oh lookie... more socks

yeah, i've admitted it before... i'm a sock knitter. what more can i say?

here are my Cherry Tree Hill Potluck in Brights socks... done! love 'em! but i don't think i'll be able to look at them while i have a migraine, they're darn bright. pardon the fugly flooring... i'd change it if we weren't renting.


and birthday socks in progress for my dad. his birthday was January 24th. but my parents created me, they know i'm a last minute type of creature... i'm sure my dad is expecting the socks a little late. the pattern i'm using is "Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern" from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.


i saw some lovely red Louet Gems Merino at Pick Up Sticks and was hoping to order some for yet another pair of sock for my dad (he likes his socks red). i was thinking the merino would be softer and more luxurious for my dad than the Regia i've been using... but lo and behold, sock knitters are fast and furious folk... Pick Up Sticks is sold out of the red! in less than a week!!!

and because i need a "no-brainer" sock to work on, i've restarted a pink pair of Fleece Artist socks. i'm planning on doing a simple slip-stitch pattern on them. i'm just finishing up the toe (toe-up) and getting ready to start the pattern... but i'm going to work on my dad's socks for a while before i allow myself any Fleece Artist heaven ;)

i should be able to get both pairs done faster than i've been knitting in recent weeks... the graphics card in the "big" computer upstairs died. dead. burnt out (literally). luckily John was able to replace it temporarily with the graphics card from Jake's computer, but Jake's graphic card isn't big enough to handle the Sims 2. so i'll have to live without my Sims 2 fix for a few weeks. bummmmmmmer!!! love the Sims 2, but it's a HUGE game... needs lots of computer resources to run... and even more to run nicely. good thing i have socks to keep me occupied ;)

the kids and i were planning on walking up to the library today, but i dunno. the weather seems kind of yucky... but i'm not really complaining... i'm glad winter has finally arrived! i think i'll just let them go nuts with the Lego. they have it spread out everywhere in the living room and it's slowly spreading onto the kitchen table too. since we have a small townhouse, it's becoming pretty impossible to walk in either room without encountering lego. they have TONS of it... some of it is the kids', some of it is left over from my brother and i, but the majority of it is from John's childhood. the kids are just having a blast with it lately. last night it even went into the bath/shower with them! i guess i'll have to get them to tidy a little of it up tomorrow for SnB... at least enough so that the girls can get into the living room and sit down without impaling themselves on Lego parts. and they say DPNs are dangerous...

an FO!

midnight knitting comes to the rescue. we had a rough night. poor Jake was up so much coughing. he was camping out in my bedroom, so i was up quite a lot of the night with him. it's a good thing i had all that knitting paraphernalia to keep my company. i managed to *finally* finish up my Trekking Jaywalkers. no photo of me modeling them though. frankly, i didn't shave my legs today and i'm not about the post THAT on the internet.



specs:

yarn: Trekking XXL in colour 100, bought from TheKnitter.com (love Judy's store!)
pattern: the infamous Jaywalker by Grumperina, with some modifications. i went down a needle size from my last pair of Jaywalkers and knit 9 stitches in between the increases and decreases instead of the 7 or 8 the pattern calls for.
needles: Boye US1 dpns
start date: months ago
finish date: too long after start date ;)

you mean we're supposed to SLEEP in bed?

yeah, i'll fall asleep eventually. but in the meantime i have Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, my Cherry Tree Hill socks, my Trekking XXL Jaywalkers (that i started way back in Soctoberfest!), red Regia sock yarn (for another pair for my dad... probably a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks), a knitting notebook and the laptop (to watch some more X Files) to keep my company.

had a great time last night gals. btw... the kids took that picture last Thursday, but i didn't find out about it until last night after you all left. i mean, i only spend 24/7 with my kids, why should i know they've been posing the cat with toy guns? LOL.

and what do the kids do...

while mom is busy knitting with friends on Thursday evenings?



LOL!!

losing track of time

i've been spending time doing things other than knitting. like fixing up my Sims 2 game. because i downloaded the one file of custom content that broke the camel's back... thousands of downloads and thousands of files of custom content... it had to happen sooner or later.

and since i'm not organized, i just deleted it ALL. so i've been redownloading things to put in my game. i really don't like playing with the Maxis content alone... it's so... boring. i love the custom stuff and playing without it just isn't the same.

thank the heavens for The Sims Resource. LOVE that site. i have a bunch of Sims 2 sites bookmarked, but always end up back at the Sims Resource. i WOULD be at Mod the Sims 2 IF i could remember my damn password (they changed their whole "if you've forgotten your password" protocol and i just don't have the patience to email them yet).

psst... only a month and two days until the new "Seasons" expansion! wooot!

i have done a little knitting... i'm up to the heel on the second Cherry Tree Hill sock now. i've done most of that knitting while the kids have played outside, while i'm in bed or while watching old episodes of the X Files.

i've been thinking a little about my stash too. i think some of it has got to go. i don't have a huge stash, but it seems a waste when i think some of the yarn has been waiting for me for at least a year. if i haven't used it in that time, will i ever? it's all in great shape, and i feel a little greedy hanging on to it. i put up a few balls of sock yarn for sale over at Knitters Review to start.

tomorrow's Thursday! woooot! i hope a few gals can make it out for knit night. (at my house again). last week Sharon was working on the most beautiful socks. she can knit up a storm, and always beautiful work! if i were half the knitter she is i wouldn't have a languishing stash *wink*

alrighty. i'm off to get comfy in bed with the laptop, watch some X Files and knit a few more rows on my Cherry Tree Hill sock before the sleeping pill kicks in :)

decadent soaps

wow. that's all i have to say. wow. i ordered some bars from Althaea Soaps and Herbals and i am IMPRESSED!! they are big bars, they smell GREAT and best part? i can read and understand all of the ingredients!

only problem... i don't know which bar to open first. i got three scents that are all equally yummy... Honeyed Amber, Strawberry Smoothie and Nag Champa. i'm leaning toward Nag Champa... i love that incense and was thrilled to find the scent in a soap.

and while i'm at it, check out her Planets Cosmic Spice soap... how creative is that!

mmmkay... after showering with my Nag Champa soap i have a few things to add. the smell is strong (the others aren't as strong), but i LIKE it :D don't think i'll use it when i have a migraine, but otherwise... MMMMMM. and i doubt i'll apply any other scented products after using it, i think it'd be scent overload. no need for perfume!

it's a big bar! i think i'll cut it in half when it's dry again. it's almost twice the size of the bar of Ivory i opened up on Friday. my skin is not nearly as dry as it usually is after showering. the only places i had to put lotion on were my legs (just shaved them), my feet (always dry) and my face (used a facial soap). usually i'm so dry i feel like my skin is crawling and i can't wait to lather up with lotion.

all in all, love it. really doubt i'll ever go back to commercially available soap again!

pictures later, i need to get my butt in gear to get to a doctor's appointment in time :) (meh, no, it's nothing exciting, just a prescription refill).

pictures (of the Honeyed Amber and Strawberry Smoothie... the Nag Champa is in my shower):





here's the Honeyed Amber up close... it's really hard to see, but there are bronze mica swirls through the top of the soap:

not much knitting going on

because the Sims 2 and all of it's expansions AND my downloads (we're talking thousands of files here people... i'm a Sims download whore!) are finally reinstalled on the computer. i have been dying to play, so that's what i've been doing. every free moment i have has been spent with these Sims (and a few others who were camera shy).

Cherry Tree Hill sock in progress

no pooling so far (not counting the little bit on the toe). i hope the funky striping continues after the heel... and i hope i can duplicate it on the second sock!

i keep thinking of these as "Citrus on Crack" socks. they are so bright!

woweeeee!

fastest shipping EVER! MAH-VELOUS customer service! i'll be ordering more from Red Bird Knits after this wonderful experience!

and the yarn... aren't the colours just freakin' AWESOME!? i've never used Cherry Tree Hill's sock yarn before, so i don't know how it'll perform, but i have to say that i'm in love with this "potluck" skein... and they aren't kidding when they say the colour is bright! it's brighter in person than the pictures show. i LOVE it!

Butters Mc PooPants

yep... we got her. her shelter name was Deb, but we had to change it to something to reflect her personality a little more - Butters Mc PooPants works perfectly. have you seen Butters on SouthPark? and Mc PooPants... just use your imagination. she's freakin' ADORABLE!! she's HUGE. fat cat. she's timid and rather shy. Burban (our older cat) isn't terribly impressed, but there haven't been any major issues... just a little of Burban hissing at Butters, Butters looking at Burban like "who the hell are you?" and then Burban running away.


and look! an FO! my Log Cabin throw is done! love the colours. it's rather smaller than i thought it was while i was working on it... but the garter stitch is pretty stretchy, so it still covers me from toe to chest when i use it :) the yarn i used is NY Yarns Gypsy. all *gasp* acrylic.

green Fleece Artist socks

not the best photo, but you get the idea. pattern i used is my own toe-up. needles were size US 1 Boye dpns.

isn't it weird how the second sock has brighter colour than the first? it's all the same skein of yarn. weird colour or not, i love these socks. they're soooo soft and comfy! yaay Fleece Artist!

adoption

not of the human kind... of the animal kind. Juliet and i went to the Orangeville SPCA and filled out an adoption application for this lovely:


the only snag i can see is that we already have a cat (adopted from the SPCA a few years ago)... and haven't had to bring her to the vet, so on the application we had nothing to put in the "list your vet" part. i explained that Burban is strictly an indoor cat, she's healthy and doesn't need vaccinations (i have some concerns regarding vaccinations, i don't even vaccinate my children). otherwise i don't see any reason we wouldn't be granted the adoption of another cat.

Juliet is especially excited. i think she'll be crushed if we're turned down. here's hoping for the best!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May 2007 bring the best for you and your family :D

here's a photo of my last FO of 2006. just a simple cap for the boy, done in some cheapo Bernat acrylic that looked more camouflage on the label than it does in the finished project. but he likes it and it's washable, it's all great!

Christmas stash

a bag of ten balls of Moda Dea's Cache and Fleece Artist's Amelia Helmet kit. i'm not sure i'll actually make the hat with it though, i think hats look funny on me. i guess i can make it and if it looks silly i can rip it back and make mittens or something instead :)

the new year is approaching and i'm seriously considering giving up the ghost of ever having another kid. John's not as interested in that prospect as i am, my body is not working as it should and i don't know if i want to go through visiting fertility specialists. i don't want to spend 2007 thinking about all of this... the past 8 months have sucked and i don't think i can handle it anymore. i mean, it would be a whole other ball game if John were just as excited, but because he's not, meh. i know he only agreed to another because he cares about me. he's a sweet heart.

at this point, i feel like i have a bigger chance of winning the lottery than ever getting pregnant.

i think i'll go buy a ticket this afternoon ;)

a great time was had by all

some photos. the kids are gone to my parents' for the night, John's at work... i have some time to edit a few and upload them :)

here's most of my family on December 24th (my dad had to go lie down for a while... he has fibromyalgia and was feeling it):



Jake and his new beanbag chair (Juliet got exactly the same one, but in pink):



Juliet's new digital camera!! John splurged on her this year! Her camera is better than mine!! *jealous*



Juliet opening the gift Jake picked out for her. he was SO excited, he had been asking for days if he could just give it to her *now* instead of waiting for the 24th. it's a Bratz horse and carriage.



a picture of the kids with their cousins on John's side of the family (only one was missing... he lives in Alberta). my brother doesn't have kids, so these are really the only first cousins the kids have so far. i hope the family doesn't mind me posting this picture. it is so nice to see them together like that :) we had Christmas with them on the 23rd and it was really really nice!



and finally... my dad wearing his new knit socks - man, it's great to see my socks on other appreciative feet! he loves them! (i sneakily took this photo while he was on the phone here about an hour ago)

best Christmas ever!

we're done and we had a BLAST!! we had Christmas at the in-laws yesterday and Christmas with my parents today. lots of ymmmmmmy food, loads and loads and loads of laughs, kids running, playing and giggling, a couple of tears (especially today... i think the excitement of two days of Christmas celebrations in a row was slight overload for Jake), but all in all a *really* great holiday :)

(yes, the socks got done... i finished them during Christmas with the in-laws... and my dad loves 'em!!)

we're staying up late to play tonight (we're all giddy), we're having a "sleepover" in my bedroom... the kids' mattresses are arranged on the floor amongst their new toys, John's hanging out on his computer and i'm here, sitting in bed with the laptop and planning on picking up my log cabin blanket again. no signs of anyone passing out anytime soon, but i'm sure it'll hit all at once... probably after i shut off the ceiling light and we all have to play by the light of the bedside lamp.

tomorrow we have some time to relax (and clean up!! oy!), so i'll post some pictures of our fun then :)

Merry Christmas !!! :D

so. busy.

no time to blog. not enough time to knit. looks like i'll be furiously knitting late into the eve of Christmas to get my dad's socks done in time. i was so hoping to avoid that!! i've had some unexpected things come up that *MUST* be dealt with *NOW* and it's sort of taken over my life at the moment. but i'm not upset about it. i'm glad i have the information to stand up for what is right, even if things don't work out in our favour in the end, at least i'll know i took the time to stand up for what's right. and i'm eternally grateful Juliet and Jakob are the kids they are. they've spent hours next to me with magazines, colouring books and the PSP, quietly keeping themselves occupied while i've studied by-laws, written letters and left messages for lawyers. they are awesome children!

if you all could keep us (the group of us standing up for justice) in your prayers and thoughts, i would really appreciate it. we could use all the prayers and positive thoughts we can get to make it through this.

Birthday!

8 years ago today we were blessed with a son. he has been the main source of laughter to all of us since the moment he was born. labour with him was fairly fast... 7 and a half hours. it started when i woke up that morning and was over at 2:37 when Jake made his appearance. i cannot even imagine life without my son ever again, even if one of my first reactions after i heard "you have a boy!" was "what do i do with a boy?!"

that's the little outfit he wore home from the hospital John's holding up to him. and after spending a little time with him, now i know what to "do" with my son and i wouldn't trade him for 100 daughters.

Jake decided he wanted to go get a Christmas tree with my mum, dad and brother today and have our cousin Elijah spend the night. here's some photos from our day.

Twilleys of Stamford Spirit mitten

sorta. it's coming along slowly because i feel guilty every time i pick it up to work on it... i really should finish the Christmas knitting first, right? but, ugh, look at it! the stripes are awesome! the wool is lovely to work with... so tempting!

i coloured my hair today. and the boy and i got haircuts - he wasn't in the mood for pictures, so i had to sneak that one while he was busy watching cartoons - just in time to look decent for Christmas.

new toaster

John enjoyed the fire stories the kids told him with excitement when he got home from work yesterday. the kids were happy to retell the whole tale before he could even get his shoes off.

maybe that's a good thing... because we all went out and got a new toaster. lol. a cool retro-ish one in an ugly blue (LOVE it!). $20. thank you very much Home Depot!

so no knitting to share. i've spent far too much time vacuuming, wiping, scrubbing and cursing (but in a loving way) the substance in fire extinguishers... who knew it got *everywhere*?