From one youngest to another!

Ok, so on Friday I went to see my baby sister graduate from high school. She was a few points off from being the head of her class. Here are a few pics of her.

One of her senior pics.

Mandy and my nephew Graham

Making her speach as Salutatorian

My sister Lisa (second oldest) and her son Graham and Mandy

Annie and Graham

And introducting The Adventures of Bunny and my knitting

As you can see in this last pic, I had someone to keep sock in progress company during most of the event. And that sock would be another Simply Lovely Lace sock, in Knit Picks Pallette in the color Petal. After the graduation, Mandy went on to party with her boyfriend and buddies, and the girls and I went back to my grandparents house to visit. The youngest of my aunts was there, along with my cousin Heather, her husband and their 2 daughters. We stayed for a couple of hours and left for the hour and half drive home around 11 o'clock.

On to the next youngest. I took the day off to enroll my baby girl for kindergarden. I wanted to cry. The last time I did this, I enrolled my oldest, and was pregnant with my youngest. My baby will be going to school this fall. When we got there, her teacher for next year was in the office and offered to take her to see the room. It's such a small community, that there is only 1 kindergarden teacher, there are that few children attending this school. I can tell that I am going to cry my eyes out on the first day!

Just a quick post!

This is just a quick post, as I am leaving work early today. I have my baby sister's high school graduation to go to. I need to visit my daughter's school, as there are a few total snot girls that seem to like to pick on Katie, and yesterday it was to the point that one of them was kicking her under the table, in class, and the teacher didn't do anything about it. I'll try to post more, later this weekend.

C-ya!

More Socks!

Over the weekend I finished the Simply Lovely Lace Socks from IK Spring '06 issue. So, here they are:

Cute, aren't they? In case you can't tell, I'm modeling them in the office. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Simply Lovely Lace Socks from IK Spring '06 issue

yarn: Knit Picks Pallette in red

needles: US 1 Crystal Palace DPN's (not the Brittany's that I listed in the specs of the last socks)

Mods: I made the ankle area short, I only did 6 repeats.

I have already casted on for another pair of these. This time I am using the Knit Picks Pallette in Petal. I think I'll make the ankle area longer this time, maybe 8 to 10 repeats. I love this pattern. I may even have to make a pair in the Pool color, it's such a pretty blue color, and it'll match my Cancer t-shirt.

Well, we have a bell choir concert tonight, since Katie is in that, too. That's another reason I casted on for another pair of lace socks. Something small, and the pattern is still fresh in my mind.

Here's a funny pic:

Mr. Vinny, in the corner with Annie. For some reason, he likes to stand in the corner with her whenever she's in trouble. Must be a moral support thing.

Poetry and my Daughter

Ok, so I thought that we were just going on a regular field trip. Boy, was I wrong. We got to the Spagetti Warehouse at the appointed time. We had a lovely dinner. Lots of fresh bread, loudy, noisy children, and good conversation. When we were getting ready to head over to the museum, Katie introduced me to her art teacher. Such a lovely and patience woman. She then asked if I knew why we were going tonight. Ok: imagine a blank look on my face as I say *no*. She explained that it was for the DepARTure program. A program sponsored by the museum with the school system and local sponsors. The kids had gone to the museum the month before on a field trip. On that trip they were to pick a piece of art, study it, sketch it and write a poem about it. When we got there, Katie had to get her name tag and collect a spiral bound book of the poems from all the children from four different schools. Then we got to roam the museum for about an hour and a half, until the kids were ready to take the stage and read a small selection of the poems. So, with no further fuss, here is Katie's poem and the art that inspired it:

Her

She, her looking at me
Peacefully
Staring! Deep brown eyes
Rosy lips!
Rosy cheeks!
Deep deep brown hair
Just looking!
Just looking
Wondering
when
her
prince
is going
to come home
from war.

By *Katie*
From Elisabeth Louise Vigee LeBrun,
Varvana Ivanovna Ladomirsky (Narishkine), 1800.

Let me just say that this is one of the times that I am glad that I didn't chicken out and stay at home. And, I am glad that I did leave Annie with my mom for the night for several reasons. 1 - Because Katie and I get to have quality mother/daughter time and 2 - Annie would have been hard to control with that many kids around. Maybe we'll go back on a weekend, when there are less children around and I can quietly explain to Annie the rules. As it was, I was followed like a shop lifter in Tiffany's because I had taken this picture:

It's a halographic flower! But, because I didn't ask first, they started watching me like a hawk. I do know the rules about cameras in museums. 1 - there are some items that are loan, so you can't take pics of them & 2 - no flash pics. I didn't use my flash, it would have ruined the flower, but I did forget to ask first. Oops! But, it's very unsettling to have men in suits and earpieces follow you everywhere. Is that what's like to have body guards?

As for knitting content, while I was watching Gone With the Wind, I casted on for a pair of Simply Lovely Lace Socks from IK's Spring '06 issue in the red Knit Picks Pallette. I did 3 repeats on the leg during the movie. I complete 2 more while waiting for Kaite after school yesterday, and 1 more while at the resturant last night. Now I am ready to start the heel.

Oh, and on my other blog, I have joined a postcard exchange. If anyone would like to exchange postcards with me, please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll get with you to swap snail mail addresses. Please come play!

More Socks & a Tea Pot

Well, today turned out better than I hoped. So, here are the pics of the socks that I made my mommy. First we have the socks, just after I finished them:

This pic just doesn't do the color justice, and yes, they are laying all over my daily reports at work.

And, here they are on my mommy's feet. And the colors are much better in this one. Knowing my mom, she'll just put them in a drawer and look at them. She's that kind of mom. I'll have to make her another pair before she'll consider wearing these.The specs for these socks:

Pattern: Bubble Wrap by SockBug

Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta colorway #5618

Needles: US 1 Brittany DPN's

Started on May 4th.

Finished on May 15th (13th if you over look that I didn't kitchener the toe until after she tried them on.)

Here is the teapot from my girls:

This fits right in with the others that I have. The same size and color scheme. I really love my tea. My favorites are spearmint and peach flavors. I thought about flashing my tea stash as I have seen on some blogs, but there is so much up in the cabinet, that I'd be there awhile taking it all down, and then putting it all back.

Tomorrow should be a good day. I am taking a half day at work so I can go on a field trip with Katie. We are going to go to the Columbus Muesum of Art and The Spagetti Warehouse for dinner. This is the first field trip that I have ever gone on with Katie, and she is in the 5th grade. My mom usually goes with her. But, it's my turn.

Well, Gone With The Wind is coming on TMC. Not as if I don't have it on dvd, but I love to watch it every time I find it on. Just like the movie The Quiet Man with John Wayne. I don't have that one on dvd, maybe I'll ask my mom for that one for my b-day (which is next month). Anywho, night all!

ETA: I forgot to mention that I joined the Trek Along Me KAL, and it starts on June 1st. I can't wait, a summer of knitting Trekking socks! Here is the button for it.

Offical Secret Pal 8 Start

I guess that I should post about SP8, as today is the offical start. I got the person I am to spoil, and I got a message from the person who is to spoil me. This is my first time for this, so I should have a blast. I have also added the SP8 button that I just adore, it's just above the link to my SP8 questionaire.

As for Mother's Day, my girls got me a teapot for my collection. I'll have to take pics of it. It's an off white color, trimmed in blue with yellow daisys. They also bought me a card and made me a card. I have such crafty girls. Annie also painted me a hot pink butterfly. They just love to make me tons of hand made stuff. I have a paper box that I keep them all in.

For my mommy, I made her a pair of (what else?) socks. I was going to use some Knit Picks Pallette in red, but my mom hates wool. So, I had to find another yarn. I did find some Sockotta in blue, turquiose and green, on the colorcard, it looks like # 14. I used the Bubble Wrap pattern from Sock Bug. I love that pattern. I didn't kitchner off the toes yet, I had to make sure they would fit, as I have only ever made socks for someone that has been handy to measure(i.e.- my girls or myself). I had to work off of the measurements that I had Katie take, telling her is was for a project at school. Since I didn't go visit her yesterday, I had her try them on this morning when she got to the house. They are perfect! So, I'll finish them off, and take pics tonight as she models them for me.

Then, I just don't feel right without socks on the needles. So, I got out my Kool Aid dyed yarn and casted on. I thought that I would do the Broad Ripple pattern from Knitty. But it was designed for sport weight yarn, and not the fingering weight that I dyed. So, to the frog pond it went. Then, I thought that I would just do a ribby pattern, like I did with the Lana Grossa I did a few weeks ago. But, as I was doing the first round, the sock told me that it wanted to be a ribby cable sock, (ok, now yarn is talking to me) so I worked an odd 2x-sometimes-4 rib, and worked up an 8 row repeat. After doing 3 repeats, it told me that it wanted a more complicated design to emerge. I am writing this pattern down as I design it, and will post it, if I like it. I'll let you know.

Vocabulary Lesson & Concert update

Today's vocabulary is brought to us by Miss Amy, as she was looking for another word me. And today's word is:

Manometer: n - an instrument for measuring the pressure of gases or liquids.

That's sounds about right! We had one of those earlier, here in the office, after my craving for White Castles was satisfied. Said craving was brought on by last night's concert, and said manometer was Mr. Malik. Needless to say, the dock cleared out real quick, and we threatened to lock the doors on him. On to the concert update.

We had a blast. There were 5 bands there. I have no idea who the first band was, because we were arriving toward the end of their set. The next band that went on was From First to Last. Jess is really good friends with the guys in this band. They were great. Then came Hawthorne Heights, and they were really good. Then came All American Rejects. They did a great set. And last was Fall Out Boy. And they were the best. I was also happy that I wasn't the oldest person there. I saw a large number of people that were my mom's age. It was a very diverse crowd. I found a beer stand, and was asailed by the smells of White Castles (hence the craving today). Here are some pics from the show:

This were I landed in the grass with my beer, and that's From First to Last on stage.

Here's a little closer shot of From First to Last.

Here's Hawthorne Heights.

Here's a little subliminal messaging from the beer concession. Notice that on the left side of the sign, Bud is followed by Bed Light.

I obviously missed taking any pics of All American Rejects?

Here is a shot of Fall Out Boy, when they first came on stage.

Here is a closer shot of Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, taken from some where near the pit. But we had a great time, and I ended up with a t-shirt for From First to Last and a tank for Fall Out Boy. Maybe if I can keep my eyes open tonight, I'll get some knitting done.....

I'm still alive, I think?

I did kinda drop off the face of blogland. I got so wrapped up in everything else, that I forgot to blog. Here's a short summary(ETA: ok, maybe not so short):

Thursday: I was already in a bad mood, so I decided to sit in my corner of the office and not bother anyone. I figure that if they intrude into my corner and they get my full rath, then they deserve it, but I'm not going to inflict myself on anyone on purpose. So, there was a bed frame on the dock that was going to be thrown away if someone didn't take it. I stepped up on Wednesday and said that my mom wanted it and I would take it to her. Well, the head board and foot board were too big to fit into my little Kia Cinco. So, at the suggestion of a co-worker, I asked Mr. C (you know, the ex) if he wouldn't mind putting it into his truck and drop it off to my house. He said he would do it on Thrusday, after the gym. Ok, cool, not a problem, thanks for helping me. So, when Thursday rolls around and I'm in my funk, I decided that it would be better to give him directions to the new house on my way out the door. As I am leaving, he's talking to the boss about work, so I stood in the background, had a conversation with another co-worker, and decided that since I was holding up Miss Amy (as she drove to work that day), I'd call back in a few minutes. When I called to give him directions, he immediatly starting giving me a hard time about not talking to him all day. Ok, I didn't hardly talk to anyone all day that I didn't have to, I was a grouch. So, he gets over that point. I give him the directions, and he says it may rain later. Ok, if it rains, just forget it, I'll figure out something else, not a problem. He asked where the box was for the head board (as we had taken it out the day before). I told him right under it, and he expressed concern that the box may not protect it if it rained. Ok, sensable, maybe if you don't mind, and if you have time, would you consider shrink wrapping it? (Now, mind you, I have kept my inner grouch under very good control, I have not cussed or screamed at him, yet.) The next thing out of his mouth," Well, I think you're asking alot." Ok, if I had thought about it earlier, I'd have done it myself, and if you want to be a jack a$$ about it, I'll just take care of it all myself. He said he would do it. After I got off the phone, I started thinking. The more I thought, the more pi$$ed I got. So, I called mom and suggested that we trade cars on Friday, and I would load it up and just bring her van home to her with the rest of the bed in it. Well, she decided that I needed to get the treatment that I didn't get as a teenager, and was basically told that I didn't know how to drive. Let's review here. I have only ever had 1 ticket, and that was in 1996! I have never been driving in any of the accidents that I have been in. I used to own a Ford Bronco II 4x4 with all terrain tires, and I drive a forklift, for the love of the Heavens. By this point I was so upset that I was crying. So, she must have seen her mistake, as she told me it was ok and that I could take her van to work. So, I called Mr. C back and told him to just throw the directions away, I'd take care of it. And what did I get? The snotties attitude I have ever seen this side of a teenager. "FINE! WHATEVER!" Ya know, you haven't been able to treat me decently in over 6 months, and now this? "Well, I'm not having this conversation." YEAH! Click! Miss Amy looked at me and asked if had just hung up on him. Yeah. Now, everyone knows that I just don't hang up on people, too many years of customer service training, I always try to talk though it and make it better. Not this time. And, instead of taking my walk of the neighborhood, I ate a pint of ice cream and 10 pizza rolls. Amazingly, I lost 6 pounds overnight? The ice cream in question was chocolate marshmallow.

Friday: It was a pretty good day. Here I am, Crazy Aunt Purl style, with my moms Hollywood sunglasses on:

I realize that this is the first time that I have ever put my own pic on my blog. And, my sunglasses are much cooler than these. Then, as I was picking up the girls, Miss Tammi's daughter, Jess called me. So, I stopped by and picked her up so she could spend the night.

Saturday: I took Jess home, and was talked into going to the Ohio Historical Society with Miss Tammi to do geneolgy research. Good thing. We were there for 2 hours, and if I hadn't gone with her, she would have been there for 4 hours. Other than that, it was a very lazy day.

Sunday: It was the kick off of the cook out season. See, what we do is have a cook out every other weekend, as those are the weekends that Miss Tammi is in town. We had lots of fun. I had beer bottle caps flicked at me, we played badmitten, and I managed not to eat too much. We played cards in the dark in the back yard till about 10 o'clock.

And yesterday was a normal day. But tonight, I get to chaparone 4 teenagers at the Fall Out Boy concert. This should be something. Miss Amy jokes that I'll be the oldest person there, except for the roadies for the band. So, I have painted my nails the deepest purple that I have (as I am out of black), barrowed my 11 yr old's black skechers (yes, her feet are the same size as mine), put on my beige cargo capris, an army green tank top with a skull design logo for the Pirates of the Caribbean, and my black, green and navy flannel shirt. Here's to hopeing that I don't look too out of place. Updates and maybe pics from the concert tomorrow.

Kool Aid

Ok, so our Dye Your Own yarn came from Knit Picks yesterday, and we had a blast. We lined up the kitchen chairs, got out the wide mouth canning jars, the large stock pot and the Kool Aid. Here's what we did:

Here's the yarn and Kool Aid I used: Black Cherry, Orange, Lemon Aid and Berry Blue.

Here is where we used the chairs to wind it out, and marked where I wanted each color to be.

This is where I dipped the yarn in the jars of each color to *cook*. This didn't take too long.

This is where the yarn has soaked up all the color.

Here are the jars, just after I took the yarn out to rinse it.

This is the yarn, rinsed, wrung out and ready to be hung up to dry.

Here is drying, and you can see the left a bit of Miss Amy's.

And here it is, balled up. I really like the result, but I'm not entirely happy with it. That, and I just want to make lots more. But, the colors really came out good, the only thing is, the yellow came out a little washed out. However, all the colors combined reminds me of somewhere. So, I am calling this colorway Caribbean Reflections. The pale yellow is the sand, the blue is the water, the orange and red are the setting sun.

Everyone has the ice cream truck that trolls through the neighborhood, causing every kid to loose their minds and instantly come running while shouting "Mommy, it's the ice cream man, can I have some?" But in my neighborhood, there are 3, count them, 3 trucks that troll. And this one takes the cake:

What's so special about this one? You might ask. Well, I tried to post the pic that I blew up so you could see the writting on the side of the truck, but Blogger ate it. Anyway, it say "Jamaican Jerked Chicken" & "Caribbean Foods and Ice Cream". Only in a neighborhood that I live in would you see anything like this. I try to live a normal life, really. The weirdness just seems to follow me everywhere I go.

SP8 and another pair of socks

Secret Pal 8 has begun, and I have completed my questionaire. I am so excited. This is my first time doing something like this. I can't wait for all the fun to begin. Me getting to spoil someone, and someone getting to spoil me.

I have completed another pair of socks. You know, my rage fuel socks. They came out really cool. And, as soon as I finished them last night, I started looking for another pattern and searching in my sock yarn stash (as small as it is) for the next pair that I want to make, as I am still waiting for the yarn for mom's socks. So, here's the finished socks:

And this cute little thing followed me home from Target today at lunch:

I know, blurry pic. But it's a Samsung T7 mp3 player. It's something to hold me over until I can save up for an ipod, and I can strap it to my arm for my workouts and walks (which I really need to start doing. But, it's cute.

May Day.....

It's May Day, and I almost have my May socks done! Right after I finished my April socks on Saturday night, I casted on for the next pair. Here is what I have so far:

Yesterday, I had one sock done. And while watching the movie "The Wedding Date" (a cute movie):

Then, two rows after turning the heel, I went to bed. This is how far I am after knitting for my hour lunch:

Unless I completely ignore this tonight, this will be done. And, as you can see on the far left of the pic, a large bit of yarn will be left.

And, I had to share this one. This is Annie, sleeping on the kitchen chair. She fell asleep there becasue I told her that she couldn't get up until she ate the piece of cheese that she asked for, mutilated and you can see sitting on the wrapper on the table. She woke up shortly after I took this, and spent another 20 minutes whining and begging not the eat it. Needless to say, I won, and she ate it. And this is how my kitties spent the day while I knitted:

Miss Moonie & Mr. Vinny

Edited to add: When I expressed amazement at how fast I was cranking out socks, I was told by Mr. D ( here at work) that I work that fast because I have rage control issues, and knitting keeps me calm. Go figure! Wish I could knit while I drive, there would be alot less name calling and flying birds.