Lovely!

this arrived for me yesterday:


it's from Jennie... she even included adorable stitch markers!! it was like it was my birthday yesterday :D i LOVE the colours in this yarn. i'm *so* tempted to put down the shawl and start yet another pair of socks!

thank you so much Jennie! what a great little gifty/prize :D you made my week :D

yesterday was a great day :) the kids got ice cream (after my evil tooth was *finally* removed), had a "birthday" water fight with the neighbourhood kids, Juliet opened her gift from John (a pink Nintendo DS), and chose to eat out at Montana's for her birthday dinner. after dinner John wanted to stop by EB Games, so Juliet chose another game for her new DS (she has Hamsterz Life and Animal Crossing).

Saturday she's having her party... we're going to the movies to see Shrek 3 and then she's having a sleepover. gah! i hope i survive! she's only invited 2 other girls (and my mum!), but that's what worries me... 3 girls is bad... one always ends up getting left out. thank goodness my mum will be here, i'll have someone to lean on ;) of course, we have a *small* house... my poor mum is going to end up sleeping with me during the sleepover. lol.

anyhoooo... i better boogie. we've got to go order the cake for the party and do some grocery shopping. :)

Jennie... i will do the game you tagged me for as soon as i have a little more time :D

Eleven!!

where does the time go?!

just *yesterday* she looked like this:




pardon the photos of photos... i don't have any baby pictures in digital form. the top one is Juliet with me (gah... i was a mere 21 at the time and i look it!). the bottom one is Juliet sleeping with my father. i LOVE that photo :D

Happy Birthday Juliet!!

i can't believe it's been 11 years already. i just can't imagine life without my (not so) little angel :)

Happy Mother's Day!

yupperoonees. that's what i got for mother's day. a cell phone. guess John was really tired of me not answering our home phone ;)

i stayed up way too late last night downloading ringtones and such. gah. i've been bitten by the cell phone bug.

this is going to be a bit of a test for me. i have phone issues... i cannot answer the phone. it's really hard for me to do so. i don't know what causes it, but the thought of talking on a phone makes me panic. so i don't do it often. thankfully the new cell has text messaging, that'll come in handy. and i'm not going to give out the number to many people, in the hopes that knowing only a few people have the number will cut down on anxiety when it does ring. and for those who do have the number, if i don't answer, hopefully they'll understand and text me :)

Happy Mother's Day mums!! :D

more soap....

i know, i know... but i have nothing else to post and the photos turned out pretty good:



maybe i'll have to have a contest of some kind for bars of soap :) of course, i'll make the contest bars myself with supplies i've bought, i won't "steal" from the kids ;) anyone interested?

slowly, but surely...

the Harmony shawl is coming along... i do a row or two every day. it's a little harder to concentrate while high on Percocet, but if i go slow i can manage without too many dropped stitches:



Juliet's been busy! the purple hearts are our new Honeyed Apricot scent. it is DELISH!! it's a candy sweet (not sickeningly sweet) mix of refreshing apricot, sweet sugar, a dab of sweet grapes and a touch of honey. love it!


the orange triangles are Vanilla Bean:

last night was not a good night.

you may remember i talked about the evil tooth that was supposed to be pulled... but wasn't because my blood pressure was high?

it struck again.

i went back to the dentist to have it pulled... he *still* wouldn't do it because i didn't think to get a note from my doctor saying all was well. so i'm going *back* to my doctor tomorrow to get that, then back to the dentist on the 15th. i am BEYOND frustrated.

thing is, the infection came back. in a bad way.

in such a way that i ended up in emerg in extreme pain. i tried the after hours clinic... it was full. i called my doctor's office, was told to call TeleHealth... they couldn't help much. the dentist's office was closed... and i could. not. wait for help.

people, i have to say, the pain of labour and birth seems like a breeze after last night. at least while in labour you have a few minutes to catch your breath between contractions and you know that at the end of it all you'll have the best thing you could ever hope for.

tooth pain is not like that. it's constant, with pangs of super pain shooting down your neck and up the side of your face.

thankfully the doctor was very kind and understanding. i was given a percocet while there (along with a double dose of antibiotics and anti-inflamatories), two extra percocets to take home to get me through the night and prescriptions for all of the above to fill today.

if the fucking dentist doesn't pull this fucking tooth at the next visit i'm going to lose it. i will *not* do this again. there are people who need the space at emergency much more than me.

i am seriously at the breaking point. i even considered popping a LOT of tylenol 1's and getting John to just pull the tooth for me. desperation is an evil thing.

Lovely shawl... awful Jelly Beans...

the Jojoland Harmony Feather and Fan shawl is coming along nicely. slowly, but nicely. the colours are really pretty! i took a couple of photos without the flash, you can really see the pattern better in those. and one with the flash, which shows off the colour changes in a different light.




and the awful Jelly Beans?

are you a fan of Harry Potter?

than you've heard of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean?

yes... then you might know that Jelly Belly made 'em.

in...

every.

flavour.

here's the list from the back of the box: Bacon, Black Pepper, Blueberry, Booger, Buttered Popcorn, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dirt, Earthworm, Earwax, Grape Jelly, Grass, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Rotten Egg, Sardine, Soap, Toasted Marshmallow, Tutti-Frutti and Vomit.

We spent our drive to and from Ikea today "testing" the beans. We each got a couple of gross ones to try. Somehow John only managed to get one gross flavour... vomit. I tried Black Pepper (not terrible), Booger (blech), Grass (not pleasant), Soap (yuck) and Rotten Egg (so. friggin. disgusting). Juliet nearly puked trying Sardine. Jake did NOT like Earthworm. Juliet claimed that Dirt wasn't nice, but not too bad either. i can't remember who tried Earwax.

hrmm... look at that list. those buggers made me try quite a few of the gross ones, didn't they?!

we laughed *so* hard eating the gross beans though, it was so worth the yucky tastes for the laughs.

not much else to show you...

so i'll post some soap the kids made yesterday. for hours my house had the alluring, yet rather strange, scent of a mixture of Honeydew Melon, Nag Champa, Patchouli and a pinch of Strawberry.

Harmony Shawl progress

so i decided to just use the freebie Feather and Fan shawl pattern with the Harmony to see how it knits up.

this is worked on size US2 addi circulars. it's very very very light... like, blow away in a slight breeze light. summer shawl light. it's slow knitting so far because everything is so fine. but i'm really liking the way the feather and fan pattern is turning out in the Harmony better than it's turning out in the dark green mystery lace yarn from my dad.

(you can click on any of the photos to make them bigger)

Jojoland Harmony...

beautiful colours! very soft!




... very thin...


that's a size US1 dpn in there to give you some idea of how fine this yarn is.

i could use it double stranded, but i'd be really anal about getting the colours to match and that would take the fun out of knitting it up.

i bought an Addi Turbo circular in size US2 for use with this yarn. i'm going to give it a try, but i have a feeling i'm going to have to go back to Camilla Valley Farm and get a much smaller size. not that i mind. not one bit! LOL.

(here's the link to Jojoland's eBay store)

of course there has been soaping going on too. a lot of it this morning. Friday was a bad day for creating soap/body butter, because John was home with a migraine. no scents allowed. they really agitate his migraines. so we refrained. Saturday and Sunday were my turn. headache city. so today the kids made up for it. especially with scents i, personally, don't really like... like Jasmine. Jake has decided it's a delish scent.

and Patchouli (i have to be in the mood for it, when i am i LOVE it, when i'm not... blech)... the dude says it reminds him of the beach. unfortunately his Patchouli soap isn't quite up to selling standards. but the Jasmine soaps turned out great :) he really likes the massage bar molds:


we've got a new scent too... a small bar is going in the shower for testing. Apricot and Honey. so far we're all loving it.

alrighty. the kids are outside enjoying the weather, i've got a few things i've got to get done and then i'm trying out the Jojoland on the US2's.

what's this?

mmmm... yarny goodness.

John is home from work today (he had his last major dentist appt. yesterday and some adjustments on the dentures today). he had to go up to Shelburne to do some stuff for his mum. sooooo....

since we were going right past and they were open and nobody was in a hurry he brought me to Camilla Valley Farm. finally!! i now feel like i'm in the loop again ;) every other knitter i know in the area has been and loves Nina. now i know why!

i went in with the intention of buying just one Addi Turbo circular needle in size US 2. i didn't do bad at all... i came out with the Addi Turbo AND a skein of Fleece Artist's Sea Wool for socks.

while John was at his mum's i decided to spend some time at the Shelburne LYS, Woolly's. where two skeins of 60% mohair/40% wool yarn jumped into my hands and had to come home with me. it's made by a local artist just outside of Shelburne. it feels divine! i spent some time in the store winding up one skein (hence the ball in the photo below):

ColourMart samples

so maybe not quite a stash enhancement... but check out that big sample skein. more than enough to knit up into a good size swatch. the samples are mostly cashmere, but there are a few silk ones in there (the bright pink, the grey and the light blue). i'm not loving the "crunchy" silk (the grey skein). but i do like the smooth silk.

and that purple colour cashmere there? ack! i have no idea what i'd make with it, but i LOVE it!

and the 50% cashmere, 50% merino (the deep red 3rd from top) is mmmmm too.

i think a real order from ColourMart might be in my future!

has anyone got an extra pair of knitting hands i can borrow for a while? so many projects i'd love to do, not enough hand power ;) maybe i should think about saving up for a knitting machine! ;)

Tracy...

this is the yarn here. it's called Harmony. but i'm kind of worried about it now... i just read a post over at Knitter's Review that it's really thinner than a lace weight. gah! guess i'll find out!

like i don't have enough projects on the go...

i've been enjoying working on the green mystery yarn shawl that i couldn't resist looking at more lace weight yarn. and then bidding on some of it (from this seller on eBay). and winning some of it. and now i'm thinking i better finish the mystery yarn shawl before the new yarn arrives in the mail.

i'm really glad my father is patient... his late birthday socks are going to be very late now... *blush*.


and speaking of not being able to resist... check out these fun soaps:

can you resist 'em? ;)

a little progress and a new project...

how many projects should one girl have on the go? i can't seem to stop myself from starting new projects when i have so many to finish up. really. i have my dad's socks (which are *so* late as a birthday gift now), pink Fleece Artist socks, Jake's socks and Sahara to finish... and here i cast on for a shawl.

what is wrong with me?!

here's the progress on Sahara. i'm just sort of guessing at the length now. and i'm not sure i'm going to do the short-row shirt tail hem:


and here's the shawl. i've never knit a shawl before. i don't know why the urge came over me to do so, but i couldn't resist it. the yarn is some mystery lace-weight my dad scored at the Salvation Army. the pattern is a lace-free freebie i found online after trying my hand at a couple of the lace ones from A Gathering of Lace. i don't know why i have such issues with knitting lace when it isn't incorporated into a sock. i'm rather disappointed... i really want to have a beautiful lacey shawl.

i'm not sure how this shawl is going to turn out... it might end up frogged too, but i'll show you what i have anyway. if things continue to work out okay i'm just going to keep knitting until i run out of yarn (i have three hanks of the lace weight... should make a decent size shawl, right?).

silk and cashmere...

have any of you bought yarn from ColourMart? i am *so* tempted by their silk!! it's affordable enough to make a freakin' sweater with!

Supah Stah!

they're freakin' adorable and available here :)

nada

no knitting progress to show. just a tiny little bit to report. i've joined the fronts and backs of Sahara and am working her in the round baby. just about the start the second part of my slightly modified waist shaping so it'll fit nicely over the hips i'm supposed to have. no. wait. i do have them. but they're spending some time being camouflaged by the post-baby-belly-that-won't-die.

Jake caught a cold, which i promptly caught, which we shared with Juliet. so the kids and i have just been hanging out. we're on the mend now. yaaay!

we did some easter things. nothing big on my side of the family because we weren't feeling too well. my parents came by here while the kids and i flaked in pjs. my mum tried to convince Juliet of the "true" meaning of easter and didn't succeed. Juliet wanted to know what's up with the eggs and bunnies and how that fits in and my poor mum didn't have any answers. i highly doubt Juliet will ever become a religious Christian. so far in her eyes many Pagan ideas make more sense.

always big on the other side of the family, i just sat back and didn't say much... the best way to deal so far. one other brother-in-law and i just do that... sit back and let the rest of them socialize. don't say much so you can't get blamed for much other than being anti-social. put some dishes in the dishwasher near the end. leave promptly and try not to think that you'll have to do it again at the next holiday.

a little running around to do today. hopefully i'll have some photos of Sahara to show you all soon. it's not a hard knit at all. it would be fast if life would just let me knit :)

coveting...

isn't it a sin? meh. probably not the worst sin i've committed ;)

what am i dying to own? Diva. that's what...



it's April now... that gives me 8 months to think of a way to convince John that buying me a $300 sweater knit kit for Christmas is the best idea. ever. usually i get $50 to spend on yarn. i've got to figure out how to convince him of an extra $250 this year ;)

but really... look at it... *swoons over the thought of knitting such a perfect sweater*

more about the BP

thank you for the comments. it was a stressful afternoon around here! LOL.

so i went in to see a doctor in my family dr's practice this afternoon. my blood pressure was still elevated, but again, nothing to freak out about. it was 150/90 (ish) the first reading... 140/80 (ish) the second time after they let me sit alone and chill out for about ten minutes (i don't remember the exact numbers, just the ballpark). either way, MUCH better than the 170/108 it was at the dentist's office (i do remember those exact numbers because he wrote them down on a slip of paper to bring to my doctor)!!! insane huh!

so it was definitely the stress of waiting to have a tooth pulled... add to that the fact that the kids were NOT ready when we had to leave and we had to almost run up there (literally UP... all uphill to get to the dentist's... bonus is that it's all downhill on the way home! LOL)... the stress that i didn't have enough $ with me to pay fully (and i was just going to tell them AFTER the work was done... yikes... they know me and know i'll pay up as soon as possible, but you know... i have this weird thing where i think if they know i can't pay it all right away they might not do the work). add to that the freakin' weird pain i have from the broken part of the tooth jabbing into my cheek. yuck.

ugh. yeah.

the doctor i saw said she sees no need to put me on blood pressure meds, but she did give me something (water pills. i haven't filled the prescription yet... that's on the to-do list for tomorrow) and i have to go see my own doctor again next week. i have a feeling my doctor will suggest meds.

and she gave me the go-ahead to call the dentist and let him know he can pull the damn tooth before the antibiotics i'm on run out and the infection has a chance to come back.

what shall i tell him? that he's the cause of the super stress? ;) perhaps i should ask for a discount on account of the effect he has on my stress levels. and here i thought i didn't get THAT freaked out at the dentist... guess i'm good at blocking it out. hrmm... maybe the anti-anxiety meds block out the stress feelings, but not my body's reaction to them? ack. i hope my doctor doesn't suggest that upping the dosage on those little buggers is the next move.

bonus, though, is that John has a kind heart and offered me the $ for the dentist, so i can pay the whole bill immediately. (yes, we live together. yes, we have kids together. no, we don't generally share money. he gets really really freaky about his money. whereas i'm like "it's only money, i can't take it with me when i die!" "you've got to spread it around, like fertilizer, in order for it to grow!" ;) we really don't mesh in our ideas about finances. at all. so we kind of keep them separate. it works better this way for us. much much better. :)

...or not

my blood pressures been a tad high for a while. nothing too bad, not enough to warrant worry, just enough to have it monitored.

today? i dunno what the hell has happened. it's so fucking high that the dentist refused to pull the evil tooth. and i have an emergency appt. at my doctor's office in an hour. it's high enough that *i* can see that the numbers are scary and i don't know that much about blood pressure.

yikes.

i'm so freaked out... which is causing my heart to beat even faster... i'm going to end up giving myself a heart attack because i'm worrying about blood pressure and (gasp) heart attacks.

life... really... i just wanted to have the tooth pulled, come home and milk the experience a little to get in some relaxing knitting time. why do you have to throw a curve ball like this today.

oy vey.

buh bye evil tooth

you're leaving forever today.

i know, we had a good relationship for so many years, but you can't deny things have turned sour between us in the last few weeks. yes, i will miss you, but we both know it's for the best if we part now before things between us get worse.

we had a good long run together and we should both be proud of that.

(and now i really have to run, i have to be at the dentist in an hour, leave in 45 min to get there on time... and i'm not even showered yet.)

Sugar Cookie

i forgot to include this in the last post:
this is what Juliet has purchased with the money she's made from Victoria's Suds n Soaps... Sugar Cookie the teddy bear hamster.

good things...

progress on Sahara. front and back tops are done, i'm just about to start the waist shaping (which i'll probably alter some, because i don't have that shapely a waist). the pieces will be joined together and worked in the round soon :)


and what's this? more black? i told you black is good ;) and i can bet you good money that it'll still be in that "naked" condition a few weeks from now... but i don't care because it works! so i don't have to.

opinions?

so, Carolyn is still calling out to me. but i think i'd like her much more in cotton (i'm not a big fan of 100% wool if it isn't merino).

problem is that choosing cotton means yet another decision looms... what two colours to choose?

and shall i go with just one solid colour for the body and choose the contrasting colour just for the cuffs/collar/button bands?

and what two colours?

i was kinda thinking Elann's Sonata in Burgundy Rose and Deep Fuchsia:



i always go for black... so i'm trying to try something a little less... black.

i could use the grey for the body and the wine (or burgundy or deep fuchsia) for the cuffs/collar/button bands:




what to do. what to do.

(and as of this posting, the dishwasher is still not in working order. we spent most of the day out and about; finding hardware to hook it up, visiting my mum, finding the perfect hamster pet, grabbing a small amount of groceries... pretty much everything except getting the dishwasher set up - the counter is filling up with another load of dirty dishes i'm sure i'll end up doing by hand again).

ack. i just had deja vu of writing that. so bloody freaky!