Purple Purple Purple

My very first official knitted thing....a scarf. I'm so proud. I did it all in garter stitch - one strand of Paton's Merino in That's Purple and one strand of Lion Brand's Colorwaves in Purple Vista. I used a size 13 needle & it really made a nice open stitch. The combination of the yarns really resulted in a super soft & squishy scarf. I sent it to my Crochetville Secret Pal, Kelle. Even though the edges were a little wonky, she said she liked it. I'm kinda proud of myself ...I actually made something :-)

Fiber Boobage Continued

Yes, ladies & gentleman, it's a boob hat. And yes, that is my hubby, Breast Man. I made hats for hubby, my BIL's & FIL this Christmas & they were a hit. You'll notice all of the men have their tongues hanging out...they were all trying to lick the boob hat (although I have to admit that may have been my fault. I gave it to him with a tag that read "Got Milk?") And, once again, hubby is stroking the fiber nipple.

My Husband the Breast Man

OK, so I know it's little bit past Christmas but I just came across this pic of one of hubby's Christmas gifts tonight. My wonderful husband has this thing for boobs. Big, small, droopy, perky - he likes them all (well, I think he'd rather go with the bigguns if given the choice but really, to him, a boob is a boob is a boob). So, for those times when my boobs & I could not be there for him, I made him the next best thing....something to rest his lil head on. I give you.....the Boobie Pillow. Please note that his finger is ever so gracefully stroking the nipple. I love my hubby, the manpig.

Crochetville Secret Pal-REVEALED

I had the BEST time w/this whole Secret Pal thing over @ Crochetville. Courtney AKA xmaystarx had me -I got the greatest things from her .... notice the pack of knitting needles is missing a pair-that's because I started using them right away. She was a great Secret Pal-it's funny how a simple thing like a little ecard from someone you don't know can make your day. Courtney, thank you so much!

Modular Knitting

Been working to teach myself modular knitting. I apparently am either a lousy student or a lousy teacher because I suck at it. I signed up for a class @ AC Moore (same woman that taught my basic knitting class there last month) and I'm hopeful I'll be able to make something....anything. I just got Modular Knits and it's an awesome book. The only problem I've got with it is that there's no stitch guide in it. I'm still working on increasing & I wish the book had a little tutorial on that since increasing & decreasing are pretty integral parts of modular knitting. I'll eventually get it. I hope.

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ATC Along on Craftster

I've been following this Craftalong - totally lurking of course. Some of the entries are just amazing I'm biased, of course - my cousin is one of them & I love her last entry. Check out the post by NightOwl on page 6 of the thread.

ATC Along

Go Go Go Granny Go

On the way up to Canada this past summer, I worked on a Granny Square. It evolved from a dishcloth, to a 12" square to a blanket. I finally finished it a few weeks (and for those of you that didn't know - our trip to Canada was in July. It only took me 7 1/2 months to finish what's generally considered to be the easiest blanket in the world to crochet). The neat thing about this one is that it's made entirely from cotton. It's going to be perfect for the summer I think - just something to toss on when taking a nap on the couch. I'm digging the pastels in it, too, even though it totally clashes with everything. I really like how it turned out.

American Idol - Chris Daughtry vs. Bo Bice

I can't believe I'm saying this as a die hard Bo fan but....I LOVE Chris Daughtry. His voice aside for a moment .... have you SEEN him??? **fanning self before swooning** I declare...that man sure does fill out a pair of Levi's.
As for his voice... he beats Bo . Up until now, I felt Bo was THE best vocalist to ever come out of AI but I think Chris has him beat, hands down. His version of Fuel's "Hemmorhage" was probably the best I've heard from that show yet. Coming up for a very close second in terms of performance was Mandisa's "Every Woman". That woman is ALL diva & is proving to the world that BBW's should not only be seen but heard AND appreciated. She's made some great song choices & tonight's Chaka Khan song was PERFECT for her. I felt like Every Woman just watching her!

Ahh....heat....just in time....

We got oil delivered on the 28th .... it felt soooo good to come into a nice warm toasty house that night. And we got it just in time, too.....it's supposed to be sunny...and 60 F this weekend. At least our toes are warm.....they'll just be in flip flops.

Ooh baby it's cold outside....

...and inside. Why you ask?
We ran out of oil. And they can't deliver more until Wednesday.
How did this happen?
Simple....my wonderful husband was in the hospital. He's the oil guru. He & the furnace have this relationship that I don't understand. I don't even go IN the basement. I don't even know what the furnace looks like, never mind how to tell if there's any oil left in it.
Oops. Big time. It got cold in here this afternoon & he took a gander @ the fuel gauge. Then I got the phone call while on my way to a meeting. Here's how that went:
"Hey hon"
"Hi honey"
"Hon...umm...we ran out of oil"
"Oil?" (here's where I'm praying he means Crisco or something. God must have been listening to his iPod instead of me at this point)
"Yeah. I called all over & the soonest I can get someone is Wednesday."
"Wonderful. How cold is it in the house?"
"I can still feel my toes" (this is a plus until I remember that I'm the one with perpetually cold feet)
"Well, guess we'll have to stick it out, maybe pick up some space heaters or something" (this is the part in a sit com where you'd hear the canned laughter. You'll see why in a minute)
"OK hon. Look honey I'm real sorry"
"Sweetie, it's ok, you were in the hospital" (and I'm not mad @ him, truly. Not now anyway. My feet still have feeling in them. My nose is a different story)
"Oh and hon?"
"Yes dear?"
"The cheapest I could get the oil was $1.97 a gallon. OK, have a good meeting. I loooovvveee you"
And so off I go to my meeting. One that was hot, crowded & tiring. I should have savored the heat while I had it, I know. To top it all off I made the supreme mistake of wearing the shoes from Hell. 10 hours in them made me feel like one of those women in China with the bound feet. I make my break for it & am working my way home by 7:30 PM.
I hit WalMart first, incorrectly assuming that, since they're WalMart they would have small heaters. Wal Mart is ...well they're WALMART for Chrissakes. They have EVERYTHING.
Wal Mart disappointed me. As did K Mart, Tractor Supply Co, Ollies, Big Lots & Kuzan's Hardware. By now, my feet are screaming at me, I'm starving (oh, by the way, have I mentioned that I'm on a fucking DIET, too??? Yeah....diet. I'm a masochist, I know) & for some reason my right arm is killing me (I think from the scarf that I had to frog last night). Plus now I gotta go home where it's cold & there's no hot water. And if that weren't bad enough....I have cramps.
So, here we are...just chillin'.

Thank you Secret Pal :-)

A big "THANK YOU" to my Crochetville Secret Pal. I've gotten e-cards that have really brightened my day & yesterday got a great package in the mail. The latest issue of Crochet World and some adorable note cards ... they have a silhouette of a woman knitting on them. I love all of my goodies. Thank you Secret Pal, whoever you are!!!

Just Keep Knitting, Knitting, Knitting

So, I took this knitting clas after Christmas. I always wanted to learn how & had sort of an idea so Mom got me a lesson as a Christmas gift. I learned the basics (although the teacher only had 2 years of experience herself) and was able to make this>>>>

I'm thinking I'll felt it and either make a needle case out of it or perhaps a little bag or something. For a 1st attempt, not too bad. Thank God felting hides mistakes.

So then I decide that just doing the garter stitch is getting boring. Kinda like doing row upon row of single crochet ... I need variety. So, I head to A.C. Moore. The woman who handles their yarn department is an amazing knitter (she taught me 3 minutes flat how to hold the yarn in my LEFT hand instead of my right. BIG difference for me as I've been crocheting for 30 years & have ALWAYS held the yarn in my left hand) and she teaches all knids of knitting classes. Took that class yesterday & it was WONDERFUL. She was thorough, patient, detailed ... really went beyond what I had learned in Class #1. I'm now able to knit, purl, bind off & increase just a little bit. I even know how to correct a missed stitch. I feel invincible.....sorta. Her best advice was to just keep knitting, knitting, knitting - keep doing it over & over again. So that's what I'm doing & am working on my 1st official knitting project. To be safe, I'm making a knitted scarf again in garter but no details as it's for my secret pal over on Crochetville. I think she'll like it...the colors are wayyy cool. Let's hope the cold weather holds, though...it's gonna be WARM.

In Sickness & In Health

DH & I are only married 8 months ... he's my very heart & soul...and this past week we had the 1st true test of what those vows meant. Last Friday he was complaining of abdominal pain. Man that he is, he kept it from me just how MUCH pain he was truly in. Saturday was Tishy's Sweet 16 party & no way was he going to ruin it. The man stoically made it through the party preparations & the party itself, driving people home afterward & unloading all the leftovers. By Sunday morning, though, he was even worse so off to the ER we went. 13 HOURS later they admitted him. For a day & a half we heard words like "pancreatic mass" & "tumor" ....we were scared...terrified. The kids had never been without either parent before (their mother lives 2 hours away-DH has custody of both) & it was the 1st time he & I had ever faced something like this as a couple. The kids dealt OK w/it although Tishy was puking her guts up for 5 days from anxiety. My Buddy was nearing the "when is Daddy coming home" whining stage & I was just plain old scared. Final diagnosis? Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction as well as Retroperitoneal Fibrosis . Both sound ominous, horrible, etc but...not so bad it turns out. They did a teeny bit of cutting to correct the sphincter issue & a some steroids for the fibrosis. He's home, feeling better & going back to work tonight.
The good thing that came out of all of this is that we're ALL now eating healthy. We made a commitment to get rid of the junk, eat less, excercise more...all that good stuff. DH is pre-diabetic, I've got high BP, we're both in the obese category ....and I don't wanna die. So, here we are...trying to keep living. Wish us luck.

Go Steelers!!

Our office mascot is Gert. Gert is a huge Steelers fan & her owner (Lori, who sits next to me & makes sure Gert's outfit is appropriate for the season) told me she had no Steelers attire. I whipped this little outfit up last night. I thought the hat was a little Harry Potter-ish but everyone else got a giggle out of it. It's hard to tell in this photo but Gert is a mini-she's barely 7" tall. That hat was a killer to make near the end. She's ready for Super Bowl Sunday!!

My Husband, the Yarn Enabler

I'm married to the most wonderful guy. On Monday, he took me out to lunch & then for ice cream just 'cuz. I then had a horrid day @ work & was a whole lotta grumpy when I got home. My mood changed the minute I walked into the living room & saw this.....




all for me :-). My yarns have been scattered all over the house-in plastic bags, totes, in closets & under beds. I just had nowhere to put it all & like any good addict, always wound up buying yarn I already had just because I couldn't find what I needed. He apparently has been looking for just the right thing for a while now & found this at Target. My sister now calls him "yarn enabler".

I've cleaned a bit & now it's looking MUCH nicer




Not only that, but now I can actually see and USE all my Longaberger baskets.

I was able to de-stash some because of the giant yarn clean up- I posted over at Crochetville that I had some yarns to swap & got some fast responses! JimmieLu & I worked out a great trade for most of it. I'm thrilled about it & can hardly wait to mail it all off to her....it'll be like Christmas, only with yarn :-)

Crocheted Dog Bed

This pet bed was a fairly easy project out of "Pampered Pets" by The Needlecraft Shop. Most of it was simple single crochet back & forth. Used some acrylic WW that I had laying around. The dog loves it. Excuse his "Damien: Omen 2" eyes - my camera & I don't get along.

Jumping on the Blog Wagon

Well, I've done it - I've got a blog. What I'm gonna do with the damn thing now that I have it, I dunno. But, at least I've done it. My blog cherry has been popped.