Knitting 'Ho

Fall turns me into a widow and kitty doula

2008-10-03T15:44:00.002-06:00

It is that time again, hunting season strikes! I consider myself a widow this time of year, and the screechy elk call dh has designated as his ring tone (rolleyes) just reminds me all that much more of the pull of "being a man, growing a beard, not bathing, and hanging with my friends in the woods" is. Sounds like a singles ad, no?

I have something to look forward to, our dear sweet (not really, she's normally a cranky bitch when not pregnant) kitty Tinkerbelle had 5 kittens last night. I am EXHAUSTED today, cannot imagine how new mama kitty feels. The first was breech, and took her a super long time to move through. Dh and I ended up helping the process a bit, to which he was thanked by being scratched and bit, and I was purred at. At that moment I thought, "that's my girl." By kitten #5, she was so tired (8 hours from start to finish) I wiped the wee ones off to aid in the drying/warming process. Kittens should certainly make the kids' and my time this season go by quicker.

The house is a new color!

2008-09-05T10:25:00.013-06:00

I love to paint, love love love it! Such an instant gratification kind of thing. Interior, however, not exterior. Thankfully, we know a first rate painter who offered to help us out. Our house is 6 years old, and the trim had faded something awful, to the point where it was flaking and you could see the white underneath.

See the green flaking around the upstairs window and coming off the corners? Don't look at the dead plants. Seriously, don't look.

Here is the after, we chose some pretty intense colors, and while I like it, it doesn't flow like I had hoped. There is a lot of red in the bricks, and I hoped it would pull it all together.

I have to give our painter, Joe, some major props. Not only does he own a painting company, but he also owns a home construction company and has offered to rebuild homes destroyed in a terrible fire recently at cost. We feel blessed to know him and his family.

Garden is growing, kinda

2008-08-15T08:39:00.008-06:00

I think I discovered the problem. Last year, we'd give it an additional spritz from the sprinklers around 3pm when it got to hothothot time, and this year we haven't. I harvested a few things just yesterday, not nearly as much as last year. I think the big tree is also shadowing the garden more, so John and I will be extending the garden space at the end of the season and get it ready for next year. I want to throw some berries in as well, yum.

This is the super wee tomato pictured earlier, it's bigger, still no tomatoes however.

While I am disappointed I haven't had a higher yield, I have learned quite a few things. I can't wait for next years' growing season. Here's what I pulled out yesterday.

Check out Mr. Snail, all nestled on the leaf. I gave it to him, and set him free over the back fence.

The fact we have been getting lettuce all season long in the dry hot desert heat is insane. Neat, but insane.

A sock, it's a sock, a sock it is, it truely is!

2008-07-30T14:48:00.003-06:00

My dd is adicted to Dr. Seuss lately, I swear I'm going batty.

The first sock of many I'm knitting for Christmas gifts (shhhhh!) Anyone who loves fiber arts, check me out at Ravelry.

Sockotta yarn color 6655, Yarn Harlot basic recipe, broken rib stitch (alternate K2, P2 with Knit all around for the 2 rows) The recipient's foot is smaller than mine, so this will fit perfect.

Summer update

2008-07-24T08:31:00.013-06:00

Lots has been going on; I quit my part time job to stay home for the summer, gone on a few trips with the fam, been knitting and sewing some sweet baby items, garden is in the ground and SUCKING for growth (need to start fertilizing to see if that will help), started selling Scentsy (I'm a total scent hoar), and I'm loving my blessed life. Here's a few pics to showcase the last few months:
Dh and a friend fixing the poker shelter during a camping trip to Bruneau Sand Dunes (yes, that is a dog bone folks, and duct tape)

A rhody in my mom's yard, in Washington. I wish we could grow them like that here.

One of my pathetic midget tomatoes, when it went in the ground the end of May. It's bigger now, but not much.

South Falls at Silver Falls Park in Oregon. We did a small hike under and around.

Newport Bridge, Newport Oregon
I hope to keep my blog updated more often, now that I'm not "working" per sey. Can't believe we're at the tail end of our summer break, and that kids will be back in school soon.

Spousal Gratitude

2008-02-20T16:33:00.003-07:00

I know I'm a day off (should be on day 5), and I will make up for it soon. Yesterday was crazy with work, kids, school, dinner and the Globe Trotters. I was unable to sit for more than 5 minutes, much less type out a complete thought. The GT were fun, however, paraphernalia was spendy ($25 for a basketball?), so we settled on a $5 program, and $3 bottled water. It was a neat experience, one that we wouldn't have been able to have without the generosity of dh's brother.

Which brings me to today's entry - dh. I am amazed by him, constantly. He is supportive, loving, nurturing, and can MacGyver pretty much anything. We have been through a LOT, and have grown so much over the years. I consider him my friend and partner, not just my husband, and am proud to share my life with him. We are teammates, and work with each other to achieve our goals. We had a rough go from the beginning of our time together, and boy, it was really bumpy and rough. However, those times have enriched us in such a way, I would never have dreamed possible. I look forward to our future years. I'm sure it'll be an interesting ride. ;)

Grateful for my in-laws

2008-02-18T17:12:00.004-07:00

I am thankful for dh's parents. When they are in town, mil will sit with the kids in a pinch (today being one of those 'crap! we both have to work, and the kids are off school!'), and buys them stuff to boot. :) While shopping yesterday, she came across winter coats on clearance, and picked up next years sizes for both kids. What a tremendous blessing! Mind you, she doesn't spoil them, thank goodness. She's not the type of grandma to buy anything and everything the kids desire, and we appreciate that.

It is a bummer we don't see both grandma and grandpa more often due to scheduling and the sheer amount of time they spend traveling, but, they are starting to stop by more often. I love watching the kids grow up with family nearby, I didn't have that as a kid. Grandpa came by the other night, ate pizza and ice cream, then headed home. We loved it!

Dh's brother gave us tickets today to the Globe Trotters tomorrow night! It's a double whammy of in-law gratitude today. He runs a local business and was given the tickets as a promo, and wanted to pass them along to us because he knew the kids would enjoy the show.

We are truely blessed to have such a giving family.

Day 2

2008-02-17T15:37:00.001-07:00

I am grateful for good friends, a deuling piano bar, and advil. ;) Last night was so much fun. I don't want to see the pictures though.

Day 1 of 30

2008-02-16T07:15:00.005-07:00

I'm resurrecting this blog to focus on Gratitude for the next thirty days. The suggestion was made by Joy, a lovely, fascinating woman. This morning is my gratitude entry for day 1.

I sit in the front living room with dh, sipping hot coffee. We both have laptops in front of us, typing and clicking on the mouse. It sounds like dueling computers. The dogs are laying nearby, chewing on their nylabones. Dd is watching morning cartoons in the family room, which are just the same toons every Saturday morning, but she doesn't complain since we don't have cable, and this is a treat from PBS. Ds is still sleeping, and the cats are playing with something on the kitchen floor.

I am grateful for this laid back, relaxed, Saturday morning. This is the perfect morning, surrounded by family (furry and non-furry), looking forward to the day with no set plans.

One month later....

2007-09-14T16:51:00.000-06:00

Have I left all my readers hanging? :) It's been such a busy, hot, long summer. My veggie garden is a terrible tangled mess right now. Note to self, never, ever, ever, plant a pumpkin plant in the middle of a small garden.

Here's one week's yield, picture from last month.

The gargantuan cucs are supposed to be the pickling type, but they taste just fine by themselves. Right now, I have literally 10 times the amount of chinis, maters, cucs, peppers, and 'sgetti squash in that picture. taking over my fridge. I've started bringing veggies to work and giving them to patients.

I haven't been knitting very much, but I do have one project in the works. It's this string bag in Natural Peaches N Cream. I would take it to the kids' swim lessons and work a little bit at a time. Currently, it looks like this

I'm supposed to do 12 stinking inches of the Turkish stitch, and it's taking forever. Maybe it'll be a Christmas present for someone...

What witty title?

2007-08-14T09:49:00.000-06:00

I don't need no stinkin' witty title! Cause I have been neglecting this blog for the summer, and I'll bet my *millions* (think Austin Powers) of readers have moved onto bigger and better blogs.

However, I plan to wow you all soon with my Gardening Goddess powers, not to mention the knitting projects in work.

Soon, I promise, soon.

A fence, a boat and the tummy flu

2007-05-15T18:03:00.000-06:00

How can a fence, a boat, and the flu have anything to do with one another? Well, they describe Mother's Day weekend this year.

First up, a beautiful boating day. We took our Bayliner to the Peak (the local reservoir) for some fun in the sun. 80 degrees, little wind. Perfect.

Until......I lost my sunglasses while throwing the stick for the dogs. As they were spiraling into the water, getting fainter and fainter, I stand there watching "the decent." Dh is yelling, "Get 'em, go in and get 'em!"

Um, no.

That water is green, as in fucking cccccold. Dh attempted a couple of times to jump in and screamed like a little girl as he flounced around like a fish trying to get.out.of.the.water. Once he was back on the dock, he stated, "well, we know where they are, in two months when the water is warmer, we can try to get them then." Okedoke, it should be fun for him, snorkling for a 5 year old pair of Serengetti's that are probably worth $10. Mind you, he bought a nice pair of Maui Jim's last year and passed down the old sunglasses to me.

A couple of fun pics from our boating adventure. It's so pretty and green here. Won't last long, soon the ground will be brown and dry.

Our Big Sweetie, Bear, trying to perch on the back of the boat, as daintily as a 110 lb Lab can.

Next, the lovely flu. I awoke Mother's Day to a horrendous burning in my belly. I spent most of the day in bed, hating existance. However, once I found out Fred Meyer was having their buy 2 get 1 free sale on veggie plants, I ventured out. I hate to think of all the people I infected. But damnit, Mother's Day means I get to do what I want when I want, infectious illness and all. I was able to buy all sorts of beauties and can't wait to get them in the ground this week.

While I was feeling puny and ill, dh spent most of Mother's Day helping a neighbor fix his trampoline. It took 8 hours. Therefore, dh has attempted to make up for it by finishing my garden fence before he has to go on a business trip for 4 days. And mowing. And the dishes. And take the garbage out. He's a good dh :)

We have to protect every bush, tree, flower, and veggie from our lovely poochies. They are both males and LOVE to pee on anything they can get close to. Dh is going to hotwire the fence along the bottom so the Terror can't burrow. We have a small garden area, which is fine with me since I have limited time to spend in it.

Voila, done! It was inexpensive, very functional, and a bonding experience for everyone involved; the neighbor was able to come over and show dh up with his accounting/mathematical skills, dh was able to use power tools and keep all his digits, ds supervised, and I took pictures just in case something happened that would fulfill Julie's, author of ER RN, thirst for blood.

Out with the Gold, in with the Green!

2007-05-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't been knitting much since the weather is nicer. Instead, have chosen to move onto outside and other household projects that need attention.

Our downstairs has been a multitude of paint colors for over a year now. As well as, not finished. A dear girlfriend of mine strongly suggested I get off my ass and finish the job, and offered to help. Did I mention I love her?

We had a light golden color, along with a red and a tan. On the SW color palette, it looked nice. However, in our open floorplan, it looked like major color confusion.

Dh and I chose Potting Shed Green by Martha Stewart. Lowe's just started carrying a new MS line, and the colors are very nice. We think the color goes well with our country/western decor.

Here's the Gold and Red from before.

And here's the new green. We find it very serene, and our wood furniture pops nicely now.

As you can see, we still need to replace the baseboards that had to be ripped up last year when the water flooded from upstairs, ruining the carpeting. We chose to lay down a laminate floor, and hope to finish the rest of the downstairs sometime this year.

Lady Elaine's got some junk in her trunk

2007-03-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

Girlfriend's finally growing.

I decided Elaine needed some lovin'. By lovin' I mean a change in her yarn composition. Who can just stick with one yarn when so many are deserving of some attention? I chose to add a skein or two of Natural Navy to her existing Natural Earth tones. I think they blend well, and add more dimension to her colorway.

I'm also working on some cotton washie cloths for a couple of gf's who are expecting in June. Pics to follow soon. :)

It's a new day!

2007-03-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Woohoo, I got some good sleep! Child is feeling better, and washer is fixed. Which brings me to a question, a riddle of sorts. What do you get when two grown men start to replace a gasket on a washer at 8:30pm? You get a fixed washer, and some evidence.

I wondered why it took almost 3 hours, lol. So, I have a fixed washer and a happy husband, who wouldn't want to be me right now?

Ah yes.....

2007-03-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

And now younger child has a rotovirus type thing. I really want to sleep....

Whiny whiny boo boo

2007-02-27T18:55:00.001-07:00

Waaaa, I killed the washer last weekend, the parts are spendy, payday is tomorrow and laundry is a fucking mountain now. Dh is out of town, and has been quite a bit, so I'm single mommy. Kids are cranky, and ds yelled at me in front of my boss today, VERY embarrasing. I want to sit on my ass, not cook, not clean and knit. I don't want to have to pay the bills, take the garbage cans out to the curb, go to the library, blah blah blah. I want a fucking break, and now. Not just a few hours, I need DAYS.

Manly Camo Cozy Take 2 and Lady Elaine

2007-02-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I believe it is felted as much as the poor thing can be felted. It's still big, compared to the pattern. I think that has to do with the yarn and my dyeing process a few years ago; it was probably felted some back then. I washed and dried this damn thing at least a dozen times.

It's kewl, our friend will still like it. He may get some fuzzies in his mouth, and I'm sure he'd say it's just fiber where his diet is lacking.

Onto Lady Elaine. I've adapted the pattern from Lady Eleanor in Scarf Style, tweaking it in different ways. I don't care for the funky fringe, and chose not to afford Noro Silk Garden, rather use Paton's SWS in Natural Earth. With the changes I made, along with the sheer amount of time she's taking me to knit, she deserves a song, wouldn't ya think? I didn't realize until today I was humming Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan, thinking the lyrics were Lady Elaine. My mistake, albeit it somewhat funny, is the perfect name for this shawl/stoll.

Here she is the end of January, when I started. I still need to change to circs, the straights are getting too heavy and bulky. I like using the bamboo because it grabs the yarn and doesn't allow the stitches to slip off when I'm not paying close attention.

And here she is with two skeins in. I'm noticing the blocks are very matchy and I'm not sure I like that. I like more randomness, but I decided to keep going. With the size I plan on acheiving, I think it'll even out. I've found I can work on her the best when I'm waiting in the car line for ds to get out of school. So, the girl rides in the 'van and gets to go places.

Which brings us to today. Here she is with almost 3 skeins. This week I learned how to knit backwards, and that ROCKS! No more flipping and twisting the yarn. Little did I know that backwards knitting=knitting right handed (I'm a lefty). The colors are moving around more, so I'm glad I didn't rip her out in the beginning.

I took a closeup of the squares, they are so soft! I really like this yarn for it's affordability, versatility and available colorways. It is splity and hairy though. I can look past that, this is a good match for me.

It's camo and it's for a man

2007-02-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

I've been on the hunt for a good beer/soda can cozy pattern, and came across this one at The Knitist .

I happened to have a bunch of fisherman's wool I had dyed a couple of years ago in greens and browns laying around, so I slapped it on some dpn's and went to town. First off, you hold two strands together, so it's a bit tight on 10 1/2's. And, the dpn's are a few years old; dh and I made them out of some dowling and they need to be sanded some more. It was slow goin'.

After the two sets of increases, we end up with something looking very manly, yet booby'ish.

I tried to sell dh and his friends on the idea of camo pasties, but they weren't going for it. I asked, "what about all the times you are sitting around the campfire, and it's 0 degrees out, wouldn't you want something to keep your nipplies warm?" Terse reply, "ummmm, no." Okedoke, cross Start a new liberal hunting trend off my list of to do's.

I had hoped to finish the cozy in time for Superbowl Sunday, but this is just a prototype for a friend that still drinks beer in a can (we still love him anyway), and he had a backup. So, pasty had to wait a few days to be elongated.

Here is the finished product, prior to felting. I think it still looks rather, um, manly.

It's in the washer now, however we have a front loader. My fingers are crossed it felts well.

First Entry

2007-01-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Why start a blog when so many are already out there? Simply, I like to write out my thoughts and share my work. It's all about meeeeee.