Productive weekend

Despite the fact that I was on call for work this past weekend, I had a very productive weekend. I decided to make apple jelly, as I can't find any in the stores that don't have high fructose corn syrup in it. And I could go on and on about the evils of HFCS. I have cut out as much of the foods that contain it as possible. But, here in the good ol' US of A, that's a hard thing to do, since our society seems to be addicted to it. But, since I love apple jelly, this was the only way I was going to get it the way I want it. And I have pics to share. Up first is the ingrediants that I used:

Apple juice (yes, apple juice), lemon juice, sugar and powdered fruit pectin. Simple enough, huh?

Next are the pots that I used:

One to sterilize my jars, one to sterilize my lids and one to cook the jelly in.

My jars, upside down to heat the lids so they'll seal.

The finished product. I did change the recipe a little to cut back on the sugar.

And, you can't have homemade jelly without some homemade bread. So, of course I had to make some of my famous breaded bread.

Other than that, I made 2 kinds of homemade enchiladas, black bean, refried beans and taco rice for dinner. And all of that on Saturday. On Sunday, I got up and made french toast for breakfast. Then made another small batch of apple jelly, as well as starting an Amish Friendship Bread starter. So, we'll start having yummy Friendship Bread in about 9 days.

As far as knitting, I got the first sock of the pair for Miss PJ done. I'm making her a pair for wear while in the hospital having the baby. I'm using some Tofutsies in pink/mauve colors, since that the only pink I'm going to get to knit for her. I should get the other sock done in no time flat this week, as Katie has 3 games this week on Monday, Wednesday and Thrusday. Oh, and I'll have a little time to knit, while my car is being serviced at lunch.

I hope everyone had a happy and productive weekend. And Happy Knitting!

FO's to show

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. For my Mother's Day, we had a great lunch at the Asian Gourmet. And I was able to sit, knit, and enjoy a beer, all while watching the first 3 Indiana Jones movies that I dvr'd on Saturday. So, I have 4 FO's to show today. Granted, they're not huge projects, they're all quick knits, but FO's all the same. So,with no further ado, here they are:

First up is Baby Bib O'Love #4 for Miss PJ's baby, which is due May 28th.

Next up are bibs that would have been for Miss PJ, if she was having a girl. Since she's not, they are going to one of the sales reps at work, and he and his wife had a girl a few months back:

Then, we have a project that I found to be fun and very green. They are Re-usable Swiffer clothes. As much as I love my Swiffer, I hated to buy the disposable clothes all the time. And this project is made better by the fact that I can get 2 clothes out of one 50gm ball of Peaches & Cream cotton. There will be plenty of these made in my house, and probably some for Christmas gifts, too.

Well, tonight Katie has a softball game, I just hope it warms up, as the current temp is 63 degrees, windy and cloudy. I don't really want to freeze my arse off, like last week. At least I remember my jacket this time around.

Oh, and an update on the free Valentine Lace Sock pattern. It is now available for free pdf download. Just visit here to download it.

Happy Monday Knitting!

Well, today is only Tuesday but it's already been a very interesting week. So far Mr. S has had to have surgery, Grandma is back in the hospital, received a call from England on my cell phone, I have started another Josephine Top (well, I started that on Wednesday), have become a legal dective of sorts (if anyone knows about Kentucky estate & probate laws, let me know, I have a few questions for you), was rained out of last night's softball practice, was snowed on over night and have seen that my Valentine Lace Sock pattern is doing pretty good on Ravelry (please remember, if you'd like a copy of the pdf, e-mail me and I will send it to you).

Ok, to expand a little more. I decided that I wanted another Josephine Top, as it's starting to warm up and I need more nice tops to wear. I wanted navy blue for this one, but they didn't have that color at the store I was at, and I wanted to start one right away, so I had to settle for black. It'll look nice, and it'll go with everything. I didn't have too much time to work on it over the weekend, but with softball practice and sitting in the hospital waiting room, I have 2 repeats of 6 done on the bottom. This one seems to be going a little quicker than the last one did. I'll take pics of it tonight to share.

Weekend knitting

Saturday I finished my first pair of Tofutsies socks while at Miss PJ's baby shower. I love those kind of baby showers, very relaxed and friendly. No stupid games. And lots of good food. Here is the pair I just finished.


And PJ loved them so much, I'm making her a pair to wear in the hospital. And since she's having a boy and I can't knit anything in pink, her pair are going to pinks. Here is the pair I started:And a little excitement for today. While at Wally World, they announced that everyone was to evacuate the store, due to a gas leak. We had to leave our cart where it was and exit right away. We ended up going to another store to get our shopping done.

Also, for anyone who is interested, my Valentine Lace Sock pattern in now available in PDF form. Please e-mail me at rosiegypsy@aol.com if you would like a copy, and I'll e-mail it you.

The Universe picks on me

Really. It does. On Tuesday around 8:30 in the morning, we were commenting on how I hadn't been sick since January. This must have caught the attention of the Universe, because at around 10 o'clock that morning I was blind sided by a sinus infection. That is why I was up late Tuesday night to post my pattern. I barely splept that night. Then, I stumbled into work yesterday to realize that we would be short handed for the rest of the week. So, I left at noon yesterday, to go home and sleep for the afternoon. I feel a little better today, and I can breath better, but I'm still so sleepy. I have been drinking tons of water and orange juice, and taking Mucinex and Zicam by the hordes. And Annie came down with it, too. The poor baby. I have been making her take childrens Tylenol, childrens Mucinex and the cough syrup the doctor gave her last month for her strep throat. The bad thing is that I don't have time to be sick. With Katie having softball practice and Miss PJ's baby shower this Saturday, I just don't have time.

Ok, I think I'll go sleep through my lunch, since I forgot my knitting bag at home. See what this illness has done to me? It made me forget my knitting.

Pics and a Free Pattern

Well, as I sit here, in the late hours of the night (waiting for laundry to dry & watching Deadliest Catch re-runs), I thought I'd share a few pics, and my Valentine Lace Sock pattern. First up is the current sock WIP:

My socks made from the Tofutsies. I'm on the instep of the second sock.

Also, we have visitor. My grandma had back surgery, so we are dog sitting for her. Here is Lady:

I call her Bebe, she responds very well to that. She looks a little dejected, as she wants to play with the cats, but they want nothing to do with her. That, and she's waiting for me to go to bed, she's not used to staying up so late.

Here are the pics of my finished Valentine's Lace socks:


No, they really aren't that pointy, Katie is modeling them for me, and she has really skinny feet, compared to my small, wide feet.

Here is the pattern as I knitted it(warning: I turn the heel and knit the instep differently. I turn the heel on needles 1 & 2, not 1 & 4, so the top of my instep is on needles 3 & 4):

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Tickled Pink 2 skeins
Needles: US 1 DPN's
Gauge: Forgot to take it, oops!
Size: as written, will fit womens US 7 to 7 1/2

Cast on 64 sts. Join, being careful not to twist.

Cuff: K2, P2 for 10 rnds.

Leg: Follow Chart below. (I can't remember how to do a print screen, so I took a picture of the screen. You can click on it to enlarge it.) For the leg of my sock, I knit 6 repeats.

Heel: Short row heel.

Instep: On needles 1 & 2 knit across, on needles 3 & 4 follow the chart. I knit 3 repeats.

Toe: Needles 1 & 3 - K1, ssk, knit across; needles 2 & 4 - knit across to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1. Work decreases every other row down to 4 sts per needle. Kitchner and weave in ends.


Please remember, this is a free pattern for your personal use. If you would like to share it with friends or on your blog, please link back to this page.

Well, good night friends, and enjoy the sock pattern. I am off to bed.

Back into the swing of things

It's been so long since I've blogger, and knitted, that's time to get back into the swing of both. That being said, I finally finished a pair of socks that I designed. The pattern was for a pair of lace heart Valentine's socks. I don't have any picks of the finished pair, yet, I'll try to get that tonight. And I was thinking of publishing the pattern here as a free pattern. Sort of a way to give back to the knitting community that has given me so many free patterns. What do you think?

I have decided that since I have moved, now is the time to unpack all the UFO's I have in boxes, and finish them as I can. I will be starting with my poor Rogue, as all she needs is sleeves. Then, I think I'll tackle my bell sleeve shrug, as I only need to knit the other half. After that, I'll take on my CPH, to get her finished off. Then, I'll have to restart my Highland Heather Pullover and my Fisherman's Shrug, as I frogged them both. I really want them, that's why I'm willing to restart them both. I am also going to start my Christmas knitting as soon as I can get my hands on the yarn. And, I am starting so early because I decided to be ambitious this year and make afghans for my nieces. The good thing is, they are worked in 12"x12" squares and seamed. If I make at least 2 squares a week, I'll have them done by Christmas. Maybe. lol.

I am currently working on a pair of socks in Tofutsies yarn. They are a waffle pattern, and the colorway is #734, which is a green & white twist. So far, so good. I'm half way down the leg of the second sock. I knit the first one while watching season 1 of Lost on dvd. I'll try to get pics tonight, as I watch the season premiere of Deadliest Catch. Yes, I watch Deadliest Catch. I even have the first 3 seasons in my Netflix queue.

Other than that, softball season has begun. Katie has practice twice away, and they didn't have enough girl's in Annie's age group, so she'll be waiting at least another year. So, there'll be plenty of knittng time while sitting on the side lines.

At around 10 o'clock this morning, I started feeling like crap! I don't know if I'm getting a sinus infection, again (which is what it feels like), or if it's my allergies. I'm betting sinus infection. So, I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon vegging at my desk, and then go home and make some hot tea.

Well, off to lunch I go, to knit. Hopefully I'll have pics tomorrow.

Back in the land of the living!

Well, I have made through the move alive. It went somewhat well. With it snowing horribly, the tempratures dropping to about 5 degrees. Then, I had to throw out over half of what I had stored in the garage of the old apartment, as rat had made himself a nice home in most of my boxes. And if I could've cornered him and killed him myself, I would have, especially since he chewed away half of a leg on my sewing cabinet. I still haven't unpacked everything, but atleast we can now see the floor. The rooms that are settled so far are the girls' room, living room, and both bathrooms. My room, the kitchen and the laundry room are still works in progress. And, I was finally able to sit down and knit last week, after almost 2 months I was afraid that I had forgotten. This place is so much smaller than my last couple of places, it hard to find room for everything.

I'll have pics and more of an update later. Happy Monday!

A busy, busy month ahead!

Well, the time has come to finally move. Good news is, I have found a really nice apartment. It's a 2 bedroom townhouse about 2 blocks from where I currently live. So, thankfully, not far to move. The packing and planning has begun. I get the keys on the 15th, and plan to move all the furniture on the 22nd. It'll be a good change for all of us. The girls will still share a room, it'll just be a bigger room, with a closet for each. And, thank goodness it has a bath and a half, a much larger kitchen, a patio off the kitchen and a walk in laundry room. So, the stress begins. And my infrequent blogging may keep up until I get settled in. But, who knows, may I'll find time for more blogging in the next 2 weeks.

But, I do have an FO. I finished the pair of socks that I cast on a few weeks ago. I call them my Ugly Trekking socks, because, as much as I love Trekking XXL, this color way knitted up sorta ugly. So, with no further ado, here they are:



The Specs:
Pattern: My own plain vanilla sock pattern
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Color way: 105
Started: 1/21/08
Finished: 2/4/08

Today while I was packing, my cats presented me with some cute photo ops. Here is Mr. Vinny, indulging in the Red Blanket Treatment:


And, Miss Moonie took advantage of the fact that I packed almost all the dvd's and video games, and took the video door off the entertainment center. She finds the oddest places to lay:

Well, let's see how much knitting and blogging I can get in during the next few weeks. Later.

Getting ready!

For the past couple of weeks, I have been gearing up for what I hate. Moving. I have been looking at apartments, dragging boxes home, and fretting over my tax returns. Plus, some how, I ended up not having a sock on the needles. I had to make a point of casting on for a new sock.

As for moving, I think I have found a nice 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath townhouse with a walk in laundry room, car port and an outside storage unit about a block from where we live now. So, in preparation we have started packing, and planning on what needs to be replaced. I will be getting rid of the girls' futon bunk beds that I bought about 6 years ago, and get them twin platform beds with drawers in the base. My old entertainment center, that I got from Miss Rachel 4 yrs ago, is going and I'll buy new. Fun, fun, fun.

I have finished a few more instant gradifacation projects. Here they are:

Here's the 3rd bib I've made for Miss PJ. And we found out that she's having a boy.


Here is my first Calorimetry:

I made this one with the Patons SWS that I got from my FFBE pal. I made this one slim by only knitting 10 rows before starting the other half.

Here is my second Calorimetry:


I made this one with Patons SWS, also, with some that I bought at the local Michael's store.


Now for a little stash enhancement:


Here is some Lorna's Laces in Tickled Pink.

These are destine to become lace heart Valentine socks for me.

Here is some of the new Noro Kureyon sock yarn.


This is # S188. I haven't figured out what to do with it yet.

And this is # S164. No plans for it, either.

Well, tomorrow Katie turns 13. She will be a teenager. May the Heavens help me. Just kidding. Tonight, as a new tradition and at her request as her birthday present, the two of us will be going to The Japanese Steakhouse for a mother-daughter dinner. Yummy! I can't wait.

Well, off to swill down some green tea with honey to fight off the icky sick feeling I woke up with, maybe I can push it back.

Have a great weekend.

Bouncing back (picture heavy post)

I think I am finally back. After what seemed like an endless string of illnesses, and (on Christmas eve, of all days) I developed an abcessed tooth. After a week of antibiotics, I had to have oral surgery to have it removed. And as my luck would have it, it involved 2 of my 3 worst fears, a dentist and needles. The third fear is spiders, just incase you're wondering. In the mean time, I have been able to do some knitting beyond my Christmas knitting. Here is what I have gotten done since then:

First up is my Holiday Candy Cane socks:


Specs:
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss
Pattern: Knit Picks Holiday Pattern
Started: Dec. 17th, 2007
Finished: Dec. 31st, 2007
Made for: Me

I love this yarn. Must. Order. More.

Up next is a pair of ribby socks made for Annie:

Specs:
Yarn: Regia Stretch
Pattern: my own
Started: Jan. 4th, 2008
Finished: Jan. 6th, 2008

I started these just before going in for my oral surgery, and worked on the first sock while in the chair, waiting for my mouth to become numb. The dentist was absolutely enthralled with them. He asked me tons of questions, called all the dental assistants over to look at it, and check to see how far I had gotten each time he came over to inject me with more pain killer. I just surprised I was able to knit about half of the sock, including turning the heel, while I was shaking so bad. And, as he worked on me, he told me that he has an elderly neighbor that knits socks for him all the time, and how much he loves them. And thanked me for bringing mine with me to work on.

Up next is one of many forth coming instant gratification projects:

My best friend PJ is expecting a baby at the end of May. This is such a joyous event. It took her over two years to get pregnant with her child, and he is now 10. She tried for so many years after, and had finally resigned herself to not having any more. Now she is so happy! She goes for her ultrasound next week, and they are going to see if they tell what she is having. She really wants a girl. She really needs a girl to spoil, since she has been spoiling my girls over the past 13 years. And I really want her to have a girl, because, let's face it, there is only so much that I can knit for a boy. lol. So, until she can find out, I'll satisfy myself with knitting bibs and burb rags from Mason-Dixon Knitting, in neutral baby colors. The one above is the first one. The second one that I am working on is below.

Such cute colors, huh?

Here are a few pics from Christmas morning:

Annie, opening more gifts.

Here is Katie opening one that she really wanted:

You can't really see what has caused the excited expression, but it's a skate board. Like mother, like daughter.

Here is some of the things I knitted for Christmas gifts:


A pair of cabled fingerless gloves for my niece, Jo, in Knit Picks Essentials Meteor Twist.


A pair of cabled fingerless gloves for my cousin, Josie, in Knit Picks Essentials Navy.


A pair of cabled fingerless gloves for my cousin, Savannah, in Knit Picks Essentials Petunia.


And last, but not least, a pair of Jaywalkers for my niece, Sydney, in Knit Picks Felici Atmosphere.

Even though we aren't Jewish, we still light the menorah, as we have for the past 4 years, after being given one my an old friend. Here is a pic from this past year.

Here is what I made my mom for her birthday, which was Dec. 21st:

A pair of cabled fingerless gloves in Regia.

Next up is a little stash enhancement:

Lorna's Laces in Red Rover.


For the last of today's pics, Katie wanted her hair cut, and to dye it red (she has been begging to dye her hair red for several years, I finally gave in):



It turned out really cute. She wanted something short and different. So, I thought back to some of the old girly-skater hair cuts that some of my friends and I used to have, and suggested this one. She really likes it. My mom protested, but I see it the same way I saw it back then, it's just hair, it will grow back, and it makes her happy.

Ok, I'm starting to wear down, still on the pain meds the dentist gave me. I think I'll go knit some more on that baby bib, and plan a cake to back for Annie tomorrow, since it's her birthday. She'll be 7. WOW! Where did the time go?

Up off of the floor

Now that I have picked myself up from being sick, again. I have so much to post about, but very little energy. And, to top it off, I had an allergic reation yesterday. Of all things to be allergic to, food wise, I am allergic to roasted or grilled tomatoes. I can eat them raw, in sauces, in soup, sundried, what have you, but roast or grill one, and I am a walking, itching welt. All I can say is, praise Benedryl. And where did I come into contact with said tomato, you might ask, well let me tell you. A sales rep from a local trucking line brought in pizza, one of which was a veggie pizza with tomatoes. I picked them off, but the juice must have gotten me. Needless to say, I was in Wally World at 6:30, in my pajama pants and a hoodie, looking for my salvation.

On other fronts, I have received my Harvest Sock Swap package from Sheryl. I took pics, I just haven't been able to post them yet. And such lovely goodies, too. I'll post them as soon as I can. I will be a little late mailing my package to my pal, as I am still working on a few hand made gifts.

On the Christmas knittng front, I have 2 items done, and 5 more to go. I'm getting there.

Ok, I feel a nap coming on. I'll post more when I have a little more energy.

Just another day

Ok, so I went over my list of Christmas knitting (I know, so close to it and I'm just thinking about it) to see what I needed to order this weekend. I am amazed at how light it is this year. And I've even added a person to the list. But this year it will be 3 pairs of fingerless gloves, 1 pair of sock and 3 scarves. All things that I can crank out easily. And, I have Katie helping me with the Charity Knitting, which was 3 scarves. I am a quarter of the way through the scarf I started on Thrusday, Katie is working on one, and that will leave the last one for me, but it's an easy pattern.

On the sewing front, Angie (my SIL in Dayton) and I are planning a big, themed costume ball for next Halloween. We picked an historical era, the late 18th century. We have started picking fabrics, and discussing construction of under garments. We've decided that we are going all out, and as historically accurate as we can get. Well, as accurate as we can get with sewing machines and sergers. lol. So far, I have settled on a deep burgundy crushed velvet for the bodice and over skirt. I need to find a fabric that will go well with it for the petticoat and other contrasting areas. I'm thinking cream. Cream satin and lace, and maybe pearl embellishments. I even ordered a book that I have been wanting for a long time. It's this one. If you like to make costumes, let me recommend this book. It's hard to get a copy, as it's so popular, but it's well worth it. It may not be historically accurate in cut and construction, but the finished garment is fab! I have made a costume from this book, about 6 years ago, and it came out great. This is going to be so fun. I'm even going to teach Katie, so she can make her own gown. I'll update as I can on that one.

Later.

The Halloween Aftermath

Ok, time to share the pics from last night.

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

Annie, trying to put on her dress shoes.

Katie, blue wings in all.

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

Katie and Taylor at the neighbor's house.

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

My first pumpkin, with cute face.


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

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

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

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

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

The Specs:

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

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

And, on to a new month, already.