Hello?

It has been a long time, actually almost a year from our last post. We are all still alive and kicking,  I am happy to report.

I was talking to Karen and we are thinking about getting back into the recycling game. It has been quite some time since we have ripped a sweater but surprisingly enough we find that we are all missing it. I think the blog goes with the recycling so I really also want to try and get back to that too but not really sure if there are any readers left. And truth be told I would be surprised if there were! …lol

We have been knitting….some of us more than others. I have been working on my Lizard Ridge a little bit. The more I work on it the more ambition I get to complete it. I can’t wait for the end result. But that is a long ways off.

Anyways,  just thought I would post for the first time in 2009. Hope everyone is well.

Kris

Family First

 

For the past couple of years, the sisters and I have been going away overnight for a little bit of Mommy alone time. I LOVE these times. I NEED these times.

For our next trip we had decided that we would go away for two nights to Toronto, to attend the Knitters Frolic on April 26th and 27th. Two Whole Nights!!!

I could hardly wait!!!

Then, this past January we began hearing talk of our sister-in-law to be’s wedding shower. Okay, no problem…..what could be the odds? There are LOTS of Sundays between January and June.

We were told it would be in April. So again, okay…..what could be the odds? There are FOUR Sundays in April.

why can’t I get these odds when I play the lottery lol

So, come this Sunday we will not be in Toronto……enjoying wasting our time looking at yarn and meeting new people.

Instead, we will be celebrating our new family member. The woman who decided to take our only brother on……God bless her…..lol.

We gladly do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s Cool

One day last week, Karen asked if I could stop off at the yarn store to check and see if they had a pattern that she has been wanting.

She did not have to ask twice. : )

Well, turns out it was a no go on the pattern but I did make a exciting find….at least exciting to me cause…. well,  I really do not get out much.

 

The store had a posting at the front door about a sock of the month club. Now, I am not a sock knitter but a sock knitter wannabe. For some reason I just have not tried it yet. I feel as though I am not worthy to be called a sock knitter.

Anyways, so they had this posting and I was talking to Loretta and asked her about her club. We go back into the store and she shows me a box full of beautiful sock yarn. Just not in your every day, usual balls. To tell you the truth, when I first saw them I thought they were those things that you and your dog play tug o war with because they all were knotted in the middle.

I know, not the sharpest tool in the shed.

So we start looking at all the beautiful colours and I decide that YES, I can be a sock knitter and YES, I am going to buy some of this beautiful yarn.

Ok, ok, I did have a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket but gosh, I wanna make socks too.

So, for those who have never seen this yarn before it comes from a company called Flat Feet or Conjoined Creations. It is very similar to recycling yarn. You start at one end and unravel as you knit the socks. You can just throw the yarn over your shoulder and unravel as you knit. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!  

One side for each sock. Loretta has a sock, with this yarn, on the needles and it was gorgeous.

 I figure if things do not go as planned with my socks, this beautiful yarn will look nice along with the two skeins of Socks that Rock that I have from the last time I thought I would finally be a sock knitter.

Oh well, they are nice to look at.

Kris

Hoping for Spring

Well Easter has come and gone. We had a good one. The kids got Webkinz and lots of chocolate. That made them very happy ; ) We all went out for brunch as a family. The food was delicious and the rest of the day was spent just relaxing. Perfect !

Now can we have Spring ……..please….pretty please……with sugar on top!

I am now on my 26th dishcloth. I am not sure how far we are in regards to getting 180 done by April 27th but we are all chugging along.

One of my favorite knitting magazines is Creative Knitting. The May 2008 issue has quite a few cool things in it.  There are some cute little booties that look like a pair of Mary Janes. Really adorable! There is also a shopping bag made from acrylic and either plastic bags or table covers. There are quite a few things I would like to try in the future. I did actually cast on for one of the projects. It is a cute little baby hoodie made from regular cotton, which I just so happen to have a lot of lately : ). I have not done much so far but I will post a picture next time.

I ran into the yarn store yesterday on my way to a doctor’s appointment. I made an exciting purchase – exciting to me anyways – that I will also post when I get a picture.

Have a great weekend!!!

Kris

Short Note

Well, I am still knitting dishcloths but I came across a little project that would give me a much needed break from them. 🙂

I think these little kittens are just adorable! (sorry,  the picture is not that great)

Perfect for the Easter Basket!

Kris

Dishcloths, Dishcloths and more Dishcloths

Once again I have been missing in action. The weeks have been flying by. Where is the time going? March Break is next week and then it will be the countdown to summer vacation. Geez, it seems like Christmas was just last week. Oh well, there is the warm weather to look forward to and for me that can’t come soon enough.

The only knitting I have been doing it dishcloths. Different styles and different colours.

Our brother is getting married this June. For his intended’s shower in April, her family thought it would be nice to give away dishcloths. No problem we thought, we can make dishcloths. They want to give each guest three dishcloths. Not a problem if you are inviting 20 or so guests right? There are 60 people invited. That is 180 dishcloths PEOPLE! So being the nice sisters in law- to- be that we are,  we kept our mouths closed and quietly picked up our needles. There are about 5 of us knitting so we should be able to do it. I think !!

My little guy is still not potty trained. That child refuses now to even sit on the potty. Most of the books and websites say that maybe he is not ready. But, in my opinion, if a child comes up to you and says “I pooped…get me a diaper” it sounds like they should be ready. I am going to leave it for a few weeks and then try, try again. He is really looking forward to JK in September so I am hoping it will soon click that if he is still wearing diapers, there will be no school.

Anyways, that is all for now.

Have a great week!

Kris

I Have An FO!!!

Look at me!  I have another finished object – a beautiful hooded sweater and baby pants.  Once again this is a Test Knit.  This could be the key for me – the commitment of the test knit makes me get the job done.  I enjoyed knitting this very much.  I have wanted to make baby pants for quite a while and now I have.  You can check out this pattern and the other cute designs on the designer’s website here.  The yarn I used is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  Here is a picture of the sweater.  I hope you can see the beautiful textured design of a Nikau palm (New Zealand Native Tree) on the front.  It feels so soft and cozy I want one for me!

 

Here’s a back view of the cute baby pants.   I haven’t decided yet on elastic or a tie at the waist, which is why the waist looks large.  Look how cute the butt looks – you incorporate short-rows to make room for the baby’s diaper.  I can’t wait until a baby comes along I can gift these to!

I am currently working on 2 test knit projects which might be finished this weekend – if the knitting god’s smile upon me.

I was going to tell you that up next was the upside down daisy hat from Itty Bitty Hats for my friend’s granddaughter.   Or perhaps this hat for my husband – I really think he will love it (scroll down the pattern for the english translation).  But then I saw this  purse and purchased the pattern right away.  I want to make this purse so bad.  I’m not sure whether to make it in the brights or in neutrals.  Right now I am pondering my colour choices and will make a decision in the next few days.  If you have a chance check out the designers blog – she is so talented and she offers many free patterns – my favorite is the Nubbins Nouveau dishcloth which I do out of leftover balls – giveing it a patchwork quilt look.

I’ll leave you with a picture of Bubbles the Cat trying to help with my “TShirt  Yarn” knitting!

Have a great weekend.

Karen 

Freaky Elmo and That Bad Cat

Okay I have to confess that Elmo drives me crazy.  The sound of his voice has always just set me right on edge.  I know, I know cute little Elmo.  I do think he is cute but the minute he starts talking I forget all about that cuteness.  Now although I am not a big fan of his he never freaked me out until this

I don’t know what it is but something about this Tie/Dyed Elmo shirt freaks me out.  As a matter of fact after I took this picture I had put this shirt in my closet – in the morning when I opened the closet door it scared the bajeebies out of me.  Now some might be thinking this is because I have the problem with Elmo – but that’s not it.  My daughter – who has no issues with Elmo (I mean she can play Kris’ little guys Elmo over and over and over) – was freaked out too.  She told me to put it in a drawer so she didn’t have to look at it. 

How is this related to knitting you might be thinking.  I bought this TShirt at a local thrift store because I am cutting TShirts to make a rug.  See this tutorial for cutting the shirt in a continuous strip if you are interested.  So anyways I went to the thrift store and bought some shirts, including this Elmo one for my rug.  It was perfect for the colour scheme I had in mind – but now I can’t do it.  As freaky as I find it – I just can’t cut Elmo.  So for now I have put the tshirt away – perhaps an Elmo fan will come along someday.

And now onto that bad cat.  “Bubbles” has been a part of our family for almost a year now.  For the most part he is not a yarn cat – he will occasionally bat a ball of wool off of a table – just to piss me off I think – but for the most part he leaves it alone.  I am thankful for this because I had a “yarn cat”.  She would eat any yarn she could find – therefore I learned to keep all projects, yarn, etc. in plastic bags.  What Bubbles just do is chew needles – bamboo, wood, aluminum, and plastic – he’s not fussy.  Now this should not be so bad – as I have said I keep all my projects in plastic baggies.  Well now by sweet little Bubbles has decided he likes to eat plastic bags – not just chew on them a bit – nope he actually eats them, sometimes the zip and all.  And then he chews on the needles.  We have now baggie proofed the house, but every time I have to dig in my cloth bag of needles I can’t help but give That Bad Cat a dirty look.  All in all though – this doesn’t tick me off as much as his new “trick”.  You see I have a spot where I knit.  I always sit in this same spot – and I have all my stuff around me.  I am very happy in this spot.  Turns out that Bubbles digs this spot too – I don’t mean this is where he lays during the day when I am not in the spot – no he wants the spot when I want the spot.  If I am there knitting he sits on the arm of the couch and waits.  The minute I get up he makes his move – when I come back with whatever I left to get this is what I find

Yep every single time.  And then every single time I have to explain that this is where I sit – and then I remove him.  Fifteen minuted later we do the whole thing again.  Despite it all I do love that bad little cat.\

Okay I’ll sign off for now as that was a little long-winded.

Karen 

Disappointment

Last Saturday was the day Karen, Kim and I were waiting for. The yarn store was finally open after three weeks. We all received gift certificates for Christmas and the waiting was dang near killing us….lol.

But wouldn’t you know it. Karen and I ( Kim couldn’t make it because she was getting ready for her open house on Sunday) get in the store and we just end up walking around. Neither one of us could really find anything “worthy” of spending our gift certificates on. It was really kind of pathetic. Don’t get me wrong, there was a ton of beautiful stuff. But, for me anyway, I didn’t really have a project in mind and that was pretty silly of me because I had been waiting for this day for weeks…lol. So, since I couldn’t leave the store with nothing I ended up getting something I was sure to use……..COTTON!

In knitting news, I am done the body of my bag. I have to try and bind off with an I cord or something like that. Definitely something I need to do while my older two are at school and my little guy is napping. Even then I probably will have to wait for Karen to come by or go out to her place. Cause truthfully, I have no clue what the pattern is talking about…lol !

We are still in the beginning stages of potty training. Yesterday after about ten minutes of sitting and reading books we had some pee!!! As it was coming out (too much info?) Ryan looked down and in this unbelieving voice said “I did it.” Too cute. Of course we had to call Dad and Aunt Karen to share in the excitement.

Take care,

Kris

PS. I didn’t waste my whole gift certificate on cotton. But I will be thinking long and hard before I head to the store again. I am thinking either some sock yarn or some Noro for my Lizard Ridge…..decisions, decisions. 🙂

Distractions

Every night when I help my daughter with homework we end up arguing about how easily distracted she is. The cat walks by – she has to pick him up and hug him and tell him how cute he is – which he already knows because she tells him 10 times a day. Two rooms away from where she is working her father makes a remark to her brother and she is down there with her opinion on the subject. Homework is not fun at our house.

Finally though I think I know where she gets it from. It might even be the reason for all my UFO’s and WIP’s. I am currently working on a project that I need to have finished by the end of January. I am enjoying working on it and can’t wait to see the finished garment, but I have been working on it for a while now, progress seems slow and I find myself looking at other projects. It is times like this (when I should be working on something else) that I find myself looking at dishcloths – I knit them one after another while hiding from my current project. My most recent obsession was with this Mason Dixon “lobby” dishcloth. I went a little nuts and made several of them.

I’ve also been ripping sweaters and even got the lovely white cashmere all ripped. Now to skein it and dye it.

Okay back to my knitting – my knitting of the project I have been hiding from – no more distractions – but then I did see this great hat on a blog today. Perhaps one of these for my daughter.

Karen

P.S – anyone wondering where Kim is? Well she has new friends now and a new interest – I think she is addicted to this game. Of course she helped her daughter-in-law learn to knit and maybe she dumped me and Kris to knit with her. Hmmm – Kim are you still out there?