So, on Friday I was inspired while reading my blog list. On Babycocktails and Knitting, I noticed her finished Josephine top from the Summer '07 Interweave Knits, and remembered seeing it when I bought my copy of the issue. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. At lunch I ran and bought some Paton's Grace, in the taupe color. Well, after 2 false starts ( I was apparently too tired to add correctly) I got the count right on Saturday morning. I worked a couple of rounds and then took the girls to the mall, since Katie's BFF stayed the night. I worked on it some more when we got home, and few rounds on Sunday. It was on Monday that I made lots of head way. See, I had to take Katie in for a physical for school volley ball. In the , almost 4 to 5 hours of sitting in the doctor's office, I got a lot done. Granted, my thumb is hurting and just a little swollen. But, here is how much I have done:

I am loving this pattern! As you can see, I've decided to knit it in the round, just because I don't want to have to seam.

While I was pulling this pic off of the camera, I found a few more that I haven't posted. So, to begin with, I'll start with someone who decided to hide from the house for a while, and that would be Miss Moonie:


Then, I forgot to post the great socks that Anne made for me for the Summer Sock Party '07:

They fit me perfectly! And the colors are great.

Up next, is a pic of when Moonie decided to rejoin the rest of the world, and tried to share Butter's bed, and as you can see, Butter wasn't too thrilled about that.


Then, I found the one of where we were vacuuming the living room, and the cats hate that dreaded machine. This is were I found them, hiding behind the couch.


Then, the highlight of the weekend before. The new Harry Potter book! I stalked the mail man until he showed up.


And, as I said in my post on Friday, I met Beth. And she brought me her pizzell iron.


And, of course, I had to try it right away!


And here are the yummy almond flavored pizzells that I made:

Despite the fact that everyone said they didn't like almond flavored, they sure disappeared very quickly.

I fell down dead, again!

I just hate summer colds! Everything was going so well, then I got sick. It started as a sinus infection. Then I couldn't run a fever and developed a cold sore. The weekend after the 4th of July, Mr. S, trying to make me feel better and have a stress free weekend, dragged me out to the movies. He didn't seem to understand that having my upper lip swollen like I have been stung by a bee was stressing me out. But, I went anyway, because it meant so much to him. We saw the afternoon showing of Transformers, had dinner at Don Pablo's, and went back for the evening showing of Pirates 3. And on Sunday, he took me to The Shadowbox Cabaret to see The Rocky Horror Show. Which was fabulous!

The following week at work was a little on the bad side. Business picked up a little, and at the end of the week, someone was let go. Which meant that some of his job became my job, to catch up what he didn't do. And to top it off, the next week, business really picked up. I didn't even have a chance to get lunch most days. This week has been slowing back down. I was finally able to touch my laptop after almost 3 weeks. Oh, and on Friday the 13th, I was looking through some old stuff and broke an old thermometer. Yeah, trying to clean up mercury is real fun. Especially when you have to shut off the a/c to air out the house. Granted, it wasn't much, but I wasn't taking any chances. That one can be filed in that folder labeled "Things that only happen to Tonia". A short time later, I started feeling ill. And because of that, we missed the kid-parent softball game and the awards picnic.

Oh, and last Saturday I stalked the mail man. I was waiting for my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows". The mail man normally runs around 11:30. Just because I was waiting for my book, he didn't show up till 3:15. So, yeah, that book swallowed me up for several days. And, once I finished it, my manager at work attacked to me find out what the ending was. She said that she was never going to read the books, and the movie would be at least a couple of years away, and she had to know.

But, I've go exciting news. Beth is in town to visit her parents, and I get to meet her tonight. She has brought me her pizzell iron. Yeah, I finally get to make pizzells. So, after work tonight, we're going to try to meet up somewhere between her parents and my parents house. This should be fun!

Just another S-L-O-W day

Ok, so here I sit, at work, with not a thing to do. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I work for an air freight company. And the day before a holiday is always the slowest. I finished the sock that I was working on last night at Katie's game (they won, btw, 35 to 16) and didn't get home until way late. Late, as in I didn't get home until almost 10:30 pm, late. I was too tired to ball up any more yarn for another pair of socks, and I was on the phone to Mr. S. I was going to ball up some this morning before work, but yeah, I got up too late for that. Now, I have nothing to do at work, the boss is on vacation, it's prime knitting time in the office and I have nothing to work on. AAHHH! So, I have spent the better part of the day trying to find a new pattern to knit. I think I'll take a chance and knit something I would never consider knitting, something like....... this! I know, not such a big leap, but I usually stick with ankle socks, or shorten the leg of a pattern. This pattern calls for Lana Grossa, but I think I'll use some Trekking. Or some of the Austerman Step that I bought recently, but haven't got to try yet.

Hey, I get to leave early. See ya!

New month, new week....

So, it's Monday (Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends), and it's now July. Where has the first part of the year gone? And, being that it's Monday, we have a softball game tonight. The last of the regular games. Now we just have 3 make up games (if the other teams want to play them) and tournaments. I remembered the camera, so there should be a few good pics. The only drawl back to tonight's game is that it's out in the boonies. But that's what happens when you join a rec league in the (semi) country.

Over the weekend, We decided to paint ourselves with henna. We usually do this several times a summer, but last summer we were just too busy. And, for once, I remembered a camera to take pics of what we did. Below is a pic os the Celtic Heart that we all decided to have put on our arms. In the pic you'll see Katie's, PJ's and my arms.

PJ now wants to have it done as a permanent tattoo in that spot. Annie had a small one done, too. And like the bad mother that I am, I forgot to get a pic last night. So, I'll take one tonight. In case you're wondering, she got a small kitty on inside of her arm. It was funny when we started to put in on her. She tensed up, thinking that it would hurt, and started squirming and giggling because it tickled.

I finally remembered to take a pic of my Lorna's Lace Liberty footies. Here, they are, just in time for Independence Day.

For the 4th, we'll be heading to Mr. S's moms for a cookout. I'm gonna make pizza pasta salad and an Impossible French Apple pie. We'll toss the kiddlings into the pool to keep them busy so I can knit. There is nothing better than knitting pool side on a holiday. Especially one that fall in the middle of a work week. What a better way to spend a Wednesday! Too bad I have to work the 2 days after. :(

Birthday Pics

Ok, so I don't normally post pics of myself because I have self image issues. Like, I need to lose about 45 lbs. But, I'll make an exception for my birthday pics, and the really great hair do that Casi did. So, below is the pic of my hair after I came back from the salon. It's in a semi-up do. It kinda reminds me of hair styles of the late 1800's. And, it lasted all day and night!

Next is a pic of me and Casi, at Easton Town Center.

Two Crazy Red Heads!

And the next one is a really good shot of the fountain on the north side of the shopping center.

And, those neon lights you see in the back ground are on the Mc Donalds. You can sorta see Ronald's big fluffy red do over the water. Hee hee!

And just so that I'm not the only making a rare appearance on the blog, here's one of Mr. S at a cook out at PJ's house.


I'll take pics of my Liberty footies tonight and post them tomorrow.

Happy Knitting!

What a weekend!

Well, let's start with what happened after I got off of work on Thursday, shall we? I picked up the girls and headed off for Katie's softball game. It was a home game, thankfully. And, as I watched the game, I finished the 2nd ribby footie in Lorna's Laces Liberty. I still have to take a pic of them. And, I get a call from Miss Amy. And the conversation went a little like this:

Amy: Ok, if I'm looking at the thermostat and it says 80 degrees, is that a bad thing?

Me: Is there any cold air coming out of the air vents?

Amy: No. None.

Me: Shut it off. I'll check it when I get home.

So, when I got home at 10 pm, it was hotter than all Hades in the house. First thing I did was change the air filter, and then try to get the a/c to work. No deal. So, Amy put in a call to the rental office that someone needed to come look at it on Friday. Now, mind you, I took Friday off to get things done, like renew my driver license and car tags, and a trip to the store. I finally called the rental office around noon, and she said that someone would be out that afternoon. Finally at around 2 pm, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer, as I was fearful of a long line at the DMV. I rounded the girls up and off we went. Twenty minutes later, I was finished at the DMV and on my way to the grocery store. I thought I'd call the rental office. I got voice mail, and left a message that I was on my way back to the house, so they could show up any time. While I was at the store, I figured what the hell, and picked up a bottle of pineapple rum and some orange juice. I went home, took a nap and got up in time to run Katie to her friend Taylor's house for the night. When I got home, Mr. S was waiting for me. I had to fight him to make dinner, and I already had everything waiting and ready. After dinner, I worked on trying to get him to crack on why I had to be up so early on Saturday. He didn't budge.

Saturday dawned bright and early, unfortunately. I didn't really want to be up that early. But, I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. And since he beat me to it, that delayed me getting ready. He's trying to push me out the door, but I still made sure I did my makeup and dried my hair, not knowing what he had in store for me. By the time I made it up to the kitchen, he had made me a couple of frozen waffles. I ate those in the car on the way. And, I'm actually proud of the fact that he didn't crack, like he always does, and tell me what he had planned. He took me here. He had scheduled it 2 weeks ago. He said that because he didn't really know what to get me for my birthday, he'd take care of the 2 things that I had complained about: needing a pedicure & needing my hair cut. And the main reason he chose that salon is because his good friend Casi works there. My appointment was for 9:15 am, but he had me up and out the door by 8:15 am. So, I was pampered all morning. Casi only cuts hair, so my pedicure was done first. Then I was handed over to Casi. And my hair came out looking great. She styled it for our night out, and we were on out way. From there, we went back to the house to pick up Annie, and then went to the Columbus Arts Festival at Easton Town Center. There, we roamed around a little bit, and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Which was better than I thought it would be. From there, Mr. S dropped me back off at the house to get ready. I then took Annie to the ball field, as Katie had a make up ball game, and both girls spent the night at Taylor's. After I dropped Annie off, I went and picked up Miss PJ and her husbeast (and I call him a beast because I've had to endure his practical jokes for almost 18 yrs), while Mr. S picked up Casi's husband. We all met at the Japanese Steak House (sadly, they have no web site). They seated up early, as we had reservations for 6 pm. After we were done there, we went on to Easton Town Center, and decided that we would go to The Shadowbox Cabaret instead of the movie (Casi was scared of the movie). We saw the "Best Of" show, and have agreed to go back and see The Rocky Horror Show. The show let out at 1 am. From there, we just went home and collapsed into bed.

Sunday, we got up, bright and early, again. And that was because we had to pick up the girls from Taylor's. Then, we dropped Katie back off to the house to wait for her dad to pick her up, and dropped Annie off to PJ for the day. We then headed out to Dayton, OH to the Dayton Art Institute. We went to see the Marilyn Monroe exhibit. Sunday was the last day for it. Now, I'm a huge Marilyn fan, I've seen every movie that she completed, and even out takes of the movie she was filming when she died. The exhibit was good, but I was a little disappointed with it. And, this is why: They had a one day preview of the exhibit, and my SIL happened to be there that day. In that preview, they had on display the white halter dress from the Seven Year Itch. When we finally made it to see the exhibit, there were none of her costumes, or anything of a personal nature on display. There were only photos, artists renditions, intrepretations, and sculptures on display. Granted, it was good, but a little disappointing. But, Mr. S did surprise me by buy the last 2 copies of the famous Warhol's, the red one and the blue one. He told me that he would make his mission to find all the others for me, so I'll have a complete collection. Ain't he just the sweetest? From there, we went with my SIL and my niece that joined us for the exhibit, to the Dublin Pub. If you ever make it to Dayton, stop there. They have great irish food. And then we came home and vegged for the rest of the evening.

Mr. S said that he wanted me have the best weekend possible, with as little stress as possible. And that was what I had.

Monday, on the other hand, was.... yeah. Was. That's about it. Since no one ever showed up on Friday about the a/c, I was house bound until he showed up yesterday, sometime around 1 or 2 pm. Then Katie had a game at 6 pm. They lost, but it was only by 1 point. They played a great game, and once again, Katie was hit by the ball. I have started calling her "Maggie" (short for magnet), and she's not too happy about that. After the game, the coach took the team out for ice cream, and we hung around for over an hour in the ice cream shop parking lot, just chatting. All in all, not too bad of a day.

Ok, enough rambling on. I'll post pics later.

Nothing much in general

I was updating a couple of the sock swap blogs, and thought I'd update this one, too. There's not too much going on. Katie has a softball game tonight. I have taken a couple of days off at work, specifically Friday and Monday, as Saturday is my birthday. I just want to enjoy a couple of days off, paid, for my birthday. So far, as much as I know, we have 6 pm reservations at the Japanese Steak House and then it's off to see the movie 1408. Miss PJ and her husbeast are going to join us, and maybe Mr. S's friend Casi and her husband. But what worries me is the fact that last night, while watching Ghost Hunters, Mr. S looked at me and said, "Now, honey, I know it's your birthday, and you like to sleep in on Saturdays, but we need to be up, ready and out the door by 8 am. Don't ask, just be ready." Now, I'm the type that I like to plan ahead. I like to be prepared for what ever. That comes from raising 2 children on my own. But, I'm not too good with surprises. Well, gifts can be surprises. But I don't like events or trips to be surprises. I'm the type of person that you can tell me you got me a gift, tell where you hid it, and I could care less, I'll wait till you hand it to me. But tell me that you have planned a trip and not tell me one single detail, and I'll go crazy. So, I'll do what I normally do with Mr. S, I'll question and push until he can't take it anymore and he caves and tells me. What was it he called me the other day? Oh yeah. A "pushy broad." Hee hee! I guess I can't help it. It's a side effect from being on my own for so many years.

Oh well. At least I have some sock knitting to look forward to tonight at the game. That is, if the game doesn't get too exciting, like it did Monday night. (And yes, girls' softball games can get exciting.) I only got 5 rows done on Monday.

If you are interested in taking a peek, I am in the process of wrapping up the Sock Hop Swap '07, and today is the kick off of the Summer Sock Party '07.

Happy Knitting!

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!

Ok, I give up!

I am positive that there is a cosmic filing cabinet and it contains a huge folder that reads on the little tabby, in bold letters:

Things that only happens to Tonia

I have had my share of illnesses, viruses, common colds, migraines and what have you, for the rest of the year. I want no more illnesses for the rest of the year. All last week, I was at home with sever migraines, and a stomach virus to top it off. Then, to continue in that theme, the second day back to work this week (that being Tuesday), I fell up the stairs on the way in. In that accident, I punctured my left wrist, bent and bruised my right wrist, jammed my right should upwards, hit the steps with my right thigh, and if Miss Amy had been moving any slower in opening the door, I would have hit my head on the steel security door. These kinds of things only happen to me. Just like the weekend before I was home sick. I decided to get an account at a major video rental chain (which I shall not name, but I'm pretty sure you know who I'm talking about), and I receive a notice in the mail to return a movie that I never rented. My reaction was WTF???? I called the store to inform them that there was something wrong, and I needed to find a way to fix it. The manager took the offending articles off of my account. After I hung up, I started wondering how that could have happened, so I called back to talk to the manager. When I asked if someone else could have been using my account without my knowledge or consent, he started to get short with me. In a very snippy tone, he stated that it was an error. When I pointed out that it could've been a costly error for me, he then proceeds to say, "Well, I can investigate if further, but I would have to put them back on your account, and that might not go so well for you." At this point, the evil little b*#ch in my kicked in, and I said, "Is that a threat? Because, that sounds like a threat to me." He just went on being a jerk, and then made the mistake of asking me if there was anything else he could do. I replied, "Yeah, learn better customer service skills." And I hung up on him. At the point, I was spitting angry. I called another store and asked for the 800 # for their corporate office. I then called and filed a complaint on that manager, and the nice customer service lady called the store to make sure everything was taken off of my account. Upon hearing how the manager treated me, she acted outraged on my behalf, and said that my complaint would go to the local field investigator. As soon as I was done, I decided that I would drive right over to the store and cancel my account. And, as I pulled out of the garage, we found out that I had a flat, and those tires were less than 4 months old. So, Miss Amy handed me her keys, and I went and canceled my account. Once that was done, we took my car down to the corner gas station, and I put air in the tires and took it back to the tire shop. The had it fixed, and they tires rotated in under 20 minutes, for free.

But, I haven't forgotten to mail out the packages that need to go, it just may be another week or so, considering I missed a full week of work, unpaid. Yikes! That hurts. But, they will be going out soon. I promise.

I'll have some sock pics to post soon. As soon as I take pics of them. But, I will leave you with a pic from yesterday's lunch with Mr. S at Easton Town Center (for those of you that aren't from around these parts, that's a huge shopping center, on the scale of a small town, and it has to have it's own street maps, no kidding).



This poor guy! It was hot, and granted he was playing with the kids in the fountain, but that suit was rubberized, and I can lay odds that it was really hot. I hope he was paid a really good hourly rate.

This is so funny!!!

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.

And disaster strikes!

I'm using the computer at work to drop in a quick post. My lap top is down, due to a cord with a short. I had to order one, as no one local carries that particular cord, and it shipped yesterday. Now, let's see how long it takes to get here. I'll have a nice big update when I'm finally up and running. Oh, and if you've sent me an e-mail in the past week, I won't be able to answer till the new cord arrives. Sorry.

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.

I haven't died! I promise!

I'm still alive. I just haven't had a lot of time, lately. After I started getting over my illness, I jumped back into the world of dating, then Katie joined the girls' softball team for her middle school. Perfect example is that I didn't get home until five minutes till 9 last night, due to a late practice. Then, I was so tired, that I passed out on the couch for a while, till Mr. S called. And, yes, Mr. S is the afore mentioned man in a kilt. Both of us went fishing, and I'm not sure who caught whom.

However, I am still alive, my kids, my mother or my job hasn't offed me, yet. And I'm still knitting. I just don't have pics to share yet, as Mr. S barrowed my camera. I have finished a pair of very colorful socks for Annie, and I have started a pair of Clessirda for myself in some navy Regia. I should have pics soon, as I have just about reached the ankle of the first sock while waiting for Katie's softball practices to end, and Mr. S should bring my camera back, real soon, as in I'll remind him to bring it over tonight. I feel lost without my camera.

For those in the Sock Hop Swap '07, I'll be updating that this weekend. I promise.

I have tons of blog reading to catch up on, too. So, you may see lots of comments from me, if not a few large comments.

I'm alive, I promise (*no pics)

Well, remember how we thought Annie had an allergic reaction? Welp, she didn't. She caught the Fifth Disease at school. And guess who was lucky enough to catch it, too? Yep. That's right. I did. I pretty much slept from Sunday evening, Feb. 25, to Thursday March 1st. And then slowly recouped from there. I spent all last week trying to catch up on everything. I still haven't made it to the post office, sorry Lexa, but I'll make it soon. On a more positive note. During the time that I have been trying to catch up on everything, Amy talked me into trying to date again. And may the Heavens continue to smile on me! I have met a nice man. And he wears a kilt! Love love love a man in a kilt! We have gone out several times now, and get along great. That's all I'm gonna say, so as to not jinx myself. May Fortune continue to look favorably upon me.

I'll have a better update soon.

Just a wee bit of drama

So, I was sitting at work today when Miss Tammi called on my cell. We were chatting away when my mom beeped through. When I clicked over to talk to her, she says, "I just e-mailed you some pictures. I want to open them and look at her arms." And she sounded kind of frantic. So I asked her who's arms I was supposed to be looking at. And she tells me Annie's. I told her that I would look at it as soon as it came through and call her back. Now, the pics are on my work computer, but when I looked at them, I knew exactly what I was looking at. She was having an allergic reaction. At this point, let me give you a little back history. A little over a year ago, Annie started complaining that it really hurt when she went pee-pee in the potty. So, thinking it was a UTI, I took her to the family doctor. She sent us to Childrens' Hospital to a specialist. And the result was that she was so constipated that it caused her to have bladder spasms. He told us to give her Milk of Magnesia to fix the problem, and limit her favorite thing, dairy products. Long story short (I know, too late) she got tired of the M.O.M and my mom bought her some chocolate ExLax yesterday. She had a dose last night, and one this morning. And, as we found out, she's allergic to it. I'll post the pics soon. Not a pretty site. She had red splotches all over her arms. I had to leave work at 2 to make an appointment at 3. So, it's benadryl for the next 3 days, and back to the M.O.M. And I recognized it because I'm allergic to grilled or roasted tomatoes, and I get the same splotches, but mine itch, her's hurt.

But a few good things did come out of it. We found out that Annie's has grown 2 inches since August. I found that one of the near by Wal Mart's still had Valentine's chocolates at 75% off. I got the de-icer wind shield fluid that I have been looking for for 2 days. And I got a really cute set of 4 Irish toasting glasses for $5.

On the knitting front, I started a pair of socks for Annie on Sunday. I got the first one done on Sunday. I'm using Regia Crazy Colors that's stretchy. And I'm still practicing on the wheel. SO, right now, I'm going to kick back, take something for this headache and watch Open Season, again. And enjoy some chocolates. Later.

Saturday shopping fun

Saturday, we got up bright and early and headed off to Dayton. It took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get there in the bad weather. And about an half an hour after getting there, we headed off to Fiberworks to pick up my wheel. We spent an hour and a half there! Wow! We had such a great time, we didn't realize how much time we spent there. There was so much to look at. All the different types and colors of roving. I was in heaven. My SIL went with me, along with Annie and my niece F. All the older girls stayed at the house. I'll show you below in pics all the neat stuff that I got. And let me say, I did set a budget for myself and I stayed under it by $10 and some change.

When we got back, I started lunch, cheesy potato soup. And Angie (my SIL) made Italian grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum! And while we cooked, we whipped up a few cocktails, pineapple rum with orange-pineapple-strawberry juice. Again, Yum! Then, we let the kids go play in the snow. Don't worry, they had on multiple layers. And when they came in, we put them in jammies, and tossed all the wet stuff in the dryer. Here's a few pics:


Here's Katie and niece S trying to go down the hill in a box.

Here's Annie, after she hit the bottom of the hill.

But, on to the goodies.

Here's my wheel, still in the box.

Here is what it looked like when I opened the box. Inside of that folder is the assembly instructions, sand paper, a catalog of their other products and a little slip of paper that tells you who packed the box, with their picture on it.

Here is half of the parts, laid out on my bedroom floor.

Here is the other half of the parts.

And here it is, a couple of hours later, all put together. I am so proud of myself. Now for all the goodies that I got.

Arlene (the shop owner) gave me the white roving as a gift to practice on. The lovely dark mauve and rose roving I bought. I'm not touching those beauties until I get the hang of it.

I picked up the Handspinner's Handbook and WPI tool.

Here is some beautiful lace yarn that I fell in love with. It's Jojoland Harmony, colorway C05. And under it is a pattern for a Lace Flower shawl.

Here is some Jojoland Melody, fingering weight, in colorway Y45. These will become a lovely pair of socks.

Here is a lovely Lendrum Maple Niddy Noddy, that's adjustable to 1 or 2 yds. Now, I just need a Nostepinne. I have tried to use my wheel. I understand the basics, I just need to get the hang of it. I can get started, but it gets too twisty on my, really quick. But I am determined. I will learn to spin. And, finally I leave you with a pic of Mr. Vinny, sniffing my roving, which I have tied closed in a bag. Granted, he has great taste, but he would rather roll in it and make a mess.

An FO in February

I finished my sock in Lorna's Laces Irving Park. Wanna see?

Here they are, and I'm wearing my great find. I found these heels on the 50% off rack at The Shoe Dept. They are M.U.D., and I couldn't pass then up at only $10.00. That's what happens when I have to buy new cross trainers.


And here is another shot showing how I had left over. I didn't have to join the 2nd skein until after the 8th round of 24 rounds of the toe decrease on the 2nd sock.

The Specs:
Yarn: Lorna's Lace
Colorway: Irving Parking
Needles: Crystal Palace US1 DPN's
Pattern: Plain Ol' Vanilla sock pattern
Started: Jan. 13, 2007
Finished: Feb. 15, 2007

I know. I never take that long to finish socks, but I have good reason to lag on these. I have been working on the afghans for Cousin Becky.

Now, I have to figure out what I want to work on next. Maybe something in one of these:

The one skein of Liberty that I found, or the Gray's Corner.

Oh, we had a celebrity in the neighborhood today. Elvis Lives!

As I took this pic, I heard him say, "Thankya, Thankya vera much!" (I either have talented, or bored, neighbors.)

And I'll leave you with a parting shot from the ride home. Please pardon the dirty windshield.