Quickie!

Just a quick post to announce a CONTEST!!!! Over on the Harvest Sock Swap '07 page. Stop in to see the details.

Later!

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.

The verdict is in.......

It was the hard drive! Now we have to get a new one to install. So, at this point, since I have to replace the hard drive, I'll just upgrade the whold thing, rather than buy new. It'll be cheaper in the long run. We'll just pop in a new hard drive, then after a month or two, I'll upgrade the RAM and processor. Maybe get a new dvd/cd drive so I can burn the short home movies I take with my camera to dvd. Maybe I'll have it back soon.

My Namaste bag (the black one) arrived Friday! And I'll just say that I'm in Heaven! Never again will I have to carry 2 bags, as I can fit the entire contents of my purse and my knitting bag into it's lovely, spaciousness. Well, I won't have to carry 2 bags, as long as I'm not working on a huge project, say, like an afghan. The only issue I had was when someone (I think Katie) knocked it off the picnic table at the Morris family reunion yesterday, and one of my Crystal Palace US 1 DNP's fell out unnoticed. I went back to look for it, but it was gone. *sniff, sniff*

Last week I took the plunge and ordered something else. I ordered the Slim in 6 program. I figured that maybe the reason I haven't gotten off my duff and started working out is because I know what my current work out programs are, and they don't excite me right now. This one looks fun, and motivating. It should arrive by the end of the week, so I'm taking every opportunity I can to be bad before it gets to my door. And as akick in the pants to do soemthing, at the afore mentioned family reunion 3 (count them, 3) of my great-aunts asked me when I was due! Me? Have another child? Nope, 2 is enough, thankyouverymuch. It's definately time to do something about my weight problem, huh?

I finished a pair of footies that I had on the needles. I ended up giving them to Katie, because my gauge was off, and they were a little long for my short feet. Her feet are longer than mine, and the fit her better. I'll have to take pics and get them posted for SAM KAL 4 credit for August.

Just a reminder, the Harvest Sock Swap '07 sign ups are still open. You have 19 days left to sign up.

I still have 2 spots left for the Pay It Forward Exchange. If you'd like to sign up for that one, just leave me a comment with you e-mail address.

Maybe I'll swipe Mr. S's laptop later and try to post some pics. Hee Hee!

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.

Updates.... Now with Pictures!

I finally got the pics uploaded from my camera, without problems. Yippee! So, on with the show:

Ok, so where was I? Oh yeah, the Medieval Festival. When we go there, the first show we came upon, inside the gates was a Fire Eater show. I don't know if these guys were really brothers, but one of them looked like a really skinny Orlando Bloom. Here are a few cool shots I got in:


The one on top was the one that looked like Orlando.

Here is a shot of Annie and Dillon. Annie had to stand on her tip toes to look through the hole:

And, of course, we can't forget our favorite bare foot bag piper, Barrett:

He reminds me alot of my step-dad, when he was younger. Although, Barrett is probably the same age, if not a little older than dad.

Where else can you see guys in bras assisting a guy in a straight jacket:

We didn't take as many pics as we wanted. But then again, we were too busy shopping, eating and watching the shows as we passed to take a whole bunch.

On to other updates. I am still taking volunteers for th Pay It Forward Exchange. I only need 3, and no one has volunteered, yet. If you'd like to join, just leave me a comment with your e-mail address.

The Harvest Sock Swap '07 sign ups are still open. So far we are doing great. The sign ups have been open for 2 days, and (including me) we have 7 people. Just maybe I'll hold a contest if we reach 20 or more. I'll wait a couple more days to see how we're doing before I make that offical.

And, finally for an update on the Josephine Top. Here's a pic of where I was last night:

From here, I need to knit the sleeve caps (which I picked up the sts for the right sleeve and have it half done), the trim around the neck and the trim around the bottom hem. And for some reason, that whole middle section looks to be a different dye lot, but I made sure I got all the same dye lot. It doesn't look like in person, honest. Maybe if I get enough time this weekend, I'll get it finished.

And, in a bit of a teaser: I taught some one to knit the other night, but they made me promise not to tell who, until they have finished their first project. Drat!

Have a great weekend, everyone, and don't for get to sign up for the PIF Exchange and the Harvest Sock Swap '07.

Gone Kaput!

Well, I think my laptop has gone down for the count. I can start it ok in safe mode, but it has started freezing in regular mode, again. So, I am stuck using the work computer to blog with. Now, on with our regular blog......



I will be opening the Harvest Sock Swap '07 today. If you missed last year's, or any of the others, now is your chance. Sign up! Come on, you know you want to. And it's so easy to do. Just leave me a comment here, or on the swap blog, or drop me an e-mail at rosiegypsy AT aol DOT com (temp e-mail until I can beat my laptop into submission {insert evil laugh here}), with your e-mail addy and blog addy (sorry, blogs will be required this year. If you don't have one, now's the time to get one. They're easy and, best of all, free!). Please stop by the swap blog later today to see the rules and questionaire. I will update that page today as work and home life permit.

And, in other news.....

While make the rounds of my blog reading (before my laptop took a nose dive {I don't sound bitter, do I?}) , I found something that looked great, and I had to try to join. It was this:





I was over at Knitting Nurse when I was it. It was inspired by that great movie. And what better way to show that you care for your fellow man. Now, I will blatantly steal the rules from her page. They are:

"Here is how it works! I'll send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange! I don't know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week...LOL... but you will receive it within 365 days, that's a promise! and it will be something yummy!! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog..."

So, there you have it. The first 3 people to leave a comment that they want to join, will be in. Please make sure to leave you e-mail address in the comment, so I can contact you for your snail mail address.

Next up, we have this:



I think I'll join this round. I always have fun making felted bags, so why not? If you'd like to join, sign ups open tomorrow (Aug 15th), just drop by the Fall Felted Bag Exchange and sign up.

And last up is the update on the Josephine top. Well, I did take a pic, but since my laptop decided that it needed a vacation (it may be a permanent one, if it keeps it up), I can't up load them. But anywho, I have finished the left front and am working my way up the back. I may have that done tonight, and can start on the right front. After that is when I have to pick up all those stitches for the sleeve caps, neck and bottom hem. Oh, that'll be fun. But, it'll look great when I'm done. And, seriously, it is a fun pattern. I can see myself making a couple more.

So, to sum up, join the Harvest Sock Swap '07, join the PIF Exchange, join the Fall Felted Bag Exchange, and stop back by for updates on my lazy laptop and the Josephine top.

Falling apart....

I haven't been able to post pics, or even check my e-mail, as my laptop decided that it was a good time to start freezing on me. Everytime I would start it up, it would run sorta ok for about 3 minutes, then it would just sit and stare at me, not doing anything. So, after starting it in *safe mode*, and deleting anything and everything that I knew I could, and running a defrag, it has finally decided to start working with me. I think, that as soon as I can afford it, I'll be getting a new laptop. Granted, this one is only a year and half old, but I have outgrown the 60 GB hard drive.

But, anyway. We had a blast this past weekend. Saturday, when we started out around noon, it was hot. Really hot. As in hot with a huge, capitol H. Can I stress that any further? Normally, I don't like to run the a/c in the car, as it sucks too much gas, but considering that I replaced the spark plugs the week before (yes, I work on my own cars, and am getting pretty good at it, especially since the warranty runs out with in the next year or 8,000 miles), and ran some injector cleaner through it(as it had an annoying habit of hesitating every time I took off from a dead stop), I was all for it. I drove up, playing a few hands of travel Uno along the way. We got to the hotel around 3:30, and when we got to the room, I flipped on the tv and found Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on. And then I napped for the next hour, or so. About the time I woke up, Cassi and Chris arrived. They got settled in, and we took off to find something to eat. And, as always, anything with me is an adventure. We started out trying to find a local steak house, that was at some golf club, but we went down 2 different rounds, found 2 different golf clubs, and never found it. So, on the way back the way we came, we found a little pizza place. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't a steak house, either. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, and to the indoor pool. I know, you think indoor pool, great, right? Well, let me tell you.... By the time we left for dinner, it had cooled of drastically, by almost 20 degrees. The pool room, on the other hand, was as hot as it had been outside, earlier in the day. As I don't have a bathing suit to fit me, and Mr. S forgot his swim trunks, we sat pool side. Of course I was knitting, on Josephine. We stayed in there as long as we could. We finally had to flee to pool room, and ended up sitting in the semi-darkness of the breakfast room to watch the kids through the big picture window. And, at this point, let me just say, that the last time we stayed in this hotel (3 years ago), it was very quiet, and we had to the pool all to ourselves. This time around, there was a very diverse crowd. And I mean crowd. There were tons of kids with their parents, grandparents, etc., and a group of bikers. Needless to say, thank the heavens it wasn't a dry county, 'cause there were very few adults that didn't have a alcoholic beverage of some sort, us included. When the pool closed, at 11 pm, we went up to the rooms for the night.

Sunday started out sunny, very sunny. When I pulled the curtain back a few inches to see how the weather was, I was momentarily blinded. So, we all got up and got moving. We went down to check out and get breakfast (with everyone else in the hotel) at about 9:15. By the time we were done, we got the faire just as it opened. Mr. S was so excited, it was like watching a little kid on Christmas morning. At this point, I did start taking pics, but due to the above mentioned laptop problems, I haven't up loaded them from the camera, yet. I'll probably do that tonight. So, at this point, I'll leave you with a cliff hanger, and post later about the faire, with pics.

As for my progress on Josephine, I am on the last round of repeats for the bottom. I have about 10 to 11 more rounds before I can start the top. I'll take a pic or my progress later tonight.

Have you ever.....

had one of those severe ekkk moments? I had one this morning.

Just a little back ground. We (Miss Amy & I) live in a half double ranch. It has 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths. My room is the finished family room in the basement (making a 4th bedroom), that has a fireplace and 1 of the full baths. My shower is just a shower, no tub like the 2 upstairs baths. I was kinda excited about this when we moved in, because in the old place, I had glass shower doors on the tub, and I finally got to buy a pretty shower curtain, after 8 years. So, I went and bought one that was a dark taupe color with purplish flowers on it, and a frosted liner. I even bought the matching soap dish, liquid soap dispenser, tooth brush holder and trash can, and coordinating towel colors. Also, I have severe arachnophobia.

Now, for the ekkk moment. I got up and headed for the shower this morning, just like every morning. And after I made sure my hair was completely wet for shampooing, I opened my eyes and looked to my right. To my utter horror, I see between the liner and shower curtain, a spider about the size of a quarter (legs not included). I suppressed the urge to scream like a little girl, and (at the same time) pulled the cover off of the drain in the center of the shower floor, and removed the shower head from the holder to wash the sucker down the drain. I gave him a few minutes to find his way out from between the curtain and liner, and find his way to certain doom. When it looked like he was hopelessly lost, I continued my shower, keeping an eye on him the whole time. When I was finished, I wrapped the shower curtain around it's self, so that there was no threat of him crawling out onto me while I dried off. So, this evening, when Mr. S arrives, I'll make him search the curtain for the nasty little bugger. Normally, I'm not one to panic. Give me a kitchen fire or severely injured person, and I'm all action, no problems. But, let a spider wonder into my morning shower, and you'll see a serious pause. And I seem to sense them, kinda like a cat. You know what I'm talking about. Your cat can be curled up next to you on the couch, taking a cat nap, and suddenly, it'll open it's eyes, turn it's head and stare at a spot in the ceiling. And you just know it's a spider. I do the same thing, and it annoys Mr. S, 'cause he knows he has to stop what he's doing and kill it. I guess that cat-sense goes along with the cat-like reflexes. Maybe that explains why I have the irresistible urge to play with yarn. Hee hee!

I have made more progress on Josephine, but no pics today. I have gotten about another 3" added since the last pic. I'll take more soon. And, I am still loving this pattern. The rib and textured lace patterns are easily memorized, I don't have to keep looking at the chart to see where I'm at. I added the 4th ball of yarn at lunch yesterday, and I'm more than half way through the 4th repeat. I am going to make it a tad longer than the pattern calls for, and I made sure I had plenty of yarn, I only needed about 9 balls, but I bought 10 to make sure.

This weekend we are going out of town. It's time for the annual Great Lakes Medieval Faire, and we are headed up for the weekend. This is one of our favorites to visit. We always get a hotel room (preferrably at the hotel with the indoor pool) and stay overnight. Mr. S has never been to this one. I've been going to this one since I was pregnant with Annie. When Katie was about 8, we were heading east on I 90 along Lake Erie, Katie looked at the lake and asked, "Hey, mommy? What's over there?" Me being the smart a$$ that I am, said, "Canada!" She thought it was the greatest thing. But, we always have a blast, the food and ale is good, the shops nice, and the shows are great. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pics to share. Especially since Mr. S insists on wearing his kilt.

So, till next week, Happy Knitting!

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.