Thursday, December 14, 2006

Frosty the Snowman

Well I have finished my snowman ornament. I think he turned out pretty well. His scarf may be a little long...but oh well. Gwens was just about done, but while messing with his hat last night she broke the ball. Then this morning at breakfast Cory's got broken also as they were playing with it. The kids' still need a little work, and a few bottoms, but I posted pictures any way. I have them sitting on top a shot glass so that they will sit upright for the photos. -Miki

Clarece's snowman

Jacquelyn's Snowman

Gwens snowman

Clareces snowman profile. Look at the twist in the carrot nose.

My snowman...lets call him Frosty.

Cornells snowman

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimmney With Care...


So here are photos of the finished stockings hung by the fireplace. We got a new camera a few weeks ago that I am still trying to figure out. I am not pleased with the flash, so the pictures may be a little darker than I like.

Here is Clareces'


Here is Jacquelyns'


Here is Cornells'


Here is Gwens'


Now I have a year to do mine, Craigs and one for Duke. That should be easy...not! TTFN, Miki

Crafters ADD

I have recently come to the conclusion that I have a from of Crafters ADD(attention deficit disorder). I love trying all kinds of new projects, but seem to become distracted when I see something new I want to try. This leaves me with many projects going on at once, and taking many years to complete some projects. I love the "thrill" of starting a new project and seeing how it will turn out. Once I get the hang of a particular technique, or I can see how the project will finish, I become a tad bored and have a hard time motivating myself to finish the project. Then I start something new. It has been one of my goals this year to finish many of my UFO's. I think I have done a pretty good job with it. However, I could have finished them all had I not snuck other projects in also. My sister asked me the other day if I had finished my felted needle case yet as it had been the same on my progress bar for ages. I laughed and told her no, but I had knit a few pair of socks, and some glass cozies and a few baby blankets, and some other things that never even made it to the progress bar. In truth if I listed everything on my progress bar that I was working on, it would be a joke.

This weekend I had set a personal goal of finishing the kids' stockings by Sunday night. Well, instead of working on them on Saturday, I decided to make some snowmen ornaments. I had seen the idea on Carol Duval's program and already had most of the supplies from another incomplete project. I figured the kids could help. They are made with a glass ball on the bottom and a styrofoam one on the top. The glass ball is filled part to most of the way full with "snow" (shredded plastic). You then embellish the balls to look like snowmen. I will post a picture when they are done. The kids started making Fimo carrot noses. I was filling the balls. On the last one, I was attaching the styrofoam ball, and the glass ball shattered in my hand. I cut everyone of the fingers on my left hand. I was lucky though, because I wasn't wearing protective eyewear and that could have been bad. I probably should have had protective hand wear on also. I took a pretty good chunk out of my thumb, and had to remove many fragments from other fingers. It was very reminiscent of this summer and the whole frame fiasco. The kids were upset to see my bleeding every where, and my husband chastised me from work. Oh well....so they didn't get finished. I did however work on knitting little scarves for them, but they didn't get finished either. Sunday I spent the evening sewing the stockings together, and pulling the basting stitches out. Today I put the hangers on them and they are DONE! Yeah!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

The stocking is done!

So, after working for hours trying to get Jacquelyn's stocking done, I have finished stitching it. It turned out really nice. I will post a picture of it after I have it sewn into a stocking shape and hung with her brother and sisters. My goal is to have that done by sometime Sunday.

Here is the funniest part of the whole stocking thing. The pattern I chose was from a kit, and like most kits it has a picture on the front of the finished project complete with personalization. Of course the personalization is generic. In this case the name is Duncan. Well, Jacguelyn realized that it didn't say her name on the package and became quite distressed. Craig told her that it wasn't a big deal that her secret Christmas name was Duncan. Well strangely she fell for it, and has told us that on Christmas she wants us to call her Duncan. I explained that I could change the pattern and put her name on it and she told me that she wanted her Christmas name on it. Well, of course I put Jacquelyn on it instead of Duncan, which dissapointed her and her father, but they will just have to get over it. I will put the name Duncan on all her gifts though. That should make her happy. TTFN, Miki

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 35th birthday. So far it feels like any other day. My kids are real excited about it though. So excited that I had to open my gifts first thing this morning, even before breakfast. They bought me a Moms devotional, a top with a lace inset, a blue tooth headset for my phone, and a leather jacket. I think this may be the first occassion ever that I didn't get any jewelry from them. Wow!

Later today some of my girl friends here in Virgina are taking me out for lunch. That will be fun. Of course over the next few weeks it will just feel like a weekly occurance as we have three birthdays over I think 3 weeks. And then a fourth one a few weeks later.

Tonight I have a Girl Scout leader meeting, so no real celebration. I just hope that the package my mom sent from Oregon gets here as she baked me an applesauce cake and vacuum sealed it. She did this two years ago when we were in Minnesota, but not last year. Just so its out there and my mom doesn't sound crazy, she always makes me an applesauce cake for my birthday. Well except for last year. When we were in Minnesota that was the first time we werent living in Oregon, and so she sent it to me. She even sent the frosting. All the kids had to do was frost it. Of course they got a little carried away and add all kids of sprinkles and stuff. It really ended up looking disgusting, but it tasted sooooo good.

Looks Yummy huh?

Well I am off to do the things I need to do, like finish Jacquelyns stocking, TTDN, Miki

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Gwen's Cheer Socks

Well now that football cheer season is over, I have finished Gwens cheer socks. Oh well there is always next year. I knit socks to go with her uniform, for before a competition. She isn't supposed to wear her cheer shoes unitl she is warming up to go on the mats. This helps to keep them a pristine white color. So the plan was to knit these great socks and get her a pair of black crocs to wear with them. Well we got the crocs. That was the easy part. Of course had I really worked on the socks to get them done they would have been. But they were just a side project for me. You know how my attention span is and all. So now they are done. Yeah! Sorry for the picture. I just couldnt capture the color the way I wanted, and it looks a little blurry, but that could just be my eyes.

The yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes, Lumberjack Black colorway.

And for my next project...socks for me. No really this time I mean it. I am sure they wil fit me this time, and Gwen will not get them. I am knitting them in Lion Brand magic stripes, Regatta Blue Stripe colorway. I am about half way done with the first sock. After that I owe my husband a pair. He will be getting my first pair knit with AWESOME sock yarn. He chose a yarn that he found at the Yarn Lounge in Richmond, that has aloe and jojoba oil in it. The yarn is Austermann Step. The color is 4, from what I can tell. My description of the color is a varegated grey, light blue. I can't wait to see how these knit up.

Thats all I got, so TTFN, Miki

Sunday, November 12, 2006

State Competition

Well Cheer is over...for football that is. I am not sure when basketball starts, but it will be soon. I had promised pictures of Gwen's hair, but for some strange reason, never posted them. It take about 2 hours to wrap, and my hands are super hairspray sticky after, but it sure looks cute.
In curlers

Curly




Today was our last competition. Virginia States. The girls have worked very hard the last few weeks in preparation for this competition. It was an all day event, with many different categories that I couldn't even dream of trying to figure out. Out "senior" squad placed first in their category, and we...drum roll please placed 2nd. This was out of 6 teams, and our girls looked great. Here is a picture of Gwen holding the team trophy.




I also took a few pictures of them doing their routine. In the first one, Gwen has her back to the camera, as she is the front support for the stunt group.


In the next one, she is in the back row, on the right side.



For the last one, she is also in the back, on the right.


So after a long day of cheer I am totally wiped. TTFN, Miki

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!

Here are my little goblins...er, children in costume. Enjoy!

Jacquelyn as Princess Leia


Gwen as a Vampiress


Clarece as herself, I mean a devil


Cornell as a gangster

Monday, October 23, 2006

A weekend of cheer


First there was Saturday. A normal game and cheer day around here, except it was home coming. For me this is strange because these are only children. We didn't have home coming until highschool where I was from. Well they do it all here. They have the game, they have a memory book, or this year it is a picture cd, I am going to guess it is set to music. At half time they announce the prince and princess for that age level, or king and queen if you are at the senior level, and then the respective royalty ride in the back of a convertible and toss candy to the crowd. In some years they have even had a parade around the track. While I have to admit it was cute, it almost seems like too much. When do our kids get to be kids, and what do they have to look forward to in highschool if they were a home coming queen as a first grader?

Anyhow that aside, my sons team won their game, and that put them into the playoffs with a record of 4-4. Just when I thought we were done with football and I could focus on only cheer for the next few weeks, football continues.

After the game on Saturday we came home and set Gwen's hair for her cheer competition the next day. She has to wear it in a pony tail reminiscent of I Dream of Genie right smack dab in the middle of her head, then we have to curl with pink perm rods and tiny little sectins of hair, the pony tail. Oh but wait lest I forget, it requires tons of gel and hair spray. You have to spray each strand before and after rolling. Goodbye ozone...its been nice knowing you. The end result is cute, but harsh on hair, the environment,and of course your time in the day as it took about 2 hours to roll. Then she had to spend the rest of the day with a turban like bandana wrapped on her head. Now those of you who know my daughter know how much she liked that. She didn't want ANYONE to see her looking like that. Of course it didnt matter that over a hundred girls in our area also had their heads looking like this. I wanted to take a picture, but I forgot...next time...cause we get to do this for 3 more weeks! Yeah!!

So, Sunday was consumed with competition. We arrived at VSU(Virginia State University) around noon and left at about 4. Our girls took third in the age and size category. IMHO, they were better than the second place team who had crooked lines, and dropped a girl on a lift. But of course the judges may have seen something I didn't, and then again, maybe there is a whole degree of dificulty thing that you see in other like sports. All I know is that the mothers I was sitting with expected us to get second place, and then were shocked when we got third, and they have all done the competitin thing before.

I did take some video...remember it is on my camera, so no sound...sorry. Also it is from a ways away, no zoom. I think Gwen is first on the right in the back row. I really need to pay more attentin to where she stands. This is not the whole routine, but the portion I could film in 15 seconds. Like Cornells football video you need to click on the box for it to take you to photobucket to view. Sorry. Enjoy the video. TTFN, Miki

Friday, October 20, 2006

I LOVE Halloween

I love the colors of autumn, and jumping in piles of leaves! The best is however, Halloween. Dressing up in costumes, and becoming a character for one night. Candy is good too, but I am too old to trick or treat. So I live vicariously through my children and now my dog. I usually make all my kids costumes. I have a problem spending upwards of $30 per costume, on poorly made articles that barely last one night. Sure I may spend a little more, and there is some time involved, but my kids end up with great costumes. That is not to say I have never purchased a costume. Sometimes it is easier, and sometimes it is the only way to get the desired effect. One year my son was superman with all the muscles. I couldn't make muscles....well I probably could have, but that is another story. A few years ago, Jacquelyn was Sully from Monsters Inc., I couldn't make that blue furry thing as nicely as what I found at Target for only 20 bucks. But I digress. This year I am only making Jacquelyn's costume. She is going to be Princess Leia, complete with the cinnamon buns hair. I am just about finshed with the dress. It needs a few snaps, and hook eyes, and it needs hemmed. It turned out awesome, and I will post pictures of it and the other kids costumes on or just after Halloween. I wanted to make the other kids' costumes, but they wouldn't decide on something, so time became and issue. Gwen finally decided on a female Vampire. I know I could have made the costume better, but oh well. Cornell will be a ganster with the pin stripe suit. I will need to replace the dickie and tie with a real shirt however. Clarece is a devil. I could never find a pattern, or any component of a pattern that I liked. I picked hers up for 10 bucks, so it wasn't a bad price. We will add some little touches to make it grand. So that leaves the dog. While looking for patterns for us. The girls' found one that they loved for Duke. After making it, I agree it suits him. Now we just need to get him used to wearing it. The picture I am posting is of him and Jacquelyn. Enjoy! TTFN, Miki

Monday, October 09, 2006

Latest Knitting Projects

So, even though I have been busy, I have still been knitting a little. I always like to have small projects with me to work on. Scarves, socks and the like work best. I found a pattern in Creative Knitting magazine, July 2006 that I liked. It was for a glass cozy. I made two of them in different shades of denim in DMC Senseo yarn. I really liked how they turned out. They are stretchy and fit nicely on both glasses and bottles. They also keep your hand from getting cold or wet. I am working on one now in red, that is a different kind of yarn. Red matches my kitchen so that makes the most sense. Unfortunately I couldn't find the Senseo in red, so made due with what they had. My only complaint with the Senseo is that it split really easy. This is my first time doing cables by hand, and I think they went really well. I think once I finish the red one, I will go back to socks for awhile. I still haven't made a pair to fit me, and my husband wants some too.


I finally finished the blanket for my cousins new baby Landon. I did a round, amish star again. This time it was in greens with grey. I used Caron Simply Soft in Sage, Dark Sage and Grey. For some reason this pattern was a pain this time around. It fell off the machine at least twice, and I can't tell you how many times I dropped stitches and had to pull out rows. I am glad it is done, and off to its new owner sometime today. My mom showed me the nursery set they decided on. It is a kid friendly jungle scene, so the greens will work nicely with what they chose. Who knew, I just wanted to try something different than the blues. I also think my theory about using a light and dark shade of the same color for the star was proven. I like this blanket as much as the one I did in blues, and much more than the purple and green one I did for my niece. My sister likes the purple and green one, but I think the star works better in a high and low shade.


Also Gwen knit another bag. This one is for her best friend Mackenzie back in Oregon. She used Cascade 220 again. Unfortunately her dad threw away the wrappers before I could write down the color number. They are pink...almost fuchia, and a light blend with the darker color in it. She is getting pretty good with the machine and she enjoys it. The girls at school who have seen the other bag she made all want one now, and she wants to know if she can sell them. I told her she could, but that it takes 3 skeins of yarn at about $8 each, so she would have to have a pretty high price tag to make any money. She said she didn't care, but I bet the girls at school would.


Well that is all I have for now. TTFN, Miki

Monday, October 02, 2006

Monday night lights update

Okay so I am new at this video thing. For some reason, it isn't working like I would like. If you click on the box where my video should be, it should take you to the photobucket website where I stored it and you can view it. Again it is hard to see, and there is glare from the light, but Cornell is the QB, he drops back and throws a pass. Of course the receiver doesn't get far, but so, it was still a nice pass. -M

Monday Night Lights


So, my sister has told me that I am not blogging enough. So much for my resolution to blog at least once a week. Well, ...sorry but I have been REALLY busy. My son is playing football and the nights we aren't practicing, we have a game, and my oldest daughter is cheering. Fortunately she is cheering for her brothers team. But soon her competions will start and that only adds more for me to do. My youngest has started Karate again, and that ties up Wed. Fortunately, my middle daughter is not doing anything right now, except Girl Scouts, which I am a leader for. I am also the co-leader in my youngests troop. But, at least I know where they are and who they are with, and what they are doing. I am also glad they are staying active.

My sister also asked that I include video of Cornell's game. Sorry for the quality, and the distance. Cornell is the quaterback and he threw a nice pass in this clip. I hope you enjoy it. I will try to get video of Gwen cheering on Sat., and post it too.
I also wanted to add that growing up in Eugene, Oregon, where I think only college football is important...GO DUCKS! It has been an experience here in Virginia, where Saturday game days are an experience unto themselves. All the teams in your league playing back to back. Music, play by play, and color over the sound system. Concessions, with a grill that includes a breakfast menu if you are there for the flag game. This is a serious business, and one that I am not accustom to, but am enjoying.
TTFN, Miki

Monday, September 04, 2006

The tie belt idea

In response to those who have commented on the tie belt idea, I just wanted to say that I wish it was ours. However, we found it in the latest issue of Family Fun magazine. She thought the idea looked like some of the belts that she had seen at the store, and that they would be easy to make. They are very easy to make, and so far very popular with the 10-12 year old crowd, oh and the mother of one of the girls she gave it to. Unfortunatley unless you are a very thing adult, or you can find ties for big and tall men(these would have extra length)it is not easy to make these for adults. You end up cutting the tie right about where it starts to get wider. This is usually 37 inches or so, and while that may fit around some people, you still need belt to cinch and an end to tuck into belt loops to look right. If you are unfamiliar with Family Fun magazine, I would encourage you to check it, or their website out, as there are lots of great and easy ideas there.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

It Really Sucks To Lose A Bet...

Or so my son recently found out. Two months ago he signed up for football. This was his first year in full pads. I think in Oregon 5th graders are still playing touch. Anyhow, after an hour or so of struggling to get his pads in the pockets the right direction, he gave up proclaiming it to be "IMPOSSIBLE". Well, his twin sister loves a challenge, especially when it means bettering her brother. She quickly ask if she could try. He told her sure but she wouldn't be able to do it either because the pockets where too small and the pads too big. She said, "I bet I can." He said she couldn't. Too which she answered, "if I do, you have to put on my cheerleader uniform, lollies(the briefs for under the skirt) and all." He quickly agreed believing that she would never get them in, because it was "impossible" In a matter of seconds she was done. The pads in the right spots, and bending the right direction. Cory, my son, thought it was funny, and agreed to wear the uniform, when she gets it. Well....this last week the uniform arrived. I guess he thought she would forget, or we wouldn't make him do it...boy was he wrong. After telling him he was grounded(maybe a little extreme, but he needs to learn to stand by his word) until he paid up, he finally put the uniform on. He made me promise not to take pictures, and was dismayed when he realized I was only going to take one picture, not multiple pictures. Then the begging began...Mom please don't put this on your blog...yeah right, like I would pass this one up. Okay so maybe I am a little cruel...but he does look kinda cute. His younger sister even whistled at him. Maybe now he will know not to make a bet he wouldn't be willing to pay up on. TTFN, miki

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Belts out of ties


My oldest daughter has been so creative lately. She has started to make the cutest cinch belts out of old ties. She made two last weekend aa a gift for her friend to go with the bag she knit and felted. The turned out so well that she just "had" to make more. Of course she wanted to raid her dads ties to get some really good ones. Plus, as she put it, he never wears ties anyway. Well he didnt let her go through the ties, but did give up a few. She then went to goodwill yesterday and found 20 more that she thought would be good belt choices. Of course when she got home, her dad then chose two that he wanted to keep. One was a nice belt choice, but also a very classic style tie. The other was only ok, and I secretly hope he never wears it. Oh wait I guess it isnt a secret because I told him, and now I am blogging about it. I took pictures of the ones she made last night for gifts. They are very cute. She is even talking about maybe making some and selling them. I like that idea. We will she what comes of it. TTFN, Miki

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Gwens first machine knit project


I set my oldest daughter up on the knitting machine yesterday to make a gift for a friends birthday. She knit a simple little tote bag/purse. It turned out so cute. I made one a few years ago for a friend and loved it so much I didnt want to give it away. I feel the same about this one. Of course...I didnt make it. I showed her what she needed to do, and stayed close by to solve any problems. All in all she did a good job. She "unzipped" it once from the machine, but stopped after about 15 stitches so it was easy to rehang. And one time the whole machine nearly fell to the floor but she caught it and we only had to frog a few rows. I seamed it up for her and it felted so nicely. We used the kangamooknits pattern, that can be found on their website, or for free on the bond website. We just didnt but the pocket on the front. She used Cascade Quatro in color #5018 for the main body, and Cascade 220 in color # 9421 for the top, bottom and handles. She only needed two skeins for the main color, and one for the secondary. On a side note...I wish manufacturers would name their colorways, instead of numbering them. The colors are just too beautiful for a number in my oppinion. TTFN, Miki

Monday, August 14, 2006

Painting the girls room


I just finished painting my girls' bedroom. I wanted to share the focal point wall with you all because I love how it turned out. It was a bit of a pain to do, and there are still a few spots that will need some touch up. But, all in all I love how it turned out. The girls chose the colors to match their bedding. Each of the other three walls are one of the colors on the focal wall. The result is very bright and hip, IMHO. Hope you like it too.

Friday, July 28, 2006

puppy picture



here he is...

Brielle's blanket, my quickly growing puppy and a finger update




Well, I know it has been awhile since I've written. It is just that I have been furiously working on Jacquelyn's stocking. I really should take a picture so you can see the progress. Oh well. I did finally finish Brielle's blanket. I like the knitting, but to do the worm trim on the edge, and to work in all the loose ends is NO FUN! I know it is a necessary part of knitting, but I really dislike the finish work. I do have to say that I put it off a little as when Brielle was only a few weeks old she was hospitalized when she began vomiting blood. I did not want to finish the blanket and send it until we knew all was well. As far as I have been told she is fine. They have diagnosed her with an anal sphincter problem, and also with acid reflux. Apparently with "training" for the sphincter and medicine for the reflux, she should be fine. Why is it that I am hearing of lots of babies with acid reflux lately? My son as a baby spit up tons after every feeding. In fact it was pretty much non stop from feeding to feeding. All of his clothes were stained, and we had to warn everyone who held him to beware of spit. The doctor told me that as long as he was gaining weight it wasn't a problem. It makes me wonder if his diagnosis would be different now.

So anyhow, I have uploaded a picture of the blanket. It is pretty basically the pattern I do for most baby blankets. It is knit with Caron Simply Soft, in Iris, Orchid, and Grey Heather. The lavender color of the Orchid only shows up well on one of the squares in the picture.

I have also added a picture of the puppy. Duke is growing lots. We knew he was getting bigger, but when we took another picture by the basketball we were surprised at how much bigger he has gotten.

Lastly I have added a picture of my now mostly healed finger. Many people have sent me good wishes regarding it and I greatly appreciate it. I wanted to post a picture soon after the injury, but thought it might gross out to many people. Instead I waited and have drawn around where it was cut with a pen. There is still a nice dent in the finger that I imagine we be there for awhile if not forever. Also, there is a small knot of scar tissue right at the knuckle that seems to be attached to the nerve. I only know this because I have accidentally hit it a few times and thought I might die. I have also scraped it on the fly nut on the bottom of the cross stitch frame and thought I had cut it open again. Oww!

On a fun note. We took our kids for another concert at Innsbrook Pavilion. This last week we saw Train. This is a band we like and the kids are familiar with them. What a great concert!! They were terrific and we all had a great time. If you live in the Richmond area and have not been to a concert there I highly recommend it. They have a variety of different bands, and the prices are reasonable. Plus kids 12 and under are free. That in and of itself makes it worth it to us. We have seen Hootie and the Blowfish, and Blues Traveler there this year. Lots of fun in the outdoors in Virginia! TTFN, Miki

Oops! It won't let me add the dogs picture. I will try again later.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Where to start


So I saw the Doctor about my finger on Thursday. He said I couldnt have done much more damage without cutting the finger off. Well isnt that great to know. Anyhow, I hit/cut the finger in 3 spots. In the first spot I only nicked and bruised the finger, the second, and worst spot, I cut and hit/bruised the artery and nerve. Which I also did to a lesser degree to the third spot, in between the 2 fingers. He said that it would hurt a lot for a few weeks. Great! He also said that he was worried about a staph infection so he was putting me on antibiotics. One of the two reasons I went to him, infection. The other was of course pain. On the pain front, I didn't get any good pain killers, but 800mg. of good old Ibuprofen. That seems to be doing the trick, so I guess Dr. knows best. So aside from pointing out the obvious(it was a bad cut)and applying neosporin and a badage, all I got out of the visit was a prescription. Oh well. In a similar vein, the antibiotic he put me on is the worst. It gives the worst stomache aches, even when taken with food and with a prilosec in me. YUCK!

So....the big news....we got a new puppy!!!Yeah! Except for the waking up a few times a night, and the constantly needing to know where he is and what he is into, it isnt too bad. Oh and the keeping the kids from smothering him to death. I have become so accustom to sleeping all night, that now I remember what it was like to be a nursing mom. The good news is that I will get him sleeping through the night faster than a human baby

We purchased an 8 week old male pug puppy. He is so tiny and adorable. This is the second pug we have owned. We have found them to be very good dogs for our family. TTFN, Miki

Thursday, June 29, 2006

moda dea website

So the first time I linked it, I put a comma where a period should be. So I went to edit and fixed it and republished, and it hasnt changed so. Here is the right link for the Moda Dea site

A note about the socks

Mary reminded me that I needed to share the pattern and colorway on Gwens socks. Well I did so in the comments section under the sock picture thinking that everyone would be able to see it. But unless you click on comments, you won't. So here it is again. The yarn was Lion Brand magic stripes in the stonewashed blue pattern. The pattern was "Knitted Socks" by Grace Alexander. I found this pattern on the Moda Dea website for their Sassy Stripes yarn. It was a free pattern when I found it. I think you need to look under free patterns for Sassy Stripes yarn on the Moda Dea website.

Hooray

Yeah for me and Gwen! Or is it Gwen and I? Yes I think it is. Well anyway and either way, we finished removing the wallpaper in the kitchen. I will still need to paint, but it is a huge improvement on the partially removed paper that we have been looking at since Oct.. Plus I like the white walls better than the paper that was up there. There is something to be said for making a home your own, rather than living in what you what you purchased. Everyone has diferent tastes and one should not be subject to the tastes of the previous owner.

Our family room is a sorta peach color, which I guess isnt that bad. But up against the now white walls of the dining room, I am not fond of it. My husband thinks it still works, but I will soon convince him that it will need painted. It just looks dirty to me now.

On a completely different note...I cut my finger pretty bad yesterday instictively reaching for a picture frame that was falling down our stairs. Just as I reached for it, it broke apart and the inside of my right ring finger was sliced by the glass. I took a pretty good piece out near the second knuckle. It bled a really long time and just when I thought it was done bleading it started again. My husband and sister both thought I needed to go to the doctor for stitches. But my answer to them was to stitch what, the piece was missing. My sister suggested they might cauterize it. Yeah just what I want something hot, burning the spot that I cut! Well now a day later, my finger, and whole hand for that matter hurts. So I made a doctors appointment just to have it looked at. At this point I want to be on the safe side. Also I really dont want it to get infected. I like to think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I mean I did give birth twice naturally, and I didnt cry yesterday...all though I wanted to. But, right now, I could go for some pain pills. Of course typing isnt helping anything, and I keep making mistakes and I use that finger to back space and when I do, pain shoots through my hand. So now we get to see what the doctor has to say. TTFN, Miki

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Wallpaper

Well I have spent the majority of the day removing the wallpaper in the kitchen, dining room and hallways. What a hot, yucky job! But, the dining room looks so much brighter with just white walls. I will still need to paint, but it looks so much better. Granted there was nothing really wrong with the wallpaper. I have seen worse, but it just wasn't my thing. My oldest daughter Gwen helped. Of course she knows that as soon as the kitchen is done we can paint her room. I am glad she helped though, or I wouldnt be as far along as I am. TTFN, Miki

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Socks and progress bars


Well I finally figured out progress bars. I told my sister earlier today that I would need to make a progress bar for my progress bars. For some reason I was having trouble figuring it all out. Well today I had a break through, and they are now fully installed. Yeah! Kinda corny I know, but gives me and anyone who reads this a perspective of some of the things I am working on. It will hopefully also keep me on track, and help get things finished in a timely manner.

Keeping this in mind...I finished Gwen's socks. They were orginally my socks, but I didnt think the first one fit as good as it should, and it fit her perfect. I loved the colorway, and loved most of the pattern, but it had me stopping and cutting the yarn and then restarting at the heel. This, because I wasnt thinking, made the two socks just a little different. Hard to tell unless I mention it and you are looking for it. Plus, she will probably be wearing shoes most of the time. The frustratin thing is that I restated the second sock MANY times to make them match and then they don't. I know I am being anal about this, but I like my socks to match. Anyhow she is tickeled to have them and I have one project done, not counting the progress bars. TTFN, Miki

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Sharing a name

So I have had a pretty interesting week. My mom called on Tuesday to let me know that a cousin of mine had her baby. While on the phone I ranted to her a little about a fight that my husband and I had got into. My husbands father had passed away a few weeks ago and the arduous task of tying up loose ends has begun. His financial advisor had called us to let us know that one of Dads accounts had beneficiaries listed and so it would not have to go through probate and could be dispersed immediately. He gave us for options, but didn't tell us how much money we were talking. I think this is kind of important when trying to decide what you want done with the money. Anyhow, when we called him back he started asking for all kinds of information like my husbands work info and gross income, and my social security number. Well I refused to give it to my husband. As a side note I think this is both funny and sad. I know his social and he doesn't know mine, so I had the option of refusing and he wouldn't. Then again, I wouldn't just give it out without a logical explanation. Anyhow, I ask why it was needed and the answer was I don't know, he says he needs to open an account for us to get the money. This all may be true, but that was not what was initially told to us, and seemed a little hokey. My thought is he is legally bound to give us this money no matter what. So when my husband got off the phone he was a little upset with me and said you know he can get that information just about anywhere. Now I know that I am not the only person who holds the key to that info, but he would have to work pretty hard to get it.
So as I am telling all this to my mom, she disagreed that it could be found. And I told her that you can get just about anything online anymore if you use the right programs and take the time. Which, by the way I don't think he will do. So as my mom and I are chatting about this, she decides to google my name. I bet you were wondering when I was getting to the topic huh? Anyhow, apparently she had never done this before and was rather surprised to get 4 pages of hits. I had done this before and was not surprised. Now some of you may be confused as to her surprise, and others may be saying 4 pages big deal, I get 40. But here is the kicker. My mom made up my name and I have never seen it anywhere before. It is spelled Mikalan, and pronounced Michael Ann. So 4 pages is a lot. The most surprising thing though was that they were not all in reference to me. There were some for a real estate agent in Lake Oswego, OR. Now I had seen these before when I had google myself and just figured that it was an ethnic name that sounded very different. But on Tuesday I decided to email her and ask. Much to my surprise she pronounces it the same way. She is 4 years older than me, so I am no longer the original, or unique. It is a strange feeling to say or type your name in reference to someone else, if you never have before.
I have given all my kids names that are not very common, but are by far unique. I wanted them to have a name that was theirs. My sister was a Sarah, along with 5 other little girls in her first grade class and I never wanted that for my kids. But, I have never heard or seen my name before. Sure I have heard things close like Mikayla Ann, but that is still different. So now I share a name with someone else. For me it is a strange feeling, and yet I imagine I am not too likely to run into her so it wont really be a problem. My mom said that the next thing we know it will be on the top 10 baby names, and all because I moved to the East coast and have spread the contact that was once limited to the West coast. I don't suppose that year in Minnesota hurt things either. Of course I don't think my name will ever make the top ten, or even become common, but I guess I need to prepare for the eventuality of hearing it more. TTFN, Miki

Saturday, May 20, 2006

More about the Ugly Necklace

Well, I was so excited about the contest, that I forgot to mention which one was theirs. It is the one by Lisa Matthews. Lisa and Angie worked on the necklace together and Angie wrote the poem. TTFN, Miki

Friday, May 19, 2006

Ugly Necklace Contest

Hey guys my friend Angie, (bubba to all her friends) entered an Ugly Necklace Contest with a friend. They were one of the top ten finalist. You can go to the link and vote and maybe they will win. Angie wrote the poem which I love. Check it out at ugly necklace

Friday, May 12, 2006

Flowers



Ihave been busy finishing up my nieces birthday gift and some simple gifts for my mother and grandmother for Mothers Day. Now I have put it off much to long, and will need to send them express to get them there on time. But I think it will be worth the extra money. I had decided to give my niece the felted hat her sister hadnt chosen. She had fallen in love with it when she saw it it January, and I almost gave it to her then, but my sister said she already had a felt hat from me. Well, too bad, now she is getting another! ;) Anyhow, I decided to jazz it up a bit and at the same time use some of my leftover wool from making hats. I bought the flower pattern from Kangamooknits, and away we went. I made a rose and a bachelor button, and a picot flower. The bachelor button is on the hat right now. The rose for her is the pale pink and the picot is the aqua flower. I then decided to make mom and grandma rose corsages for Mothers Day. They are red,and hot pinkish. They all turned out great. I think the picot is my least favortie, as you cant see the edge detail. I have glued and sewn pin backs on all of them, so they can wear them on anything they want. Also my niece can mix and match on her hat. I think the bachelor button looks best though. TTFN, Miki

Friday, May 05, 2006

Sorry about the mess

Now I am truly embarrassed. When I took the quilt pictures...I was focused on the quilt, not the mess my husband made when he unpacked. Sorry that you all had to see that. -miki

Quilt pictures



Here are some pictures of the quilts my husband brought home. The crazy quilt is mostly satin. The patchwork is mostly 60's polyester.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Genealogy Happy Dance

So my husband has returned from Oregon. His father has not passed, but is in a comatose state, and expected to die soon. So, the kids have begun the process of setteling the estate. They started by going through his personal belongings. Surprisingly there were no fights. Each child got what they wanted. What a peaceful way to deal with stressful circumstances. Anyhow, Tuesday morning after he got back to Virginia, he unpacked everything in the living room. He had told me very little about what he had brought home. Boy was I in for a surprise. He started by handing me two letter size boxes. I opened the first and was surprised to find his fathers high school diploma. The second held his mothers diploma, and their wedding invitation, and marriage license. I was so happy, and he knew I would be. He then told me that his brother and sister had wanted to throw them away. What? I am so glad they didn't. Before he had left I had mentioned that I didnt want any paperwork thrown away. No letters or anything because you just never know what "innocent" information it may contain that can give me a key to getting new information. A name, a date, and address, anything. I think he got a little sick of me mentioning it everytime we spoke, but at least he got the idea. Thinking that was all he had brought home, I was very pleased. Then he handed me this strange little white leather apron with a triangular flap on the front. ??? I had no idea what this was. I lifted the flap and there was his grandfathers name and initiation dates and such for the Masonic lodge he was a part of. I had no idea which lodge it was until now. More info. YEAH! Then he handed me a ziploc freezer bag with some yellowed papers in it. When I pulled the papers out, I saw it was his grandmothers highschool memory book, or senior year journal. It was well worn, with lots of newspaper clippings and photos. Most of it is unimportant to me, but our high school commencement program was in it, as was her wedding announcement. That contained some info for me. He then handed me a large stack of photos most of which I had seen when I put his fathers scrapbook together. However in this stack was his fathers draft card. Yeah! Then he started unpacking odds and end stuff, mainly knick knacks. In the odds and ends was a medallion locket. It was his grandmothers and has her initials on the back. It is flat like a coin. When I opened it, it had a picture of her mother and father. I had never seen these pictures so this was exciting. All in all, I got lots more stuff, and stuff that most genealogist would love to have, and I now know that I have trained my husband well in the art of family archiving. Oh yeah he also brought home a cool crazy quilt done with mainly satins that were his grandmothers gowns from when she performed. We have always loved this quilt and when we were home in August he almost packed it in our bag, but thought twice and decided not to. As it turned out, we got it anyway, so it didnt matter. TTFN, Miki

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Shout Out to BoneZmama designs

Okay so one of my best friends in the whole wide world has taken a GIANT leap of faith, and started her own business. Us girls have been encourageing her to do this for years, and now the time is right. She does customizable painting from the funky to the fun to the whatever you are looking for. She is great fun to work with, and does some AMAZING stuff. I have already posted pictures of a few of her creations ( finger puppets and skater hat). Please check out her website. You can get there from the link on my sidebar. boneZmama desgins. TTFN,miki

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Answers to questions about the UFO

So, Mary wanted to know if it was needlepoint. It is actually cross stitch. A few years ago, my SIL was purging her craft stuff. She called me up knowing that I have done cross stitch in the past as she had boxes of patterns and cloth and baby blankets and much more. I didnt take a whole lot of what she had as we have very dissimilar tastes. She leans more to the country look, which I think is nice in some things, but not everywhere. Anyhow she had a pattern book that had lots of breadclothes and napkins, placemats, and dish towel patterns. I figured there were a few in there that I could do. She also had the precut, and edged placemat fabric. She then told me that she had bought it intending to do the sunflower placemats, but that her tendonitis got so bad (sound familiar) that she was unable to do them. At that moment a light bulb went off. She is hard for me to buy for and she had a birthday coming up. I could make these for her! Well I got right to it, and soon found my hands would not let me complete them quickly. On her birthday I wrapped the one I had finished for her and told her I would finish the rest. She was very pleased. Unfortunately that was about 2 years ago. I have since purchased cute blue and white gingham napkins to go with them, and have looked to no avail for sunflower napkin rings. I think she has probably forgotten about the gift and will be surprised to get it. I will continue to look for napkin rings, and may be make some myself as a last resort. But, that will have to be a gift for another time.

I have a few more UFO's to complete, but the weather is soooo nice (alergies aside) and I still need to finish planting my garden. I also have a growing list of new projects to start as I have two cousins and a neighbor who are expecting very soon. I still need to finish the felted flowers I am making for my niece. She really loved the hat her sister didnt choose, so she will be getting it for her birthday in May. I decided to add a couple of felted flower pins to it, that she can wear on it, or take off, or put on something else. I am not totally please with how they have turned out so far. Again, I am beginning to think it is my washing machine. Don't get me wrong. I love the washer, but I haven't mastered felting in it yet.

Now, a question for Mary. Did you ever knit anything with that watercolor yarn you liked so well in my nieces poncho? TTFN, Miki

Friday, April 28, 2006

One UFO done!!!


Yeah! I finally got the placemats done. I had given these as a gift to my SIL two years ago for her birthday. I had hoped to have them done for her birthday, but then I started having some very serious tendonitis problems with my hands, and was only able to work on them for about 5 minutes without pain. So, now my hands are better, which I attribut to my knitting, and they are finally done. I had hoped to have them finished to send back with my husband today, but I didn't I am just glad they are finished. They still need to be washed and pressed, but at least I dont have to stitch them any more, and I have a UFO dont. Horray for me. TTFN

Keeping too busy to blog

Well there goes the writing at least once a week. I have been trying to work out more so I can drop a few pounds that I gained since moving to Virginia. I have been trying to get a garden planted between rain showers. I have been ferrying two of my children from baseball and softball practices and games. I have been consumed by birthday parites that my children are attending. And to top it all off, my father in law has been in the hospital for a little over two weeks. So, we have been trying to stay close to home so that if need be we can jump on a plane to go home. Well, on Monday evening, they gave him less than three hours to live. He is still with us, but is very touch and go. My husband is flying home today. I am beginning to feel like he is waiting for him to get there. For his sake, I hope he goes quickly and painlessly. This has been a long roller coaster of a few weeks for us, and has to be a little uncomfortable for him also. The doctors have him on morphine to make him comfortable until he passes. My kids are greiving and this has been very hard on all of us. Not to mention that at night we are only sleeping half way, waiting to hear the phone ring. I love my father in law, and wish that it wasnt playing out this way, but I am ready for it to be over. He is sick, weak and confused, and has no quality of life. Just Sunday he was asking where mom was and when she was coming to visit. Mom died a little over 9 years ago. My kids and I believe in spirits. We think that in one of his more critical moments she came to him, and now he is confused and wonders where she is. The kids know that Grandma is waiting for him, and this has made this whole process easier. TTFN, miki

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

How do you appease the travel gods?

So I was thinking the whole trip to New York was just a strange mishap. But, now I am wondering what we have done to upset the travel gods. Yesterday we drove the about 1 1/2 hours to Montpellier to pick up my husbands sister to visit and see the sites in DC(another about 1 1/2 hrs. away). She flew in the day before from Vancouver, WA from a Constitutional Connects symposium. We figured she was close enough and we would at least get some quality time and a good meal out of the trip. Well that was not to be the case. For those of you who have never been to Montpellier, it is in the middle of nowhere. It is a beautiful estate, but as my husband said, both Jefferson and Washington had better views. And Washington was closer to DC, and Jefferson closer to Charlottsville. Anyhow, my husband made a wrong turn leaving and added an extra hour onto the trip. But that was not the worst part. We had picked the kids up early and they had been doing homework in the car and the two older ones said they werent feeling well. Logically we thought they must be car sick as they had been looking down and we were on a pretty curvy road. Now mind you we have always traveled a lot in the car and they have never been carsick before. Well, we were wrong. They spent the rest of the evening puking. But they didnt start until we were on our way to DC, so my poor sister in law was stuck. Then we modified our siteseeing for them and their younger sister got sick. So here we are in the middle of DC, with three kids puking. There goes the nice dinner. So, it was crazy. Of course the batteries in my digital camera died and I couldnt find anyplace open to replace them. I had told my sister in law I would burn her a disc on the drive back. Well with the camera dead, I said I will just use what I already have on the computer. Of course there will be no cherry blossoms, but I will do my best. Well the darn computer was refusing the disc. So, no pictures either. I will burn it and send it to her later. So, what do I need to do to make our trips less faterul in the future? TTFN, miki

Friday, March 24, 2006

Surprise Anniversary gifts

My husband is such a romantic. All of my friends are jealous and their husbands now hate him. Oh well...they will get over it. We just celebrated out 14th wedding anniversary. To surprise me, he bought tickets to New York, made reservations at Sardi's, and then tickets to see Rent on Broadway. We flew in for just the day and night and then flew back the next morning. What a fun trip. However after much planning and such, his trip did not go as he had envisioned. The airline lost our luggage, and instead of sight seeing and going to dinner, we spent the first few hours in New York getting me clothes and shoes suitable for dinner. Then when we checked into the hotel room, it was FLITHY. I complained and they upgraded us, but still a bummer. So then we went to will call to pick up our tickets and while we were charged for Orchestra we were given rear mezzanine(the back row). That was still ok because it was a small theater. But we still have to deal with the ticket agency about a credit. Then my husband tells me that he had first purchased ticket to see Spamalot, but that the company he purchased them from as appartanly gone out of business and last minute Rent was all he could get.

Well, needless to say I thought the trip, was wonderful. But he didnt. It wasnt what he planned and sometimes it his hard to get past that vision. Rent was awesome! What amazing vocal talent these people have. The airlines did find our bag. Yeah! But did not want to compensate us in any way for the inconvience. They finally gave us 2 twenty five dollar vouchers for our next flight. Not much considering I had to spend 117 for clothes and shoes, and I will never wear the shoes again, because they hurt my feet. I will write the airline over this one.

Also we missed our reservation at Sardi's, but were able to go there after the musical, but the airline doesnt need to know that. Dinner was good. The company was excellent, and the first time in a long time, we were away from our kids overnight. Hey this could be a Visa commerical. Didnt I see somewhere that they were doing a contest for the best written priceless commerical. I'd say one night a s grown ups is priceless, even with all the mix ups. I think I will work on that idea. I guess it doesnt hurt to try right? TTFN, miki

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Socks!



So, I FINALLY finished the socks I have been working on. They were knit in Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn, color Jelly bean. When I first chose the yarn, I thought I would like it. However, I dont know how often I will wear these socks. I am not real confident with the colors. I also am less than thrilled with the pattern I chose to knit. This is the second time I used this pattern(the one that came with the socks), and I really dont like the fit. The first ones I knit actually fit a little better. Hmm. Oh well. So, while looking for some more Moda Dea yarn, I came accross a color of Magic Stripes I didn't have. It was Stonewashed Blue. I bought some and decided to use the Moda Dea sock pattern with it. First off, I love this yarn. I love the colors!!! Second, I think I will like this pattern better. It is a 2x2 rib for the entire upper part. The Lion Brand sock is only about 10 rows of 1x1 rib. I think this makes the sock to loose. I cant wait to see how these socks turn out. I am making them in a size medium. I hope they fit me. Of course, if they dont, I have two girls who both ask me to give them to them...so they might end up with this first pair, and I will have to make another pair for me.

I have also been kicking around the idea of dyeing my own yarn. There is a gentleman I became accquainted with online via the sweater machine group on yahoo. He lives in New Orelans, and has decided to quit his job and start his own business. As part of his business he is designing colorways for wool yarn. I love some that he has shared pictures with on his blog, www.raywhiting.com/MyLife/. His pictures and experiences have inspired me to try this. I have also thought about letting my girl scouts dye some cotton, like some Cream and Sugar, and then have them knit it into a small purse. I think this could be a fun experience.

Speaking of Girls Scouts, we are right in the heat of cookie sales, and my house is full of cookies. It is SO hard to not eat them!

A good friend of mine sent me a link to a blog that I now want to share. It was VERY funny. You too can laugh till you cry at www.thesneeze.com. I particularly like steve dont eat it. You can find it on the side bar under first time here this is a good place to start, or something like that.

Anyhow, enjoy the links and the pictures. TTFN, Miki

Friday, March 03, 2006

new hat

So, i got my new carriage a day or so ago, and it seems to be not jamming on the needle butts. Yeah!! I wasnt really in the mood to start any new project, but wanted to try out the new carriage. So, I made the March free pattern from Kangamooknits.com. I made it in a purple, Iris I think. I still need to seam the back, but it was quick and easy, and will hopefully fit my girls. If not, my sister in law told me her aunt had breast cancer and as a result of treatment would soon be losing her hair. She had decided not to go the wig route and was thinking of just wearing hats. She ask if I could make a felted one. I said yes, but would probably have to line it as it may be a little itchy on her head. She said she would get back to me. I also offered the skater beanie style chemo cap. This one may be a little cuter than that. It almost reminds me of a bonnet for an adult. We'll see how it looks when seemed. TTFN, Miki

Monday, February 27, 2006

My Rant about the DMV

Let me just start by saying that I know most of these people work hard, and try to do their job right. Today I went to the DMV to get my Virginia License and to get plates for my car. This is something we did a month or so for my husbands, but we hadn't done mine yet. Now getting a title and registration in Minnesota was easy. Getting a license there was a whole other fiasco. Needles to say in Minnesota I went to the DMV twice and still didn't leave with a license. In Minnesota they mail your license to you. It took me over two months and several phone calls for it to finally arrive in my mailbox. Their reason for not giving it to you the day you pay for it, well it is this special new security feature. Frankly I couldn't find it. It had micro printing and a bar code and a hologram just like my Oregon license. Oh well! Anyhow in Minnesota they wanted my birth certificate and my official registrar stamped marriage license, not the fancy one. I of course didn't have it, and when I mentioned it to my friends and family none of them had theirs either. I ask if they would take my Social Security card as I had to have a copy of my marriage license to get it. They said no as it isn't a form of ID(what?) and doesn't show the progression of my name. Whatever! Anyone so now here we are in Virginia. The first time we went to the DMV to register my husbands car we didn't plan on getting our license so we didn't have our birth certificates. We expected to have to take a written test. This was not the case. They told us, after we ask what we would need, we needed birth certificate, proof of our address, and the marriage license for me. So when we went back to do our license, that is what we brought,.....But no we needed our social security card or at least something official that shows our number and name, like a W2. Well fortunately we had my husbands W-2's in the car, but as I don't work outside the home, I was outa luck. How strange we weren't told we needed them, and stranger still, I was told at one point not to carry my card as it wasn't ID. Hmmm..., well then what is it? So here we are at today. I got everything together. Had some trouble finding the marriage license, but left for the DMV. Waited about an hour and when we got to the desk, I had forgotten the title to the car. I was told it couldn't be registered without. Well why not, we didn't have the title to my husband, just the registration and they registered it. I was told they shouldn't have because it is hard to get a title in VA if you have lost it. What? All you have to do is a lost title search with the VIN. How stupid do these people think I am? Anyhow now I have to go back with the title tomorrow as my Minnesota plates expire tomorrow. So now on to the license. She takes the paperwork I give her, doesn't even look at the marriage license and gives me a new license. Now I am really irritated. Why have rules and regulations, and policies if you can pick and choose which ones you are going to follow? My husband said I pissed the lady off and she was going to put me to the bottom of the picture taking pile. Maybe she did, we were there a while longer. I guess having lived in 3 states in 3 years and having to jump through each states hoops, makes me wish that we could all decide on what is needed and then follow through with it. And if a Social Security card isn't ID, stop asking me for my number on every little form I fill out. That's all for now, Miki

Birthday Week

Whew! My week of birthdays and parties is OVER! Thank goodness. I am not sure how much more I could take. My twins' birthday was on Tuesday. They turned ten. We had their party with about 20 4th graders on Sat.. My youngest daughters birthday was Thursday. She turned 6. So, on Sat. we had a party for her friends. So, needless to say no knitting has been accomplished this week other than the hat for my cousin. Which I still need to send. This week is scheduled to be another crazy week so, I dont know how much I am going to get done as far as knitting goes this week. The older girls are still cheering for basketball, my son starts baseball practice. My youngest starts Karate lessons, and then their is girl scouts. I will be doing a lot of driving just to get them where they need to go. Someone on the sweater machine group on Yahoo has inspired me to knit some summer tops. I am not sure however I have a yarn and can/want to use. I will also need to adapt a pattern from handknitting. There are lots of really cool patterns in the recent knitting mags. Also, after getting no response back from the group about the problems I was having with the machine, I called Bond-America, the suppliers, manufacturers, whatever. Anyhow Laurie, the women I spoke with said that it sounded like the carriage was funky and she would send me a new one. I sure hope this fixes the problem. What great customer support!!! I have only heard one bad thing about their customer support and it really surprised me, because I have never had any difficulties. This person eventually had their problem dealt with, but had to send her machine into them, and I dont think she has gotten it back yet. Well, I need to get the kids moving a little faster or they will miss the bus. TTFN

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Hooded Poncho Yarn

Mary, the yarn I used in the hooded poncho is Red Heart Yarn, color water color. I also did a blanket in a variegated purple and green and tan that patterned up into an argyle. Unfortunatley that is before I had a digital camera, so I didnt get a picture of it. I hope this helps, and have fun knitting something spectaular with this yarn.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006


So, here it is another hat, which I guess in my group of friends and family I have become notorious for. When I was back in Oregon, and I gave my sister all the cool stuff I made for her new baby, my Aunt Kathy ask if I was still making hats. Of course I still make them. She said she wanted one for her daughter Bonnie who is a Junior or Senior, I dont remember which at the University of Oregon. She was hoping I could do it in Green and Yellow. Now dont get me wrong, I am one of the biggest Duck fans ever. You have to root for your school right. And I have my share of green and yellow attire, but a hat I dont know. I had a great dark green one I wore to cold games and loved it, but the yellow is soooo bright, I dont think I could pull it off, but maybe for a game. Anyhow, I came home, my sister suggested I try the Patons Merino Classic Wool. They had just started carring it at her Joannes and she wanted to know how it felted. She also knew that I hadnt found a Brown Sheep distributor locally and knew I wouldnt have time to buy direct. So I went to my local Ben Franklin, which has a great selection of yarn for a craft store and they had the perfect color in it, Bottle Green. I then found a bright yellow fun fur, not sure of its name as I cant find the label, but it is the only bright yellow. I then knit the fur with some Lambs Pride in Lemon Drop, and had this green and yellow hat. The green felted great, the yellow could have felted better, but when coupled with the fast felting green, I had to stop felting it. I hope she likes and wears the hat. I still think it would be a game day only hat, but she may think differently. I knit the hat from the Kangamooknits pattern, and did it on my USM.
I am beginning to have problems with my USM, it seems like the carriage is sitting lower on the bed. The carriage keeps catching on the needle butts. It is VERY frustrating. I think I remem

Monday, February 20, 2006

The hooded poncho

I had a comment on one of my entries....Yeah someone is looking at my blog. I dont know why this excites me so, but it does. I responded to the comment in the comment section. I am not sure the person who wrote it will see it, so I will also respond here. This seems a tad more efficient to me anyhow.

So the answer to the comment is yes, I did knit the hooded poncho. I knit it on my machine, from a kangamooknits.com pattern. The yarn used was a varigated one from Red Heart. I dont know the color off the top of my head, but saved the label for when I finally get around to making my knitting journal. I love the way it self patterned into a pseudo intarsia. The ponchos were gifts for all my nieces last Christmas. I have also given them as gifts to most of the little girl friends of my daughters on their birthday. For me this is a inexpensive gift, that is quick to do. One poncho takes about 2 hours, and when using Red Heart, or Simply Soft, my preferred yarn, costs me only about 10 dollars.

Also I must apoligize for the picture being sideways. I had recently taken it on my trip home and hadnt even gotten to the point of turning all the pictures when I started to add them. I was just finally happy to get the pictures to add. The strange thing is I didnt do anything different and this time they showed up. Oh well live and learn. TTFN, Miki

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Link to the Ruby Red Slippers pattern

Hello all, I know I have promised the pattern, and never given it...so here goes. The title of the blog is Just let me finish this row... How many times have I said that to my kids. Anyhow you can get there from www.lionbrand.com, or www.lionbrand.com/lbyarnblog4/. When on her site the easiest way to find the pattern is to type Goodbye Yellow brick road into the search this site box. The pattern should come up there. Hope this helps anyone looking for it. TTFN-miki

Wednesday, February 01, 2006








Well the first time I tried, they didnt show up, and then I got two to show, and one I didnt even right about. Anyhow it was of my neice Alli in her new hat. She chose the purple one in Cascade 220. It wasnt mine, or her moms favorite, but it was hers. Isnt she pretty. Anyhow, I am going to try to add more pictures now. So keep your fingers crossed. -miki