The Halloween Aftermath

Ok, time to share the pics from last night.

We had a few last minute changes in costume. Annie had decided that she wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer, so all that required was a small back pack and my collectible Poke ball. Katie was going to go as a homicidal maniac, which didn't need anything. That was, until we picked up Taylor. Taylor was dressed as a goth. So, Katie had to dress the same. Then they decided to wear fairy wings. At that point Annie had to be a fairy. Here are the end results:

Annie, trying to put on her dress shoes.

Katie, blue wings in all.

Mr. Vinny, trying to eat the chop sticks that Katie had to carry.

Katie and Taylor at the neighbor's house.

And, of course, you have to have pumpkins for Halloween. Here is what we carved:

My first pumpkin, with cute face.


My second pumpkin, made with the pumpkin cut out kit.

Katie's pumpkin, an outline of Emily Strange's cate

Annie's pumpkin, another cute face. (Don't worry, I carved it for her.)

And, Mr. S's scary pumpkin. It almost looks like Oogie from Nightmare Before Christmas.

And, finally, my Embossed Leaves socks, finished just in time for the SAM4 KAL deadline.

The Specs:

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Interweave Knits Winter '05
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Color: # 169
Needles: US 1
Started: Oct. 21, 2007
Finished: Oct. 31, 2007
Mods: I did 5 full reps in the leg, and 2 1/2 reps for the instep. And I mistakenly did a shallow heel gusset. That's what I get for turning a heel while I'm tired.

I want to make another pair of these, but in a solid, and to pattern.

And, on to a new month, already.

Happy Halloween!

Just a quick post to say that I finished my Embossed Leaves socks for the SAM4 KAL while watching the Ghosthunters Live investigation of Waverly Hills. Spooky! I'll post pics of the socks and the girls while trick or treating.

Happy Halloween!

Back from exile!

I have my beloved laptop back! Yippee! Not to mention that last week I was on vacation. We didn't really do much, shopped the book stores, shopped the yarn stores, took Katie to her dentist appointment, those kind of things. In the mean time, I have lots of pics. So, let's dive right in, shall we?

To start off the excitement, here is my Summer Sock Swap package from Anne. Just look at all the goodies and the gorgeous sock.


Here is the fabulous skein of Opal she sent:

Here is a better shot of the sock she made me, from Trekking that she found while in the Netherlands. The pattern is Karen's Lace, and I love it:

Here is a tealight holder and yummy smelling tealights (I love candles):

Here's some absolutely great smelling soap:

A post card for my collection:

Some yummy chocolates (had to fight the girls off, they wanted to eat them right away):

A cute note card:

And, finally, the sock on my foot. Just like the socks Anne made me for my birthday (which are my favorite socks, I wear them all the time), they fit me as if I made them. Such a perfect fit:


This weekend, we are off the the Ohio Renaissance Festival. So, I have been busy cutting fabric, and I'll be sewing my little heart out rest of the week. But, Katie doesn't need a costume. After rummaging through my old customes and bits, she has decided to be a pirate wench. And with her attitude, it fits her. Have a peek:

I finished my socks for September for the SAM KAL 4. Another pair of Simply Lovely Lace socks for me:

Specs:

Yarn: Regia
Color: brown
Needles: US 1 DPN's
Pattern: Simply Lovely Lace from Interweave Knits Spring '06
Started: August 26, 2007
Finished: September 6, 2007

This past weekend, Miss Casi, the girls and I went to the Wool Gathering in Yellowsprings, Ohio. I took my camera, but only thought to take any pics at the end of the trip. So, here's Annie, entertaining everyone in the waiting area of the Golden Jersey Inn restarant at the dairy, with a puppet show. They were finger puppets that I bought her.

I did get another set of Crystal Palace US 1 DPN's, to replace the set of which I lost a needle at the Morris family reunion. I got another type of US 1 DPN's that I can't think of right now. I got some Paca-Peds sock yarn in fall colors. And I think that's it. I'll be going again next year.

Up next is a pic of Annie eating a home made waffle. See, during the time my laptop was down, I found a great little waffle iron for $8 at Wally World. I couldn't pass it up, and it's proved it's worthy-ness.

Next up is the package that was on the porch today. It's my Football Along Swap package from Holly. Yippee! So, here's what was in the box. We start off with some plates and napkins in the football theme:

Up next is Lorna's Lace Celtic Denim pattern, I can't wait to try this one:

Next we have some Kiogu Sock yarn, in colors close to the my favorite pro team, the Dallas Cowboys:

There was also a goodie bag! And she got all my favorites - York, gummy bears, Lindt's mint chocolate and M&M's:

She also sent me 3 of her family's favortie dip recipes, and they are all my favorite, too:

And, a blue candle, the scent is Blackberry Cobbler, yum!

In other things, I'll be sending out Harvest Sock Swap pals tomorrow. This is the biggest swap so far, there are 32 of us. This will be fun!

And, I got my Ravelry invite today! I played on it at work between things. It's addictive, with a capital A!!!! So, after I get the pals out, if I drop off the face of the earth, that's where I'll be. My Ravelry name is Rosiegypsy, if you'd like to say hi. Off to drag out my stash.

Another FO and other pics

School started this week for the girls, Katie started on Monday and Annie started today. And in honor of that, Annie got a hair cut. See:

She wouldn't sit still, so it's shorter than I wanted it to be. But she looks so cute! (In this pic, she's not too happy with me, as I wouldn't take a pic of her drinking her cool aid single.)

As I mentioned before, we had the Morris Family reunion Sunday. I wore my Josephine top, so I'll share the one pic that I was in, and the one pic I have of the finished top.

From left to right, we have: Mr. S, me, cousin Savannah (ducking down), my uncle Verlie (in the back), mom, grandma, my aunt Sebrina (Verlie's wife), Katie, and down front is Annie.

The next pic is of Annie starting a water balloon fight, Uncle Verlie was her target.


The next pic is of some Lorna's Laces that have inspired me. The color is Tuscany.

I love this color so much, that I wished that I have some worsted to make a scarf so this ball could become a pair of fingerless gloves, as it's a single ball. Well, some great Yarn Goddess must have heard me, because when I went to one of the LYS for lunch the other day (to get an idea for my Fall Felted Bag pal, and that's the pattern under the ball, hee hee) I found this:

Three (not one or two, but three) b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l hanks of Lorna's Laces worsted weight in Tuscany!!! Now my dream can come true. The next question is what pattern to use? Maybe this one? I'm still debating. What do you think?

Next up is another piece of Heaven. My Namaste bag.

Isn't it fabulous? I love, love, love it! And, yes, it's almost as wide as my couch cushion. It's on the large side, but I will never be without my knitting again.

And now, for an FO. It's my finished August socks for the SAM KAL 4.

They were a little long for my feet, for some odd reason, so Katie ended up with them. The specs are as follows:

Yarn: Lorna's Laces
Colorway: Argyle
Needles: US 1 Crystal Palace DPN's
Pattern: Plain Vanilla Ribby Footies

See how the striping came out different on each one. Kinda cool, huh?


Up next is a progress pic. Have a peek:

This is the scarf that the Mystery Knitter is working on. Looks great for a first project, huh?

Next up is the IHS I started for cousin Becky. I just completed the 12 pattern repeat.


The last pic is of the next sock that I am working on. It will most likely end up as my September socks for the SAM KAL 4.

It's a pair of Simply Lovely Lace footies in Regia, color brown, to go with my Josephine Top.

Ok, now for updates. The last space for my PIF Exchange has been filled! Yippee! Now, I can start getting ideas for those projects.

The Harvest Sock Swap '07 sign ups are still open, and doing very well. We have 16 people so far (including myself). And I am thinking of holding a contest. I will announce what it will be tomorrow, along with what the prize will be. So, stay tuned for further details.

I started my new work out program and diet yesterday. So far, so good. But I can tell how out of shape I'm in, 'cause I could only do half of the work out yesterday, and 2/3 of it today. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to complete it. Oh, and I have drank so much water (about the 8 recommended daily glasses, that I'm not used to anymore) that my eyeballs have been floating every half hour. But, drinking that much water does help to curb the appetite. So, look out, favorite pair of jeans that I can't fit into, here I come. I'll be wearing you soon. (insert evil laugh here) Ok, enough babbling for tonight.

May everyone have some Happy Knitting time. I know I will.

D.I.B. (Dead In Bag)

That's what my laptop is, Dead In Bag. In the past hour, I have completely wiped my hard drive and it's still doing the same thing. So, this weekend, my loving SIL from Dayton will be stopping by to pick it up and take it home to her sweet, generous husband, who is going to take it apart to test the hard drive, since we both think that's what's wrong with it. And trust me, it will be a good thing that it's leaving town for a while, as all day at work, I day dreamed about taking it onto the dock, laying it on the floor, and smooshing it with about 6,000 lbs. of fork lift. And, if I'd had the money, I would have bought a new laptop, today. But, alas, I am on the poor side. No new laptop for me, at least not for another 6 months.

For updates: I still have 2 spots let for the PIF Exchange, so sign up by leaving a comment.

My Josephine Top is finished, but I obviously can't post any pics right now. I'll post some as soon as I'm able.

Sign ups for the Harvest Sock Swap '07 are still open, and will close on Sept. 15th. So far, we have, roughly, a dozen people, and plenty of room for more. So, stop by the blog page and sign up.

In other news, I have started another IHS for my cousin in West Virginia, who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure last month. She absolutely loved mine when we visited in January, so I thought I'd make her one before the weather turned cold. I'm already a third of the way into it, so I should be able to mail it soon.

I finally took the plunge, and ordered that Namaste Knitting bag I have been drooling over for more than a year. In black. It's on it's way, and I can't wait. Yippee!

I have a second sock that has been on the needles since the end of softball season that I desperately need to finish. It's a footie, you'd think I'd have it done by now. Especially since I only have to turn the heel and knit the foot. And, I need the credit for the SAM4 KAL.

Also, tonight, as I was on the phone trying to trouble shoot and arrange the going away of afore mentioned dead laptop, my niece was in the back ground, clamoring to talk to me. When she finally gets her turn to talk, the conversation went like this:

Niece S: Hi, Aunt Tonia. I need another pair of fingerless gloves. (If you remember, I made her a pair in navy for Christmas '06)

Me: Hi S. You need another pair?

Niece S: Yes, I lost one. And I'll look stupid wearing just one.

Me: What? Don't you wanna look like Michael Jackson? Ok, do you want the same color, or another color?

Niece S: Same color, so it matches my scarf. (The one I made her for Christmas '05)

So, I'll be ordering more Knit Picks Essential in Navy.

Ok, since my laptop is down, if you need to reach me, please leave me a comment, or e-mail me at rosiegypsy AT aol DOT com. I check that e-mail all day long.

ETA: I wasn't able to post my Felted Bad Exchange questionaire until now, so here it is:

1. How long have you been knitting or crocheting? I have been crocheting for 20 years, and knitting for 13 yrs. How did you learn? I got bored and taught myself.
2. What was your first felted object, and why did you decide to try felting? My first felted object was a small hand bag, it was a Christmas gift for someone.
3. What are your favorite colors? Red, black, green, and pretty much all of them. Any you hate? none.
4. What are your favorite styles\types of bags? (Long straps? Short handles? Handbags? Totes? Embellished? Plain? Include links to patterns or photos if you’d like – give your pal an idea of what you enjoy!) I like all kinds of bags. I'm pretty much a purse whore.
5. What handbag or bag are you carrying today? A black, white & purple striped tote from Victoria's Secret. Do you use a separate bag to carry your knitting? For now, waiting for my new Namaste bag.
6. What other things do you enjoy knitting or crocheting? socks, socks, and everything else.
7. What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum) whatever is needed for the project, and I prefer bamboo or wood.
8. What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make? color work
9. What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with? Paton's SWS (soy wool)
10. What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? I try to spin, I make wire jewlery, I sew, cross stitch and bake.
11. Besides yarn, do you collect anything? tea cups and tea pots
12. What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to? my favorite sweet is white chocolate.
13. Do you have any kiddos? (Furry kind count!) I have 2 great girls (ages 12 & 6) and 2 furry babies (cats)
14. What kind of project best personifies you and why? not really sure, but I knit alot of socks
    
15. What is your favorite part of Autumn? You can also share a special Autumn memory if you'd prefer! I love all of Autumn, the mildly warm days, very cool nights, the leaves turning colors, and the change to gather around a bon fire.
16. Tell us 3 things you would do if you won 10 million dollars in the lottery. Visit Ireland, Scotland and England. Buy my own house. Open my own yarn shop.

Sorry if it's a little late.