The Day After

I'm still full. What a wonderful day we had, we were together and really enjoyed our day.

Is anybody knitting anything? I sure hope so because I WANT to be knitting but nothing has been working out and I'm getting in the "just put the blasted stuff away and keep walking" mood. With all the yarn I have, that's not good.

The Cats will not let me get up today. They've literally been laying on me all day. Really.

All I could do was pretend I was busy by fliddling with the blog again. ;O)

Happy Thanksgiving

Whiskers On Wednesday

ON THURSDAY! (Because I completely zoned out this week.)

This scratching mat was a huge success in our house! Sasha had to check it out thoroughly to make sure it was worthy of staying.

And her and Sophie are still enjoying it. Since they use our whole house (stair railing, chair legs, couches, door jams, carpet) for their scratching posts we had to try something. They can be little destruct-o forces for sure. I'm still shopping around for a tall climbing tree for them, the main issue is where the heck we're going to put it!

On the Medical front: I had my first experience with an MRI machine on Tuesday and even with anti-anxiety meds in me I didn't last 3 minutes. It was a bummer. And I felt so embarrassed, but the staff made me feel a little bit better by telling me stories of people who have had to come back numerous times to get one test done. (That very well could end up being me!) I have to go back on December 1st to try again. This time doubling up on my meds and taking them earlier to let them get into my system more. I slept like a log when I got home so eventually they did work! Just not when I needed them to!

The MRI will hopefully tell us if I have a disc or sciatic problem with my back. My right leg has really been bothering me and I've just attributed it to my fibromyalgia all this time. My MOTHER all along has been asking me if I'd had my back checked out to which I ALWAYS replied "Mom! My back doesn't hurt!". Well, She was right all along. Mom's just KNOW! Once that finally sunk in (and the pain got a lot worse) it makes total sense to me and my doctors now. They ought to pay Mom's for medical consultations.

I changed my blog a bit. I love pink but added some green in there. Makes me think of Spring time in this winter drab. I have no idea on how to do a lot of this blog stuff so I just go with what makes me happy at the time. If it's too hard to read, please let me know in the comments, I'd appreciate it!

Knitting: What Knitting? Mom's fingerless mitts may never happen. I can't find the right pattern/yarn combo and it's driving me crazy. Still working on that....

Happy Knitting!

Elegant Gauntlets

I REALLY love this pattern. This is my second pair, and while I haven't made them in a really long time, I still love making these. Sally's patterns are so well written. Every detail is there. And I really loved this yarn. Soft, and great colors! If you get a chance check out her Etsy store.

Pattern: Elegant Gauntlets

Yarn: Black Trillium Coraline

Size 2 needles

Modifications: Shortened by a couple of inches in the arm part. We won't talk about how many times #2 gave me trouble because trouble just follows me around and sits on me. I think I swing the door wide open and just invite her in with my knitting. In the end, it all worked out after a few sessions of frogging here and there.

I made these for my friend Kimberly. She's a Mod on the Auto-Immune Board on Ravelry and no matter what she's going through (and it can be a LOT) she's always picking the rest of us up and cheering us on. She's truly a kind, giving spirit and we appreciate her so much. She loved the movie Coraline so this yarn made me think of her. She lives in Southern CA so I figure she can use these probably more for "fun" than for "function". These look really awesome scrunched down a bit around the wrists. I hope you enjoy them Kimberly! Happy Late Birthday!

If you can, please send out Positive Get Well Wishes and Prayers to my BFF Julie's Mom. She's had health issues going on for awhile now, any and all thoughts and luv going their way would mean so much right now. Thanks bunches.

Happy Veterans Day to all our Veterans too. We thank each and every one of our armed forces with all of our hearts and our prayers are with you as well.

Small But Mighty

A couple of stocking stuffers for the girls:

One for Jess:

And one for Chels: I know, they LOOK the same but there are slight differences in the colors. Now we won't have any fights over who's is "cuter". Yep, this Mom thinks ahead! Just a simple Beanie made a bit oversized for comfort.

Pattern: Noro Silk Beanie
Needle Size: 7
Colorway: 285 (I think, I'll have to check on that one day).
I used a bit over 1 skein each because it seemed a bit too short for my taste as written. My girls have a lot of hair, plus, I like more coverage down around the ears. I hope they like them, Christmas will be pretty "skinny" around here this year, so a little handmade love will bring a smile. Noro Silk Garden feels kind of "icky" to me while knitting it up, but it does feel softer in the finished product. Weird. I know.

My nephew recently asked for a helmet liner for when he's out running early for his ROTC. I ordered the Cascade 220 Superwash and away I went.

The Big Guy scared me when he was wearing it around the house, it's kind of spooky with Halloween right around the corner and him being sneaky and all....Anyway, I changed up my decreases around the face this time and it's soooo much better. None of that weird bunching and puckering that a lot of people get on the sides. I did mine more "staggared" per rounds, and it rounded it out better.

Helmet Liner
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Black
Size 6 & 8 circs.
One skein! Whew! That was close, I was seriously sweating it out, hoping I could finish without having to order more yarn. I was soooo happy that worked out. Unbelieveably, I totally blanked out on which way to cast on addtional stitches around the face this time. You'd never guess I'd made this before! I ended up trying all three ways and liked the e-cast on the best in the end even though "they say" you shouldn't use it for more than a "few" stitches. I ripped so much I thought I'd have to replace that section of yarn, but it looked so cool when it was done!

My other little project:

Bella Mitts,
(confession: not big Twilight Fans - by the middle of the first movie we were yelling for him to just eat her already! But these mitts are SO COOL!)
Needle size: 8's
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky (in purple): which I doubt I'd use again. To me, "Superwash" means I can machine wash, gentle cycle and dry on low (just like KP's instructions). Not these. I was already making two pairs, one for me and one for Mom (for our Fibromyalgia, these feel GOOD when on), so messing up the first pair in the wash wasn't the end of the world but it sure ticked me off. The second pair will have to be "hand washed" and layed flat to dry (could've just bought regular wool!). Anyway, they're done and it's a really cool pattern to knit. It's fast, fun, and if you do use this yarn you can make a pair with 1 1/2 skeins.

So those are my "small but mighty" projects lately. Small feels good. Makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something even though I move at a snails pace. Happy Knitting.

Where is my blog mojo?

I've got my knitting mojo going somewhat with Christmas looming closer, but blogging has been WAY on the back burner for me lately. I've always thought it was kind of sad and wondered why people just abandoned their blogs, or decided to say their "blogland farewells" when I'd be browsing. Now I understand. I'm tired. And time gets away from me because of other things going on.

But I got the push I needed today because Dawn in CA is having a contest on her blog. I'm adding your button Dawn.

Gotta keep up with my knitting at least. Here's some of the latest:

Pattern: Embossed Leaves
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Select Semi Solids
Colorway: Lotus
Size 1 needles magic loop
Heavily modified: Long tail cast on used, not as many repeats on leg, didn't cut yarn for heel, and I did a regular toe as I didn't like how the star one looked. All in all, I changed it quite a bit! But I got a sock that was more fun for me to knit.

I really liked this yarn worked up in simple stockinette but thought "LEAVES would be GREAT with this!". Sometimes it's better to leave things alone. So what do you do when you change your mind after the fact? Dye them.
I used my Knitpicks acid dye to make them a deeper emerald green. I think patterned socks look so much better in a solid color and now these make me happier. Now I can see the leaves and the pretty details even with some slight varigation still.

Next:

Pattern: Merlot
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden
Colorway: #8
Needles size 7 & 9 (I always use a smaller needle for the brim of hats).
This is a Christmas present for my Auntie in CA. She loves, loves, loves Blue. This was a cool pattern, I'll defiitely use it again. The yarn is such a pretty, bright, and vibrant blue (even though my picture doesn't portray that as much) so I made her these to match:


Pattern: Cranford Mitts
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare Superwash Fingering - Dyed with Sapphire Acid Dye
Size 2 needles

Loved this pattern but they aren't very warm! I may make her a plain set as well for a bit more coverage. It's funny, my hat picture is too dark and this one is too light! These are a deeper blue than they appear here. Someday I need a digital photography class!!!

A few more things have been in the works. Not always working out to my satisfaction. I just finished a cabled scarf for The Big Guy for Christmas but it turned into a big, fat UGH! I used Caron Simply Soft in Black (because I've always been happy with this yarn) but I could tell even when I was knitting it up that there were fuzzy issues already happening. I should've just STOPPED, but I thought maybe with a wash and some de-fuzzing it might be salvageable.

NOT.

He's getting a store bought one this year. I'll try the pattern again one day in a different yarn. Fathers Day 2010?

Happy Knitting!

Whiskers On Wednesday

Sophie is the only one who still fits in the Elmo Chair so it has to stay in the house. I couldn't part with it anyway, the girls loved their little chairs many moons ago! I can still see them sitting there watching their movies and cartoons.....sigh....

We're all a bit sad over here, even the cats. My Baby Miss C is on a school camping trip in the woods for three days and this is one Mom who isn't good at letting go. I woke up last night with an anxiety attack wondering why I ever agreed to let her go. I'll tell you why, her Daddy says she'll be just fine! WHY do I listen to him??? I also see her coming back with only HALF the stuff she took with her. She's just a little..um..flighty at times. I think that's why God made Mom's, if we didn't remind them about everything, where would they be? We shall see. I'm going to be a mess for the next three days, that's all I know for sure.