Mrs. Grouchy

Fair warning: I'm cranky. Grouchy. Just a pill to be around. I totally understand if anyone flips out of here now. To start with, I have no knitting to show. Not that I haven't been, but I'm working on some plain vanilla socks and they just aren't all that exciting (and seem to be taking for-ev-er). Wait until I get pics, you'll see what I mean.

I've just been having a tough week as far as pain and crankiness go. It's PMS time, so I'm down a bit by nature anyway. Isn't it funny how things seem sucky when you're feeling bad already? Someone is totally rude to you (Mean Old Hag Librarian) for no reason, or other stuff seems to bother you more than it normally would? It's like getting kicked when you're down. It really stinks. You just get in a funk and the hormones make it worse. It doesn't even have to be anything big or specific. Things just bug you in a weird way, way bigger in proportion than they should.

I've had my usual monthly symptoms making me a joy to be around - worse allergies and headaches (I haven't been using my Neti Pot lately because it seemed to dry me out too much). This "time" also heightens my sense of smell, which was a bummer when all of a sudden "something" in the fridge smelled bad. We cleaned it out, cleaned it out again, and couldn't for the life of us figure out WHAT it WAS??? Finally The Big Guy just threw a bunch of stuff away (after he brought it to me to smell). We finally got rid of the smell, but we still don't know what it was. Crazy huh? This schnoz of mine is a curse sometimes. I can't be in the perfume area of dept stores for too long or I'll pay later, same for candle or other soap shops. I once went to a "Party Lite" candle party and nearly died after I got home. Strong smells trigger my migraines faster than anything. I wish a Dr could fix that! I'd LOVE to wear perfume again...

I was also a little bummed about the Knitty Gritty thing. The post to start this was going on well before I got into it, like 3 months ago, so I figured people must be sending out their squares. I guess I got a little discouraged when I tried to ask if anybody had mailed any out so we could see if there was an impact at DIY and only one other person responded - and she hadn't actually gotten hers out yet due to bad weather. I suppose it's one of those things that people say they want to do (and have good intentions), but never get around to. So my guess is this "major impact" thing is a Big.Fat.Dud. And that's ok. It was a great idea, and I did my part. Actually, it bothered me more at first than it does now.

Another bummer, I've been hurting more and yet had to cut back on the Lyrica. I realized (slowly - duh) that I went from sleeping very few hours a night to sleeping 10+. It didn't make me "fall" asleep (my usual is 3 or 4 am), but it kept me asleep somewhat, I still woke up a lot but went right back to sleep, which for me is a BIG deal. But I was missing whole "days" because I couldn't get up without feeling drugged and dizzy until I HAD slept enough. I was barely making it to pick up my daughter from school and there were a couple of days that I can't believe I DID make it . I had upped myself to the actual dosage (instead of half) because I was hurting again after having some relief, and it finally dawned on me that it was too much. When you can't get up until dinner time, something isn't right...I'm still hurting and yesterday my wrists and arms hurt so bad I couldn't knit, that was a total bummer, but I got some house cleaning done despite the pain. You gotta do what you gotta do.

You know what else bugged me? That there were 10 quilting magazines in the grocery store, 4 beading ones, two sewing ones, two scrapbooking ones.... and not one knitting or crochet one. I subscribe to all the ones I like anyway...but still. It bugged me. Silly huh? I know knitting isn't going anywhere (despite DIY network throwing us out). I know knitting has it's crazy ebb & flows, but geez. Not one magazine to represent.

On the flip side: I'm extremely fortunate to have a spouse who just "knows" that I'm not myself at certain times. Honestly, he usually knows well before I do what my mood is. He made me chocolate cake and even offered to buy me some yarn (I said no, keeping to the yarn diet is way easier than the food diet-chocolate is crucial at this time). He's a really cool guy . If I can compete with college hoops right now for some attention, I must rank somewhere up there with him and I'm very grateful.


I guess all this stuff isn't so important after all. See? My therapy hour is up.

Knits & Bits

Here are my SIL's socks finally. Actually they've been done for a few days now but I was trying to get a decent picture that showed the colorway better (it's still not a great one but you should see the others!) This is the Charlie Brown Valentine Pattern that Dawn shared with me so we could learn to do Magic Loop together. Thanks again tons Dawn, I really enjoyed learning ML and I'm working on another pair now with my handy long needle!

Yarn: Fleece Artist 2/6: Burgundy
Size 2 Knitpicks 32" needle
Only 6 pattern repeats done w/plain foot (Just my preference-not the pattern).


Then I made one of these: The Binary Hat

This is for my nephew, well since I'm sending my SIL the socks and I already sent my brother that Campus Scarf I decided my nephew deserved something "cool". I love this hat, so does my daughter. It spells "HAT" in binary code.

Yarn used: Caron Simply Soft -Black & Country Blue

Used Less than a skein each. I could probably make 2 more hats!!

Needles: Size 7 & 8 Addi Turbo Circs/clover DPNs

Soooo, I made another one that's in his initials. I kind of like the first one better since it has more black space between the blue lines, but this is so "personal" it's a hoot. I used size 7's on this one (okay, I forgot to switch to size 8's after the ribbing, but I really liked how it was firmer and less mushy.) For a guy, it's perfect. I think he'll like it. My brother is an IT Mgr. so he'll totally get a good laugh from it.
Here are a couple of dishcloths I made for my Auntie's BD next month. I hope she likes them. I'm not crazy about the round one, they sure look pretty, but to me it's just easier to "use" the square ones. I'm just weird, I know. I had put that towel down on my chair to take the picture since the cats are always on them and my aunt's allergic, but it's a big duh moment - they blend in so well! Oh well, I haven't been at the top of my game lately. I need to block that round one still.....

Used: Sugar & Cream: Denim & Sugar & Cream: Blue stripes.

Patterns: Dapper Dab (From Color Splash Dishcloths Booklet)

& Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth

Guess you can tell her favorite color is blue!

Onto other news: The kids are super duper excited -School was cancelled for the next two days due to illness. Apparently it's mainly the teachers that are getting hit really hard. I had my oldest out for two days last week. Luckily we just dealt with head colds and not the other stuff that's going around. The Big Guy's employee's have had their kids get terrible other stuff. They've been in my prayers. ER trips and such are not fun and I feel for anyone who has kids that are so sick it's scary.

I'm putting the girls to work though. Yep, we're going into the crazy black hole that is "The Playroom" to seriously de-clutter and get rid of the "baby-ish" stuff. They're growing up so fast, they just don't play barbies, babies, or house anymore. It's all Pokemon, computers, DS games, ipods and High School Musical (well, for the 9 yr old, NOT the 11 yr old as I've been stoutly corrected so I mercilessly tease her!). We only cleaned out their desk today and we got about 4 bags out of there! We have WAYYYY to much stuff.

I don't know who they get that from (Mrs. 250+stash Mama over here ).

We're expecting lots of rain over the next few days...it'll be good to stay inside and not have to pick them up from school. I do have my knitting meeting tomorrow night though. I can't miss that! I can handle rain, and Friday's really the day we're expecting thunderstorms and stuff. I'm off to try to read some more of that depressing novel (only about 200 pages to go) so I can get it over with and get some sleep. Happy knitting.

I LOVE this!

I hope this works, I'm trying to just get this one video off of youtube so I can watch it over and over and over....

I love the "Night at The Roxbury" movie (yes I have the DVD) and I love the soundtrack. Great music and makes me laugh everytime I hear it...and shake my head...

my girls think I'm so weird .

This is one that was shared recently on the Knitlist group.



That's so incredible I can't imagine how much time it took to knit each portion. What great imagination and creation. All I can say is "Wow!".

Current Read Review & Rip It's

This book has 973 pages. I'm on page 494. What I think so far is that it's "okay", but it's got me frustrated some. There's an assortment of characters that are woven together through the story and the author does a good job of getting you to relate to them. This is kind of hard for me to explain, but (for me) the problem lies in that he's having them go through so much awful stuff, over and over and over (and I'm only half way thru the book!). The truth is: I'm getting a little depressed. Can a book depress you? Should it? I read A LOT of historical fiction. This is by far the most depressing one I've ever encountered. I understand drama, I understand how hard times were in that century, but for me it's a bit over done.

This author's also heavily into decriptions, especially about the building of the cathedral, each arch, corner, window, beam, etc. and so many details are poured in page after page. It took forever just to explain how Jack tries to escape the old cathedral after setting it on fire. Geez, he turned a corner, and that way was blocked, then he turned another corner, and that way was blocked, and then he turned another corner, and that way was blocked - Okay, I get it! Let's move on already! (There's your 973 pages!)

Very RARELY do I just "give up" on a book before I've finished it (most recent was this summer - The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette- Ugh!). It has to be really bad. This book? If I hadn't read some of the reviews on Amazon last night and got the jest of how things turn out in the end, I don't know that I would pick it up again. Seems there is some light at the end of this tremendously sad saga.

Well, if Oprah can finish it, so can I. And I'll more than likely read the next one which takes place I think two centuries later (curiosity gets the best of me and I'll just skim along when bored or such as in this one). It's like a race, sometimes you just do what you have to do to get to the end. I hate leaving things unfinished.

On the knitting front:

My Sitcom Chic is going to Frog Land!! I'm so bummed about my increases!! Doesn't this look just awful!?? I know...ewwww! I'm doing the M1's and they all look so bad, what the heck am I doing wrong? Hmmmm, I'm not sure...

Plus the bottom edge curls UP like others have mentioned, so I think it's best to go up a needle size (or two) on the ribbing to avoid that. That's why I love Ravelry, that helpful advice of "those who have knit before you". I may leave out the increases all together as well since I'm making the large size anyway. Another great tip from Ravelry.

Off to frog and speed read.

Love.

Here's my gaudy Valentines Day post! heehee

My box of See's candy is almost gone because it got here early.

I've been enjoying "Valentines Day Luv" for days now! De.Lici.ous.

Thanks to my wonderful better half,

he knows chocolate is the key to my heart!

Hope everyone enjoys a beautiful day.

Neti Pot & Other Stuff

I received my Neti Pot today and tried it out. It's kind of funny to have something streaming out of your nostrils but it did feel "good" when I used it. I just wish that "feeling" could last longer! After a bit I was back to that burning, stuffed up feeling and having nasal drippage issues. Gross I know, I'm sorry. I'm still having a hard time, if it's not from being sick, it's allergies. I've just had the worst headaches for the past few days and my sinus's hurt so bad. All that congestion from the cold I had has made things 10 times worse. So, I'm going to try using the Neti a couple times a day and see if I get any results soon. People swear by this thing so I'll just think positive and hope for the best.

Now my family is sneezing and feeling sort of crummy as well . I picked up some Zicam on Saturday so I've got the kids taking that, and today my husband seems to be getting whatever I had. Funny how long it took him to catch it, poor guy! Not much stops him, he'll still go to work and stuff so I have to try to get him well ASAP. There are so many people sick around here now, I guess we're due at least once a year.

I got a lot of housecleaning done today in the hopes of getting rid of germs and dust etc. Sometimes I really regret getting the cats, especially when my head pounds with these nasty headaches, but I was just as bad before we got them I'm pretty sure. It's hard to remember anymore, but I know I've tried almost every allergy RX there is -so it's not all the cats. Poor cats, I blame them for almost anything these days! LOL!

On the knitting front: One sock is done and I'm starting the heel on the other. I'm trying to rush to send them out to my SIL soon. I'll only be a month late for her birthday. Oh well...

I also got my squares mailed out to Knitty Gritty today. I only hope all that we're doing does some good. People will still be sending them out as they knit them up since some people are just finding out about it, so if you have any acrylic around, knit a square (7x9) and send it with a nice note for them to BRING THE SHOW BACK! Sorry, I get all crazy when I'm sick and cranky. I need a nap.....

Tomorrow is laundry, more cleaning, and hopefully more knitting....(what a boring life I have huh?)

UFO's & Knitty Gritty Support

Here's my Sitcom Chic so far, it's been the easiest thing for me to work on while I've been sick and not able to see so straight. Okay, I admit it: Sometimes to just knit and purl feels really good. Especially when your eyes aren't cooperating with small sock stitches.

Here's a washcloth I started for my Aunt's Birthday in March. I forgot my SIL's birthday last month, I may have to squeeze a couple in for her kinda quick like too. Where did January go?? I swear it just flew by.
Okay Dawn. Confession Time. You busted me! LOL! I only did 6 repeats of the pattern because I really like (and only wear) shorter socks. That's why my sock is going so fast (besides doing it Magic Loop style!). I really like this method, I'll be using it again for sure. (These may end up going to SIL...hmmmm).

In other knitting news, there's a big push right now on knitting boards to get DIY to put Knitty Gritty possibly back into production again - but at the very LEAST to put it on at a DECENT hour. Right now if you check out the time slots it's on at 5:00 am . Apparently, we knitters aren't "important" enough (read: ratings, advertisers, etc) for them to put the show on during "normal" daytime hours. It's their opinion we've heard, that we knitters can just "tivo" episodes .

Well, I for one don't own a tivo, and was always a faithful watcher, even of re-runs, (which is all there is now since they never showed a couple of the series'). I've never watched ANY other program on there (except for "Uncommon Threads" which has crochet and other stitch projects and I think that's gone too). I've emailed twice asking them to please air more KG in the past and got the same generic response back as many others.

Out of this frustation there's a Petition that's been going around that you can add your voice to to help. When I did it there were already over 500 sigs. I'm not sure how many there are now but I'm sure it's many more.

Honestly, at first I wasn't going to bother and I'm late getting in the game so far. I figure most of these big companies don't care about their viewership, it's all about $$. From reading up on it, it seems the "mens" shows are what get them ratings. I've never seen my husband or his friends or my male family members sitting around watching DIY or HGTV. Myself and many others find it ironic that they say that only men watch.

Knitty Gritty is what got me to grab my yarn and needles - (that I'd shoved in the closet for over a year out of frustration)- and WANT TO LEARN again. By watching, it opened a whole new world for me cause seeing "how to" made all the difference! Whammo! Instant Love! I can't see not giving others the same chance.

And HEY! THERE's MORE! (Copied from KnitList)

*FWD from another knitting group, I love this show so passing this along:

If you haven't noticed it Knitty Gritty seems to be being faded out on DIY and HGTV, it has been religated to ridiculous time slots, and no new shows have been filmed!! It seems like the craft shows in general are being tossed aside for other topics!!When the networks cancelled the show Jericho there was an outrage and outpouring of support. The fans did a crazy thing. They each sent 1 peanut to the network! On May 29th the network received 10,000 pounds of peanuts..

Needless to say Jericho is back! So let's follow suit! There is a campaign on to bring Knitty Grittyback to a decent hour, and get more new shows filmed and aired!

Simply do this.. Knit a 7x9 swatch out of acrylic, or other washable yarn. And send it to the network at: Scripps Networks P.O. Box 51850 Knoxville, TN 37950

(PS. Per Vicky on Ravelry: that the VP of programing is Freddy James.)

We want to try to get the bulk of them there on Valentines day! So put a note on the swatch that you love Knitty Gritty! We are encouraging Scripps to send the swatches they receive to Warm Up America.

We have rocked the vote before getting a loom knitting show on Knitty Gritty, so let's show our thanks by supporting them when they need it! Please.. if you love Knitty Gritty, join us and lets flood the networks mailbox with Knitty Love!! And get the word out on your blog or whatever forum you are member ofwhere you think that there would be interested knitters!! Thanks!!

Maybe it's because I'm sick, maybe I'm a little cranky, but darn it, they can't act like we're not important without hearing from us! Knitting isn't just a "trend", there are so many of us out there and so many projects we can share, Ravelry is a clear indicator of that! I'm going to knit as many squares as I can probably by Monday so I can mail them off to try to get them there by Thursday. If you can help, we'd all greatly appreciate it. If not, please add your name to the petition!

Happy Happy Birthday to Julieeeee

Today is a good day, it's my Best Friends Birthday! If you would like to, please stop by her blog and wish her a happy day today!

I'm still trying to get better. I have one semi-functioning nostril, plenty of head congestion still, and I'm so worn out when I move around. You know what I hate? I hate not being able to EAT! I can't taste anything and that stinks . You know what else I hate? That Nyquil is STILL being sold when it doesn't make you go to sleep anymore! How dare they! Why bother if you remove the drug that HELPED us poor sick souls get some rest? I'm so sorry, I'm a bit grouchy about the "not being able to taste anything" part....luckily my See's candy isn't here yet.

To be too sick to knit is just not right, but it is what it is. I did a little bit on my magic loop sock yesterday in the parking lot waiting to pick up my daughter. It was POURING rain and kind of dark outside, but I managed to see the stitches well enough (I think) to finally start working the gusset part. It's moving along - s l o w l y. It's going to be funny to see how this turns out.

I've also done a row here and there on my sitcom chic sweater as the weakness, fatigue, and blowing my nose permit. I know this is a project that's going to be a very long one. I feel like I knit and purl - and knit and purl - and it doesn't look any different! And I have a WHOLE sweater to make??? I think that's why I like small projects. I'm sooooo impatient. Always have been. I keep reminding myself, "enjoy the process....enjoy the process..." row after row after row. If I was a faster knitter I guess this wouldn't be a problem. The only way to get faster is to practice...there's always a catch huh? I need to get a grip and maybe not knit while I can't see straight and have no patience and can barely breathe.

I'll try to get some pictures as soon as it gets sunny here again. We've been getting drenched off and on and I think tomorrow is calling for more storms. My back yard looks like a lake when it gets as bad as it did yesterday. But we do need it...

Have a good day Julie and have a Sour Apple-tini for me K?

And thank you EVERYBODY for your get well wishes!!! As you can tell I'm a LOUSY sick person to be around! LOL!!!! I appreciate all of your concern!!! (I'm a big baby as well.)

Aaaah choooo

Sneezing, sneezing and more sneezing! Ugh, I woke up this morning feeling like a truck has run over me My nose is raw from blowing it and my head feels like a giant cotton ball. What a way to start the month of LOVE!! Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime....I better be a lot better by the time my See's candy gets here...oh heck, we all know I'll eat it all anyway!

Stay well and knit on.