Busy, busy month! (Warning: Picture Heavy Post)

I have been such a bad blogger. But, I have really been down this year. Maybe with moving, trying to settle in and Grandma dying has put me in this funk. For the longest time, I was unable to knit, and now it seems like I can't stop knitting. But, let me get to the pics I have today, then I'll tell about my mis-adventures in knitting.

I did get the costumes done for Great Lake Medieval Faire, and just in time to leave. I was literally driving gromits an hour before we were ready to leave on Friday. We had a lovely time, aside from the heat. Once got settled into the hotel, we found a resturant that we haven't tried before. Great little itlian place that was in an old bank. They served a great chicken Marsala, and had excellent margaritas, I had two. When we got back to the hotel, the kids wanted to go swimming in the indoor pool. So, I sat poolside with Cassi and watched Katie do cannon balls in the deep end (which was 5 ft deep). She had one really good one, the back splash hit the ceiling of the pool room. On Saturday, we all got started bright and early, got breakfast at the hotel, got dressed is costume and headed off to the fair. Let me just say now that it was hot. And I do mean hot. We got there at about 10:30 am, and didn't leave until around 6 pm. We had fun, but everyone scattered to the four winds once we got in there. We all did meet up several times, and we did get some pics. I don't have all of them here, but here's a few:

Here's the boys: (from left to right) Pat (Shawn's dad), Chris and Shawn (Mr. S).

Here is Annie and Cassi. This one was taken the 2nd day we were there.

Barrett the bagpiper. My favorite. The man walks around barefoot. I have never seen him in a pair of shoes, at any point, over the last 10 years.

Here is Shawn and Annie, on the first day.

After sweltering on Saturday, Katie and I decided not to dress on Sunday, even though everyone else did. But, we had a blast. It did rain on Sunday. We were trapped on the covered bridge to the mud show with about 20 other people. While we were trapped, Barrett played, a wandering minstrel couple played for us, and the mud show performers did a show on the bridge for us, and used Katie (much to her dislike) as part of the show. The only bad thing that happened was that I lost my favorite sunglasses off the side of the bridge, and didn't want to get down into the mud to retrieve them. I do have more pics. I'll upload them later when I'm on my laptop, which is where the pics are.


This past weekend, Katie had her year end softball party. It was held out at Buckeye Lake at one of the girls grandparents vacation house. And let me just say, I haven't been out there since I was a kid, and boy, have the summer houses changed. I'm talking around 300k and better for these places. Oh, how a long for a summer house. (Sorry. Eddie Izzard fans will understand that one.) Anywho. The girls had a blast. There weren't too many kids there, which was good. They swam in the lake, rode the pontoon boat and jet ski, and even went tubing. I forgot my camera, but others didn't, here are the pics that I swiped from them:

Here is Katie and I. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, I'm thinking more like 20. The girls talked me into the sun hat, I don't normally wear hats. But it was a cute hat, and for $5. We each got a different hat.

Here's Katie in her hat.

Another pic of Katie in her hat.

Here's Katie, swimming in the lake. All the kids had a blast. They were jumping in right off the bank. And since the currents can be strong, they all wore life jackets.

Here's Annie swimming. Not only did she wear a life jacket, but because she couldn't touch the bottom, she insisted on have an inflatable tube.

Here's Annie in her hat, blowing bubbles.

Here's Annie trying to get out of her life jacket.

I got creative and started a Wool Peddler's Shawl. I bought 4 hanks of Cascade 220, in a lovely red. I worked on it, mainly, after I finished the costumes. I even took it with me to the softball party. Yesterday, I brought it with me to work, I thought I'd work on it at lunch. When I pulled it out of my bag and saw how small my ball of yarn was (the 3rd ball), I pulled the last hank out to wind it up, and realized that it was the wrong colorway. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. And it was clearly the wrong colorway, not the wrong dye lot, the wrong colorway. I called the store where I got it, because they'll let me exchange it for the right one, just to find out that they are out of my colorway and have to order one for me. Now, I have to resort to working on something else until it comes in. I had thought about starting a baby blanket for Miss PJ, but then I thought about the projects that hanging around the house unfinished. If you are wondering which ones they are, they're on the side bar, to the right, if you want to take a peek. So, I went into my room and picked up the first yarn tote I saw. It just happened to be my poor CPH. But, in the mean time, here is a pic of my Wool Peddler's Shawl.

Not a very good pic, I know, I'll take a better one later. But, this is where she's at until the last ball of yarn arrives.


Happy Knitting!

Lost: Knitting Mojo reward offered

It seems that I have not had any knitting mojo lately. It seems that when Grandma got really sick, my knitting mojo went right out the window. I finished Miss PJ's waffle socks on May 23rd, and I haven't even cast on for the next pair. What's wrong with me? Maybe it's lack of inspiration. Although I have been working on my 2nd Josephine Top here and there. But I started that on April 23rd, and I had the first one done in 3 weeks. And I bought some lovely bright red Cascade 220 for a Wool Peddler's shawl. I did get some beautiful Knit Picks Shimmer in Sherry to make a Highland Triangle shawl. And I did get some Knit Picks Bare in lace weight and some purple dye to make my Balmoral shawl. Geesh, I've been a slacker. And just when I do start to get the urge to knit again, I go and let Mr. S pamper me for my birthday, and I got my nails done. That throws a curve ball in there, considering that I haven't had my nails done in 3 years. Boy, I had better kick my knitting rear end in gear, as I have great aspirations for Christmas gifts, and I've already started 1 project. Well, Ghost Hunters is on tonight, I'll have to make sure that I have some needles in hand.

Then, to top it off, my neighbor's a/c unit has a leak, and it's leaking into my apartment. I used my carpet cleaner to suck up about 5 gallons of water out of my carpet. This, after they said they fixed the problem. So, I have to have them come back out and take a look again. Then, we are getting all types of bugs that are coming in, and since we don't have a basement, they are coming into my kitchen and living room. And I noticed a large population of spiders. I hate spiders. I just need to find the biggest can of Raid I can find, and use it.

The good thing is that Katie is almost done with softball for this season. We have 2 more regular games, and any make up games they can schedule before the play offs the 2nd weekend of July. Which is a relief, with gas prices what they are. Some of the teams we have to visit to play are 10 miles or more out in the country.

Ok, I'm off to look for sock patterns in Ravelry.

A new week!

Last night's softball game went well, even if it was a little windy with lots of dirt flying. I had so much dirt in my eyes, I almost couldn't see past the mud it was creating. Ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic. But I couldn't wear my contact lens today, because they need a long soak to get all the dirt off. But, back to the game. Katie's team won again, 27-10. Her batting is improving, and she was named slider of the game by the coaches. She also figured out why those uniform socks are so long and why you should always wear them, as she tore up her left shin sliding into home. Her batting is also improving, as she got a triple play, with the bases loaded. On the down side, the game was too exciting to knit, so I only got 5 or 6 rows done on a footie that I'm working on.

Speaking of footies. Here are few pics of the set I finished last week.

The Specs:

Yarn: Lorna's Laces (love that yarn)
Color: Mt. Creek
Needles: US 1 Crystal Palace (my favorite)
Pattern: My own plain vanilla ribby footie

As I was taking these pics, I found another bruise from last week's fall up the stairs at work. You can see it in the bottom pic, on my right leg, just above my left heel. How I missed that one, I'll never know. But it's big enough that it wraps around the outside of my leg. Ouch.

Stop by Lexa's page to wish her well. She's feeling under the weather.

Happy Knitting!

Warmer days ahead

Finally, it has warmed up! We didn't freeze our behinds off at the game last night. But, the girls lost, again. The score was 20 to 7. And I got my camera back from Mr. S, so I have pics. I'll start off with the pics I took at Thursdays game.

First up, we have Katie just before the game started:


Katie warming up for next at bat:



The team sitting on the bench (note that all the parents are sitting under blankets):

Katie and her BFF, Taylor:


And I have to have a pic of Annie. This one was from Sunday, and she is wearing the dress that her Aunt PJ made her:

Katie on first base at last nights game:


Katie, making a catch at first base that resulted in an out for the other team.


Katie covering first base:


And this is just because I found it in the folder. It's "evil Vinny". Notice the red gift bow on his head. (and don't worry, he's really not evil, he was yawning, hee hee)

Well, I took some knitting with me to the game last night. And I think that was a good thing, with all the bad calls and such. I took my Candle Flame Shawl with me, but haven't taken any pics. I just reached the half way point. I figured that I have to finish it some time, and if I actually work on it, it'll get done. I just finished the 9th repeat of the 18 that I have to do for the correct length. So, the way I figure it, if I do at least a repeat a day (mind you, each repeat is 36 rows), I should get it finished within the next week and a half. But, this weekend is a 3 day weekend, and I should have plenty of time to knit, since I can't go on the hiking trip I wanted to do. Especially after the gas prices here went from $3.15 yesterday to $3.49 today, and that's the cheap grade. I don't know about anyone else, but I am tired of all the oil and gas companies getting rich off of my meager pay check. Sorry. Started ranting there. But, I'll take a pic of my Candle Flame Shawl tonight and post it tomorrow.

Oh, speaking of tomorrow. (The sun'll come out, tomorrow. Betcha bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun! - Sorry, that just popped out) Annie graduates from kindergarten tomorrow. So, I have taken the day off to help mom get a few things done and attend the graduation. Also, it's more knitting time.

Don't forget, sign ups for the Summer Sock Party are open and everyone is welcome. Just drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.

I'm up and running!

I have a new cord for my laptop! Yippee! As I told Lexa, I have never been more happy to see 158 e-mails in all my life. And during the great laptop black out of '07, I realized exactly how much my sanity depends on my laptop. Is that a good thing? I'm pretty sure it's not, but I can cope with that.

Last night, Katie had an away game. They lost. They seem to win the home games, and lose the away games. Last Thursday, they only lost by 1 point. Last night, the score was 14-2. But, I don't blame them. It was really cold. All of the parents were bundled up and under blankets. I could see my breath, that's how cold it was. That's not normal for Ohio in mid-May. I sat and knitted for as long as my fingers could take it. Poor Mr. S almost froze to death. Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he was really, really, really cold. He was still shivering when we got back to the house. And I thought I got cold easily. Annie, on the other hand, was running and playing on the play ground and didn't feel the cold at all. I took pics, but they are on the camera, and Mr. S has the camera. He's bringing it back tonight, so I'll try to post them over the weekend.

Oh, and for those that are interested. We are looking to start a second round of the Summer Sock Party. If you are interested, please leave a comment or e-mail me. Because of the suddenly exploding social agenda, I will make this swap a guest blogging event. That way, if I am running behind on updates, the participants can do their updates. I'll have sign ups open until June 16th, and the "party" will begin on June 21st. I'm hoping it's a big party this year.

I finally have pics!

Not only did I get my camera back, but Mr. S remembered to bring me the cord. Yippee! And I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but Mr. S is a comic book artist. So, when I got my camera back, there were some of his reference shots on it. He took shots of downtown Columbus, and here are a few of my favorites.




I did take a few pics at softball practice the other night. Here is Katie getting her cleats on.

Here is Annie, while she was sitting on the bleachers. You can see from her hair that it was very, very, very windy that evening. It was so windy.... (How windy was it?) It was so windy, that I had problems knitting. The wind nearly blew my sock out of my hand.

Here is Katie, covering 1st base. Looks real enthused, huh?

But, she is doing great. The coach was impressed with her batting. Even though she hit alot of fouls ('cause she swings a little late), she hit 3 times more than the other girls. She was also one of the faster runners. I think she'll do really good with softball, and stick with it for more than one season. That's more than I can say for cheerleading.

Here is a pic of Katie that I took earlier this evening, with Mr. Vinny. She actually smiled.

And here is the first of my Clessidra socks. I am just hitting the ankle shaping.


And here is a shot of it on my leg.

Not too bad, so far. But I have been walking around sing "This is the sock that never ends." Hee hee.

Wow! I just noticed that I forgot to blog about my Harvest Sock Swap package that I got from my pal. I'll sit down and do that tomorrow night, as Mr. S is on his way over, and he's not feeling good.

No pics today

I was hoping to have pics today, but when Mr. S brought back the camera, he forgot the USB cord at his house.

Anyway, we had a good weekend, despite the fact that I was on call this weekend and had 4 shipments to take care of, it was still a pretty good weekend. On Friday night, we just sorta vegged out and watched part of season 2 of Ghost Hunters on dvd. On Saturday, we had a small dinner party at his brother's house. It was very nice. Mr. S handled the grill, we had hambugers and BBQ chicken. And on Sunday, we went for a bike ride in the park and a drive in the country. Annie went with us for the bike ride and car ride. We have decided that until she learns to ride a bike without training wheels, she rides in her seat on the back of my bike. 'Cause she complains way too much. Then we stopped and had dinner at the Dairy Queen.

Tonight we have Katie's softball practice. It's threatening to rain on us. Part of me hopes it rains, and practice is canceled. But the other part of me wants practice, as it's the only time I can get in some serious sock knitting time, a good couple of hours worth. Oh well, maybe I'll stop and pick up the camera and snap a few shots of Katie at practice.