I-Pod Nano Cozies

I've been checking out other blogs and got to feeling a little behind on Finished Objects. Other people are really cranking things out! I've actually knit a few things, a couple are to be gifted so I can't post about those yet, and some I just can't seem to finish! But I did finish these really fast!

My girls love to carry their Ipods with them so I just made a couple of quick cozies. Used a smidget of Worsted weight yarn (Caron Shadows & Bernat Camo).

I just winged it: Size 5 needles. C/O 16. Slip Stich chrocheted the edges together and also just did a chain for the string. I'm going to put a bead at the top also so they can secure it by pushing it thru the other side. One side I did Garter and the other Stockinette. Just for fun (and cushioning).

They love them and use them all the time. Well, the oldest, Miss J, does. My youngest (Miss C) sort of put hers somewhere and forgot where she put it. Miss J found it and gave it to me and Miss C still doesn't know it's even missing. Crazy kid.

Just started taking the Lyrica and I don't notice any difference yet. I have another Dr appt tomorrow but it's just that annual thing. It's supposed to be rainy and icky tomorrow too. Why do I always end up having to go out on those kind of days? I want to do some shopping afterwards too, I hope it isn't as bad as they say. When things get "icey" I get nervous.

Okay, off to try to knit "something" to feel like I'm accomplishing something. My stash is calling me!!

Look Anna! A Jaywalker!!

Granted, not a very "good" Jaywalker, and yes,..... only ONE, (but at least I tried). I made a ton of mistakes, this pair was doomed from the beginning.

First, the sock is too big. I used my size 1's on the bigger size since reading up on this sock revealed that they tend to be a bit snug (and I'm a very tight knitter). Anna said she uses size 2's on the smaller size I'm pretty sure, so I thought I'd be safe.

Second, I had the labels for this yarn, (could SWEAR I saw them when I was straightening out the stash to put on Ravelry), but then couldn't find them for the life of me to compare dye lots. This is some Lorna's Laces in Somerset that I had gotten ages ago. (doesn't this remind you of the sock yarn I sent you Dawn?) After finishing the first sock and starting the second I realized these dye lots looked way off. I just couldn't proceed with that much of a disparity. It went against my knitting mojo and was feeling so... wrong. I'll use the other ball to make some mitts or something. I should frog this sock too. For now I'm just petting it. Even if LL's doesn't match, it's so soft....

What's funny is I really like the pattern for the leg portion. I may just do that next time and not try to work it down the instep.

AND...(drumroll please) I DID manage to do my first "fearless" knitting thing this new year:

I "kitchener-ed" my first toe. I'm proud of myself (thanks YouTube) but have to say this isn't a very attractive toe to me. I think that's why I never wanted to use this method. I have small feet and pointy toes. This looks so square to me and really widens that area. I'll have to experiement with other toes, this got me excited to at least try.

Other than that we've just been busy with the girls. Miss C is cheering again. We enjoy the games and she loves jumping around.

Saw my Dr tody and I'm going to try Lyrica to hopefully help with my pain & sleep issues. Oh, and I better try to stop eating so many sweets. My weight went up again and I'm so bummed. Not that I was trying to lose any (even tho I should). I just hate not being 20 anymore and being able to skip lunch and lose 5 pounds. (Although I need to lose a LOT more than 5, it's just the principal of the thing). I have to work on that this year...that and exercising a tiny bit. I need to knit AND walk some "miles". A stash and fat diet. fun.

Random Wednesday

Happy Middle of the Week!

Not much going on over here, so I thought I should introduce another member of my family. For shame that it's taken me so long! There's a reason why though....see?

Again....
Ahhh, there she is!!! Jenna!! She's our Border Collie mix we got a few years ago (my mind is mush, I'm not even sure how long we've lived here, it may be a bit longer).
She's naturally a herder, so to get her to sit still for a picture is ridiculously hard. My camera is no way fast enough. She's a cutie though, and loves being outdoors. I had wanted to get her a friend, but The Big Guy says he has enough people to take care of in this house. I think someday we will though....She needs something else to chase in the yard besides the kids!

He got her shaved and groomed this past summer (she will NOT sit still to be brushed out) and she looked so skinny! Now's she's back to her old self and all fluffy again! She loves the rain and it's hard to get her inside when there's a storm even. She barks at the gas meter man, but still lets him in the back yard. One day I had opened the back door to let her in and he just laughed and said, "she's okay". Some guard dog huh? LOL! Our other dog Petey (in Heaven now) wouldn't let anyone in the back, he'd eat em! Jenna reminds me a lot of him, (except in that way!)

She doesn't attack the cats when we let her in the house occasionally either. They just look at her and she just looks at them. It's like she knows they're off limits and part of our family. (She barks at Sugar, the neighbors cat). She's a darn good dog. But stinky.

Off to go get my little one from school. Where did the day go??

I think I'm alive again...

After that test I had on Friday, I was pretty miserable. That night my legs were still hurting and I could still feel those "zings". They were also jerking some, it was driving me nuts. I took everything I had to try to sleep so I could get thru the night. After Tylenol PM's, Vicodin and ibuprofin, I finally remembered I had some Rozerem (a sleep RX) . So I took one of those with a Xanax and I feel asleep after 5 am (which is almost my regular time anyway !) . I slept literally all day Saturday and barely was awake on Sunday. I still don't know what's wrong with me, but this wasn't fun.

Today I finally got up and took a shower (I'm sure the big guy will be grateful) and got moving around some again. It's easy to tell when I haven't been downstairs for a few days (and the natives take over). Needless to say I had to do some quick sweeping, vacuuming (and laundry etc) so I could rest better today. I also got the checkbook balanced after not writing anything down for about a week, (darn debit cards!) I swear, I think I'm really losing it. I wrote things down that I thought I had paid online already, and today I checked and I never paid them!! I'm really scaring myself with my forgetfulness! Well, at least I have some yarn and got these done (which took forever in between all the Christmas Knitting):


My Girls Best Friend Anklets done in Lorna's Laces Old Rose. They're soooo cushy and soft. I think I'm going to send them to my Mom....I almost want to keep them....I'll have to make another pair soon! LOL!
Okay, I'm off to finish some laundry and "try" to work on a couple of quick IPOD cozies for the girls. I'm not sure what to use, but we don't have a shortage of yarn so that's not a problem.....

Stash Is Inventoried! Wooohooo!

I did it. I went thru it ALL! Yea Baby!! I guess from my last post it was easy to see I was feeling pretty crappy & depressed while doing it (sorry to whine so much). But late last night, after I was done, I felt so hugely, insanely relieved! I found things I had totally forgotten I ever had!

It was great to take the time to become reacquainted with it all again and to put things where I know I can find them. My stuff is grouped by what it's for (sock, felting) and the rest is by color and/or novelty. Now I don't have a bag here and there, or stuff tucked in this corner or that. I also have about 5 bags of stuff to go to the thrift store. I feel so much better. Just wanted to say I'm not having that nervous breakdown after all.

I am getting ready to take a nap about now, I only got about 3 hours of sleep (5 until 8) and I had to get up to go take that diagnostic test for my muscles. It's a Nerve Conductive Survey and it measures my muscle and nerve whatever. I got zapped with shocks up and down my legs and poked with a needle (in several places! ). Let me tell you, not the worst I've had done, but not something I ever care to do again.

He did say that my Doctors will let me know the results but that he could tell me that there doesn't appear to be any damage with either. Now I'm sure that Rheumy Dr will just shrug his shoulders again and tell me I'm fine I bet. I see my regular Dr on the 14th. At least I know she knows my pain is real. I'm going to beg her to give me an elephant tranquilizer to make me sleep. I'm getting desperate.

Happy Friday!

Wow! Is all I can say...

The stash inventory project isn't turning out to be so much fun after all. Yes, it's helpful "to know what you have", but obviously you must face what you have. Actually, it's kind of gotten me down a bit! (The not sleeping thing isn't helping either). I didn't think it would take so long to input without photos (I'm not done yet) and I'm truly shocked at how much I forgot I had! I guess I've been a tad bit more impulsive than I thought! It's time to find patterns for some of this and to knit me a boatload of socks! For sure I'll be shopping my own Stash this next year. No excuses! (I think).

We finally got away from warm weather and got a TEENY TINY amount of white stuff. Think I'm kidding? Look, isn't this funny? At least it feels more like winter at 20 degrees.

The skimpy amount still doesn't stop them from throwing what little there is at each other:

Sasha says "Mom, get these kids away from me!!!!"

Okay, I'm going to dive back into my closet and try to work on the cabinet I didn't finish last night. I'm past 100 items already and I have one more cabinet and some cubby holes to go yet. They're more novelty stuff, I may postpone that....yes, I think I will, I totally need a nap.

A tribute to my Friend Elizabeth:

My friend and co-worker passed on December 23rd after a long battle with Ovarian/Cervical Cancer. She had a sense of humor that was legendary. We'd all be in tears with our sides splitting when she'd tell one of her stories, she was so much fun. We shall miss her, and her spirit, but know she's got them rolling in Heaven as well. God Keep you and may you rejoice in Heaven. I'm so sad to know you're gone, but so happy that you have no more pain. God Bless and watch over us Liz. And give my Grandparents a big hug!!

http://www.nccc-online.org/

**There are many Ovarian Foundations out there, I posted this one since I didn't know that January was Cervical Health Awareness Month. I thought it was fitting to let us all remember how important Women's Health issues are and how we need to get screened for things.

Remember, take the time to Take care of YOU!

The work has begun...

Okay, I'm not going to go crazy trying to get pictures of all my stash for Ravelry, I don't have the room on Flickr (or the time to do it all!), and I'm too cheap to pay $25.00 a year for the space that I'd need for it there. I'm just going to list it to SHOCK myself into seeing how much I truly have. (I think in the future I'll just get pics of my sock yarn so that I'll have something to drool over and say "hey! That's already MINE!". I know, I need help. )

Since the "RESET" thing didn't work for me (I STILL couldn't sleep worth beans ...) I thought tonight I'd do something constructive like at least 'start' to input data. All I entered was what was already in the bedroom from recent purchases and also from ideas to start new things. This isn't even entering the closet where all the rest of my stash is and I think I was already up to 20 items. (gulp)

Well, it's a beginning, and it's for a reason that I'm doing this. And then The Big Guy offers to take me by The Yarn Patch in Crossville on the way to his folks this weekend! How can I do this if he TEMPTS me so!???? I have a little left on my gift card so techincally that should count for last year right????? Anybody on my side on that one??? Maybe I won't get yarn, I'll just a book or notions....yea....that's a great idea!

Can't wait for Saturday!