Friday, June 29

moving along nicely!


i can't believe how exciting it is to see that my knitting is getting somewhere! i just started into the third ball of cotton. i'm not sure how much taller i'll go before i start the bust area. i guess making it a little longer than usual because i have a little more belly than usual that needs covering. (how long can i continue calling it the "post baby belly"?)

Thursday, June 28

taking a small break from the Harmony shawl...

i started something new last night. i had some left over cotton yarn and really needed a break from the Harmony shawl. so i cast on for... i'm not sure yet.

the pattern i'm "using" is the Krista tee from White Lies Designs. but i don't think i'll move on to the second lace pattern. i like the first lace pattern too much.

when the piece gets long enough i'll probably switch to stockinette, perhaps even the second lace pattern, to cover the bust area. and i doubt she'll turn into a tee. probably a cami or tube top.

i'm working her in the round, in one piece. i left a strip of 4 (or is it 5?) stockinette stitches at what will be the back of the piece... i'm planning on adding sweet buttons to that to make it appear it needs to be done up. you can spy that in the last photo, to the right.




this is a nice change from the shawl. i actually feel like i'm getting somewhere! i can see the progress! with the shawl a row takes so long it feels like i'm knitting into oblivion with little results.

Wednesday, June 27

i have a problem...

i'm having a hard time NOT wearing make-up today.

there's no point. it's hot, it'll just melt off my face. and i'm not planning on going anywhere... and nobody is supposed to come by here.

and yet i just keep thinking that i'm "naked". i'm so used to wearing make-up. maybe i'll just put on a little mascara to appease my make-up psychosis because i'm starting to feel anxious about the fact that i'm not wearing any.

dudes... imagine what i'm like when i'm UNmedicated!!

Juliet was kind enough to pose with the Harmony shawl-in-progress for me a little while ago (click to make bigger).


we took the photo at the front door, because, sadly, it's the least messy place in the house at the moment...

... ugh. yeah. moving. blech. i'm already missing the books that were on that shelf... and they only left the house yesterday.

Tuesday, June 26

holy crap...

i went to Elann early this afternoon to buy some of the Silk City Supramerino wool they got in stock today. i couldn't pass up approx. 7500 yards of lace weight merino wool for $20!! i figured i could get the lightest colour ("buttercup") and dye it.

when i got there my choice was... magenta. ONE cone of magenta was left. and it sold before my eyes. people. this yarn only came out TODAY.

as Jake has been saying far too often lately... you snooze, you lose!

what a bummer. knitters shop fast.

thanks for the suggestions about the shawl edging :) i would like to continue knitting in the direction i am, that way i don't have to attach anything and it's done when it's done, kwim?

i was thinking a ruffly sort of edge myself, but was hesitant because it might be too much with the colours/pattern. i think a picot edging is what i'll go with :D thank you!

in other news... Pop Rocks is gone. she's off at her new home... near Marsville. Sharon came to pick her up today and bring her home. the kids were happy Pop Rocks was going to live with Sharon, they gave her some "tips", packed up the kitten's favourite toy and said goodbye. it was all good until Sharon opened the front door with Pop Rocks in the carrier... and Pop Rocks meowed...

and Juliet started crying.

Jake held it in until Sharon was out of sight. then he cried too.

but they know Sharon and her family will love Pop Rocks and she'll be happy there.

.phew. i'm going to miss the wee little bugger, but i'm glad it's done before we fell more in love with her.

Monday, June 25

shawl edging... ?


i'm trying to decide what sort of edging (if any) i should use for my Harmony Feather and Fan shawl.

... it's going to be a bit larger than i was planning. i'll definitely have enough yarn for any type of edging.

see... i had four balls of the Harmony wool. i was going to use two for the shawl and leave the remaining two for some future project. well... i went to bed last night in a bit of a rush (a migraine struck AGAIN), and left a ball of it on the sofa.

... within the kitten's reach.

the temptation was too much for her because i found it this afternoon. mostly in the basement. part of it in a tangled mess going down the stairs... some of it wadded it up in a bunch near the kitty litter... much of it wrapped around the legs of the mini trampoline, the remainder in what resembled the last bits of the ball near the laundry.

it was really hard to be mad at her. and i just left it there for her to play with tonight, since it's so tangled it's not worth the trouble to try to salvage it.

so i figured i might as well continue into the third ball of Harmony with the Feather and Fan shawl... use it for some sort of edging.

but what shall i do? suggestions?

here's an old photo of it if that helps... you can really see the pattern in this one, unlike the recent photo above where it looks like a lump of pastels:

Friday, June 22

why is it so hard...

to GIVE AWAY a kitten?!

pet stores have no trouble SELLING them. but try to give one away, free, no charge... gah!

is it some psychological thing... if it has no monetary value attached to it's not worth anything or there must be something wrong with it...?

yes, i am a little frustrated. the longer poor Pop Rocks stays with us, the more attached to her we become, the harder it is going to be to see her go to a new home. frankly, the whole situation sucks :(

maybe i should just put her up for sale... maybe the $ value attached to her will make her "worth" something?

:(

Thursday, June 21

hrmm... where'd my yarn "budget" go?

not on yarn, not on the kids... not on groceries, paint, moving essentials... none of that...

but it did go to something i didn't really *need*... but something i was pretty sick of living without...

importantly, it's not the piece of shit rusty, too-big, blue, ugly, heavy, shock-less, squeaky men's bike that i've been using...



so, no yarn for me this month because most of my CCTB went to treating myself to a new, comfy, better looking Cruiser/Mountain-type bike for this summer (it's got the comfort factor of a Cruiser and loads of lovely gears like a Mountain bike, does that make it a hybrid bike?) my only "regret" is the colour... i wish it were a sexy deep red with flames and maybe a leopard print seat... like this lovely. or black with funky pink flames... (wow... i really wish the Electra bikes didn't cost so much) sigh. i suppose i could have it painted...

the head has been okay since i last posted *crosses fingers*. i've been very careful not to let myself get too hungry/thirsty, etc. but i really think it's the weather... the humidity gets me every time. thank you for your comments :)

Wednesday, June 20

i just haven't felt up to blogging.

i've been having a lot of migraines the last couple of weeks. they've almost settled into a routine. i wake up every morning feeling fine, great, let's do this day. by 3pm i start feeling "off". by 5pm i have a headache. by 7pm i'm in bed early with a full blown migraine.

it hasn't happened every day, but every second/third day is more than enough.

i've been taking stock of what i've been eating, drinking, doing to try to figure out what's causing the freakin' migraines.

i think it's either the weather changing so much, or the stress of moving. or both. either way, i wish it would stop, i've had enough now.

i did get the Addi Lace needles. they are DIVINE. love them so much i ordered another two pair. the Harmony Feather and Fan shawl is coming along a little faster now that i'm not messing around with dull needle points ;)

Thursday, June 14

so i walked into Wal-Mart...

totally expecting to find nothing. nada. zip. zilch. zero.

and i was totally...

wrong.

i found a strapless bra... for $20. sweeeeet. it's not the best, but it holds what it needs to in place and doesn't look completely ridiculous.

i feel like i can go out and buy all those tanks/camis i keep seeing that i love, but never buy because i had no bra to wear under them. it's probably a good thing i have no more $ until next week ;)

that just made my day :D it's even almost making me forget that the Addi Lace needles still haven't arrived.

ouch. bra shopping.

i need a new bra. and not just any bra... a strapless bra (to wear under my tank tops this summer since all of my other bras have super strength wider-than-the-road-to-hell size straps).

so, since i'm waiting for my hair colour to set, i thought i'd do a quick google search.

you know, it's painful enough to buy normal everyday strappy bras when you're not a B or C cup... but when you're a DD looking for a strapless bra, you better have some mood-altering substance nearby. (side note: you wouldn't know i had a breast reduction years ago and was that most coveted bra size, a 36C... i could just pick bras off the rack - you know, the kind you find at LaSenza, the cheap shiney/lacey/interesting details/sexy/etc/etc/etc type bras- forget trying them on, buy them CHEAP, take them home and they'd fit like a charm. i *really* miss those days!)

just from my quick google search i can see this isn't going to be easy, or fun. and i can forget ordering online. but where in this town can i possibly go to try on decent full support strapless bras? Wal-Mart? Zellers?

i think i'm out of luck before i've even really started. unless John miraculously has a day off work and is willing to do a "bra crawl"... yeah... see, even you cringed at the thought of driving from store to store to do bra shopping, i don't see how i'm going to convince him.

i suppose before i ask i'll run around checking out the dreaded big box stores that are within walking distance.

oh boobs... i love thee. but i hate the designers/sellers/prices of the bras you need.

Wednesday, June 13

maybe tomorrow...

maybe then my Addi Lace needles will arrive. yeeesh. wonder what's takin' 'em so long! i have a shawl that's getting out of hand on my current Addi Turbos that needs sharper points and a much longer cord already!

Tuesday, June 12

Colourmart.com silk




not a colour i'd normally choose. i'm planning on using it for a lacey shawl for my mum. if i can get my act together when it comes to lace, that is. i think i'm going to go back to Colourmart and order a cone of the dark navy blue for myself. it shipped faster from the UK than the Addi Lace circulars i'm waiting for from Elann (which is in Canada)!

bummer...

the camera batteries are dead and i just got the silk lace weight i ordered from ColourMart!

quick harmony shawl update...

squished photos of the crumpled up shawl. but i'm posting them anyway to show that i am still working on it ;) i'm still waiting for my Addi Lace needles to arrive so i can transfer to shawl onto them for (hopefully) faster knitting and better photos :)


Monday, June 11

glad i'm not the middle finger ;)




You Are a Ring Finger



You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything.

You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word.

Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world.



You get along well with: The Pinky



Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

(what's up with those nails? yikes!)

Wednesday, June 6

i'm back :)

wooooot!

the whole problem was that we let the landline phone go. no point in paying for something we don't use, right? well, duh, we have Sympatico internet... we need some sort of phone line for it. John finally had some time to call up (remember, i don't do phones) and got it sorted out. we have a "dry line" phone line now. no actual service, no phone number, just what they need to run the internet in.

yaaay!

in other news, the shawl is still coming along nicely. it's really hard to take photos of because it's getting rather squished on the needles. i ordered some longer addi circulars to finish it on. their new lace needles. we'll see if they're really any sharper than the regular addi turbos :) they should arrive by the end of the week, early next week. so, sorry, no shawl photos until then :(

and in other other news. we're moving. the official day is July 31st. but we'll be moving slowly before then and want to have everything out a week before that so we can come back and do repairs/paint in an empty house. it's so much easier than trying to paint around furniture!

i am so stressed about this move though. i have felt nauseas every time i think about it.

we're moving into my MILs.

she has a duplex, so we will have our own space. but it'll always be over our heads that it's HER house, kwim? and i have quite a colourful history with the woman. oh lordy. please let it work out.

on the bright side, the main floor is much bigger than our current place. and we'll have four bedrooms instead of three (which means John will have his own room again... yaaay!). any renovations we do she's willing to take off the rent. maybe i can get a part time job at the local yarn store.

we'll be heading over there this weekend to do a little painting before we start moving stuff in. Juliet's room has no "real" flooring... just wood slats painted white, and she's been given permission to do what she wants with that. so she wants to paint it. no, not a solid colour (it's white right now), she wants to paint vines and flowers. and John has to do some minor renovations in order to open up the fourth bedroom to our side of the house and close it off to her side of the house (it was awesome of her to offer that extra room for no extra rent).

one big downside... Pop Rocks can't come with us. :( MIL's allergic in a BAD way to cats. she's fine with us bringing Burban, because we've had Burbs for years and she is such a part of the family; she's willing to put up with any cat issues that sneak over to her side of the house because she knows how much family pets mean to people, having had quite a few of them herself (on a side note, when she's rented to non-family she doesn't allow ANY pets at all. so we're lucky to be able to bring Burbs). she's really nervous about Pops because the more cats, the more dander, the more litter... etc, etc. i am pretty upset. i think we should find her a new home asap before we become even more attached to her :(

sorry this got so long. i'll leave you with two photos. one of Juliet with her pink streaks (she was opening a birthday gift from her aunt). and one of Jake during homeschooling time... he had a rough night and during our daily reading time he passed out (on his book) with the kitten:


Sunday, June 3

blogging interuption...

my internet is down. may be back by the end of the week. let's hope!! i'm going NUTS without internet!!!

i'm typing this at (ack) my MIL's house. we came up here specifically to borrow her wireless internet to check our emails.

and now we're going back to our internet free home :(

the shawl is coming along nicely. i finished one ball of the Harmony yarn and just started in on the second (i want it to be a decent sized shawl). crazy, isn't it... lack of internet means more knitting time ;) maybe by the time we're hooked up again the shawl will be done.

or not.

but i can dream, right ;)