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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Well, I am back from my trip to Oregon. I had so much fun. I sure miss my nieces though. My stay was much to short, and I can hardly wait to go back. My sister loved the blanket, felted booties and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road booties I made. My nieces thought the Ruby red slippers for Baby Jilly were sooo cute! And they were. ;) So for now I really dont have that much I am knitting. I am still working on the socks in self striping yarn. I am not sure I like the colors and may give them to my daughter, but then again I love handknit socks, so I may keep them. I am also working on a shrug pattern from the Lionbrand web site. It is a wrap around shrug knit in homespun. I chose a charcol grey so it will be versatile. Essentilally you put in one arm, wrap the rest once around your body, like you would wrap a scarf, and put the other arm in. I thought it sounded interesting, and I love homespun. So, we will see if I like it when it is done. I had started on a sweater for my father in law. I was knitting the Boyfriend sweater from Kangamooknits.com, in Caron Simply Soft. But, it was HUGE. I could have worn the size medium as a dress. Now I am not that short, so I dont know why it is sooo big. I think I will write Linda at Kangamooknits and see what she thinks. Maybe it has to do with my guage. I have no idea at this point. I guess I really should swatch and check guage. I am going to try once again to post pictures on the page with the easy insert option we now have. Last time it didnt work. So, if it doesnt work this time, I will have to use Hello again. I will add the round blanket I made my niece, the booties and red slippers and the checker board blanket that I made a friends baby. I will also include some finger puppets that a friend made for my niece. I absolutely love them. I am encouraging her to make some to sell. She could even write a few stories to go along with them and to inspire others. I guess that is all for now. TTFN, Miki

Round afgan for a girl

I feel like I have been knitting like crazy lately, both on the machine and by hand. Of course, it serves a few purposes. First I get projects done that I have been wanting or meaning to do for a long time. Second, I get to use my stash and then I can truly justify buying new yarn that I love. Thirdly, it keeps me busy, so I have little time to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I just twiddle some needles instead. ;) Anyhow, I finished the ruby red booties. They still need the buttons sewn on, but other than that they are done. I finished the felted booties. I am not thrilled with how they turned out. They still seem a little big, so maybe I will run them through the machine again. The problem I think I am having is we bought a new washer and dryer, which I absoultely love, but am still trying to figure out just what I need to do to get the felting results that I want. We are used to a traditional top load machine, and I knew just what to set it too, and for how long. We now have a front load LG. It is an awesome machine for doing laundry. It saves me time and money. However for felting, I just havent figured it out yet. So, maybe one more time through will do the job. I also just started on a round baby afgan for my new niece. I am doing it in lavendar, light sage green( that looks a little minty to me) and a tan color. I thought this would look ok, and are the colors my sister chose. They match the colors closely to a quilt she is making her. However as I am knitting, I do not think I like how it is turning out. The blue and grey one I did was awesome, but this one...I dont know. Maybe when it is done, it will be cool. I sure hope so. After I am done with the blanket, I still need to knit the the sweater on my other machine, and I would like to do some felted slippers for my other nieces. I want them to get some gifts too as their sister is getting a few things from me. Plus, I dont get to spoil them on a daily basis anymore. And, what is more fun than an aunt from out of state bringing you gifts when she visits. Oh yeah that reminds me, I have also been knitting a case for my knitting needles that I will felt. The pattern is from a knitting magazine...dont remember which one, will have to add the link next time...maybe with a picture as I am just about done with it.
On the other stuff topic, last week my son split the back of his head open in the bathroom. He cracked it on the soap dish in the tub. We had to go to the ER and he got to staples in his head. They were removed on Wed.. He is doing fine, and never passed out, and didnt get a concussion. Lucky for him and us. I have two more weeks until I get to go home and see my new niece. I am so excited. I also get to see everyone else and that also makes me happy. Well I guess that is all Ive got for now. TTFN

Picture or no picture

Well, I tried to add the picture of the Bolero, I am not sure if it made it or not. On my screen it didnt. I am not sure why. I used the little add picture thing and follow the instructions and it said it was uploaded and I just need to publish the blog, which I did, but no picture. Maybe it will show up later. If it does great, it not, hmm. Maybe I will start using Hello again. It was easy to use and my pictures always showed up. -TTFN

Bolero

Well, I am certainly off to a good start, two entries this week. Anyhow last night I finished knitting the "santa" hat. It still needs the ends worked in, and felted. I usually try to have stuff that needs finishing by my chair so I have something to do when vegging out in front of the tv at night. However last night I was trying to finish a bolero for my oldest daughter. I used the December free patern from Kangamooknits.com, but didnt follow the instructions totally. Well, the only thing I did different was use worsted weight, Red Heart. The pattern calls for a Bulky weight yarn, and I didnt have any. Now I know that for many people, myself included, this means I NEED to go buy more yarn, but I had just had my husband and son bring all my yarn down out of the attic, and I had 6 Rubbermaid large bins. Needless to say to, if at that moment I had told my husband that I needed new yarn in might not have gone over too well. So, I improvised. My daughter is a small(thin) 9 year old. The pattern is for adults with a size small being a 34, so I figured if I used the same keyplate, and the worsted it might fit her. Now I know this would be a good time to swatch, but I never have, and maybe that should be my knitting new years resoultion. But, the thing is, I would not know how to adjust the pattern according to my swatch, so what would be the point. I would just have a piece of knit fabric, and I could say, "yep that looks nice". Maybe I should learn how to adjust patterns. Anyhow, I knit it up fairly quickly. It is knit in one piece on the machine. Which is kind of nice, as i dont have to rehang it to add sleeves. Anyhow, you take it off and seam the arms, and sides,and voila a bolero. Of course because it is stockinette, it rolls on the edges. So I crocheted a nice shell edge around it. Now if I had been thinking, which I wasnt, I would have realized that I made it a little smaller, so the shells should also be a little smaller. So when all is said and done, the shells gave it a sort of ruffely effect. If that is what I was going for, great, but I wasnt. So now it doesnt lay flat, which my daughter wanted. Here is another place where swatching and adjusting would have helped, it is a little large under the arms, throught the body. It however fits great in length, and in arm length. I probably could have fixed that by doing fewer rows in the body, but it would also need to be narrower around the arm. Hmm. I really do need to figure this stuff out. I would like to be able to knit for my family and have the items fit well, not like someone just knit a pattern and it fits ok. You know a professional vs. homemade look. Not that there is anything wrong with homemade, I actually prefer it, but well done homemade is the look I want. So I have added pictures of it, to this post. It is knit in Red Heart Lavendar color and she liked it well enough. I will probably try to steam it for her tonight.

Today was the first day back at school after Christmas Break, and my kids were so difficult this morning! The daughter I knit the shrug for was absolutely terrible. She obviously did not get enough sleep. I almost didnt let her wear the shrug, but I stayed up late finishing it for her, so it was more of a punishment for me. I hope that tomorrow goes easier.

I have a hair appointment in a little bit with a new hairdresser. A friend of mine recommended her to me. The lady I had been going to be was nice, and did a great job, and was priced in a range I was willing to pay, but a week or two after getting it cut, it felt like it needed cut again, and she was too expensive for that. My best example is that I moved here is Sept. and got my hair cut in the middle of Sept. and then again in Oct., and then again in early Nov. I have been putting off getting it cut since, because I dont normally cut my hair every month, but it really needed it. I would prefer to get it cut every 8-12 weeks. Twelve being really pushing it. Now I know that some styles require cuts more often, but I didnt think mine was one of them, and before moving to Virginia it wasnt. I think what my hairdresser was doing was taking the minimum amount off, so that it looked cut, but not CUT, and then a week later when most hair starts looking its best, it began to look a little long. It would require a little more time, and a little more product. And I am not a product person, so that was a hassle. Anyhow hopefully I will love my new hair and this new hairdresser will be my new hairdresser. I got my fingers crossed at least. Of course anything is better than what I've got going now.

TTFN, Miki

New Year, new knitting

Has it really been since Septmeber that I last wrote? This blog thing is easy for me to forget. I resolve to try and write at least once a week. I would love to have a blog that people read, and comment on. Not much has changed here in Virgina. We have seen some sites, and had a great Christmas. My sister had a baby 2 days after Christmas, so my knitting has been all about her lately. First I knit, and still need to seam, a pair of ruby red slippers. I got the patern from a great blog titled just let me finish this row. I can not remember the designers name, but when I add the picture, I will make sure to include it. The booties knit up fast, in Lion Brand glitterspun. They are sooo cute. Last night I began a pair of felted booties out of Lambs pride, in Sapphire and Fuschia. The fuschia is the accent color at the top. I have one done, but not seamed, and the other left to start. Hopefully I will get those doen today. I also knit a hat and felted it for another niece. This time I used Cascade 220, in purple. Not sure what the color name is specifically. I am also working on another felt hat that I kinda wanted done before Christmas, but it will be ready for next year. It is red, with a white and sparkly fun fur(festive fur) brim. It is sorta in a Santa tradition, and I think it will turn out cute. I also knit a great scarf for a friend. She loves skulls and knitty.com had a great skull scarf pattern in their fall 05 catalog. It is called Yorick and knit up fast and felted often. I used the yarn called for in the pattern and it was soooo soft and was such a joy to knit. It also fetled up great. She loved the scarf and I think it will be one she wears often.

Other than knitting, which I apparantly have been doing lots of since september, I have been trying to finish the cross stitch stockings for my family that I started about 5 years ago. I tendonitis had got to bad to work on them, but since I started knitting by hand it has gotten better. I didnt get them done for this year, but they will be hanging from the mantel next year. I also am almost done with some cross stitch placemats that I started for my sister in law. They were to be her Birthday present 2 years ago. I wonder if she still remembers I told her I would make them? Well I got 3 of the 4 done, and then couldnt find the 4th placemat, so I moved on to stockings. As soon as I finish knitting for the new baby, I will finish the 4th that I found while digging through my craft stuff. They are cute, with sunflowers up the side. I am glad that my wrists allow me to stitch again, I really missed it. Well that is about all that is going on now. I am heading back to Oregon to see my new niece in a few weeks so I'd better get knitting. TTFN, Miki

Catching up on everything

Wow has it really been this long since I blogged! Sorry! Anyhow, so much has been going on that I guess I really didnt have time to write. We went home to Oregon to visit for ten days and it was wonderful to see everyone. At times I got very frustrated with my family, but then I remembered I didnt have to live near them anymore, so it made it all easier. Needless to say the visit was too short and I miss them all dearly once again. After returning from Oregon we got ready for another big move. We had only lived in Minnesota for about 14 months, and we were now heading for Virginia. We are all very excited about this move. The weather will be much more agreeable, and we will once again be close to the beach and mountains. We will also be close to Washington DC and all it affords.

So now, I have been in Richmond for almost three weeks, and it has been unseasonably HOT. As long as you stay inside you dont notice, but I need to drive my kids to and from school. We are currently living in temporary coorporate housing about 25 mins from where we are buying, and where the kids go to school, so I am in the car for about 2 hours a day. Back and forth and back and forth. Gas is so darn expensive or I would use my air conditioning. But without air, I am spending about 2o bucks a day on gas. YUCK! We close on the house this week and should get our belongings on Monday, so it looks like this is the last week of driving. YEAH!

Because my kids are all in school all day, and my husband is working, and I have no house to do anything in. (we are in a furnished apartment). I have been working on a few UFO's. Ideally I would have none, but we all have them. So, the first one I need to finish is a set of cross stitch placemats for my sister in law. I told her two years ago I would make them for her for her birthday, and I had one and a quarter done. Boy do I suck. The thing is, the tendenitous in my hands and wrists got really bad and made it very painful to work on them. The funny thing is, that is why she didnt make them for herself. It is also the reason I have a few other UFO's, that I want done by Christmas. They are cross stitch stockings for our family. I got two of them done, and was almost done with the third, and then started having problems. So after finishing the placemats, they are my next priority. I also have a knit bag/tote/purse, that I started last July on the plane ride from Oregon to Minnesota. It is a nice navy color in the Lambs pride cotton. I absolutely love how it feels. It really is and easy pattern, it is just a rectangle, but for some reason I still havent finished it. I also have a sock, yes just one, I have the other to do also, but only one is on needles. I got about half way and then stopped. I really want to finish it, as I love handknit socks, but I just havent gotten around to it. So many projects, so little time. I also have that new to me, but old brother knitting machine that I got a year ago that I have yet to use. My sister is expecting a little girl in January and I would love to knit her a sweater or something on it. I also want to knit her some booties and a blanket and maybe even some felt slippers/booties to use up some wool ends that I have. Of course these arent UFOs, just dreams. As I complete projects I will try to add picutres. Of course I still need to upack and set up the house and restart my business and such, but I am superwoman you know so it should be easy.
TTFN, Miki