. 

As for me (hey, I figure if you're still here after all this we may as well tell it all), I managed to land myself in the ER last Tuesday morning courtesy of a tiny little kidney stone.  Poor Football Star Son had to rush me there at about 6 in the morning with frequent puke pit stops.  Probably the only thing worse than having to rush your mom to the emergency room is having her yell at you every 3 minutes to pull over ("safely" {yes, I really said, "safely"}) so that I could heave.  Poor baby.  Anyway, they doped me up and sent me back home (with a prescription for pain killers) to deal with this "issue" on my own.  Um, hello.  I've never had one of these things before now but if you ask me, this has got to be about the most inhumane way of dealing with a medical "issue" that I've ever encountered before.  The way I see it, it's like a pregnant woman showing up to the hospital with labor pains, and they hand her a prescription for pain pills and tell her to go home and have the baby!  Or not (as it seems to be with me and this silly stone).  As far as I can tell, it's been 5 days and the stone still has not passed and continues to plague me whenever it so chooses.  (And yes, for those of you who have never had one of these things, the pain IS just as bad as labor pains.)  I just can not believe that with all the advances and breakthroughs in science, technology and SUPPOSEDLY MEDICINE, that SOMEONE can't come up with a better way of dealing with these things!  And I don't "do" pain well.  Unlike my mother and my sister who seem to have extremely high tolerance to pain, I don't.  My sister had both of her children "naturally" and was ready to go home from the hospital within an hour or two after giving birth, but not me.  I was begging for an epidural (all three times) as soon as I hit Labor & Delivery and I figure why not?  Why suffer needlessly when there's medication to help?  So yeah, I'm a bit of a pansie when it comes to pain.  I don't like it.  The worst part of this past week (okay, well maybe not the WORST part but still) is that I haven't even been able to either knit or crochet (or blog, or read blogs, or clean the house, or take the kids to the fair, or....).  Today was better though and I was actually able to crochet a bit.  But listen, if anybody has any sure-fire cures for how to get rid of this stupid thing (preferably painlessly), PLEASE let me know!  They tell me I've got two more of these babies still in my kidneys and I am way too busy (and chicken) for this nonsense! 

So there ya have it -- ten days worth of craziness.  If I disappear for another ten days, you'll probably know why!  (wimper...)

Willie Brown

"This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you."  Remember that old adage?  I remember hearing people say that when I was young but I never really "got it" until I became a mom and had to start disciplining my kids for one reason or another.  Whether it was forcing them to sit in time-out or giving them a swat on the rear, the "this is going to hurt me" part of that saying became a reality.  I've been thinking about this saying a lot lately, but this time it has nothing to do with my kids.  This time it has to do with Glamaw. 

She went into the hospital Monday for a knee replacement and I can't begin to express how much it hurts me that I'm not there in Florida with her and how much it hurts to hear the nurses telling me that the spinal block didn't work as well as it should have, etc. etc.  I should have been there.  I know that now.  Despite her protests, I should have gone.  I feel horrible.  She is so strong and will be fine, but her pain is intense and I wish I was there to hold her hand.  I'll never make this mistake again.

But don't misunderstand.  Glamaw may be all about the glitz, the glam, and the bling, but she's no powder puff.  Oh no.  She's Willie Brown's daughter and Willie Brown was one tough dude.  My grandpa Willie owned a junk yard and even though he only stood about 5' 8" (maybe less) he was afraid of no one and was a bit of a fighter.  (Years ago, when my mom first heard Jim Croce's song "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown", she swore it was written about her dad.)  What Willie Brown lacked in stature, he made up for with hudspa and he passed this hudspa down to Glamaw.  So while there's work to be done and months of physical therapy ahead, Glamaw's got more Willie Brown in her than she'd like to admit and will be back to her old self before we can say "junkyard dog".   

After Glamaw is released from the hospital, she will be taken directly to a physical rehabilitation facility where she will stay for another two weeks.  I made her some slippers to shuffle around in.  They're modified from the Fibertrends Felted Boot slipper pattern as I thought they'd be easier for her to get on and off her feet.   

The Babette blanket is almost finished.  All the squares are done and I've been steadily seaming and weaving in ends.  Hopefully I'll have it finished by the end of the weekend and will post a pic of it then.

The Bluebonnets are in full bloom so I'll leave you with this.