Son's Visit Home

DS was here for 2 weeks on leave and was able to bring his girlfriend along. We had a good time introducing her to some of the sights around Ohio. This picture was taken outside Sol's Exchange in Berlin, Oh. She was excited to see scenes of the Amish community there and to learn that they were of German descent.

She got her hands into making her first jack-o-lantern. I guess they don't do Halloween like we do here in the states. They even dressed for the occasion in traditional Moroccan dress that they brought from her parents.

. Also, we celebrated my youngest granddaughter's 1st birthday. The little princess got her first tricycle, but brother wants it, too. These are the 2 little ones I watch every week so DD can work.
In knitting news, I finished my Morpork Pie shawl and blocked it out. It's 72 inches across and feels nice and warm. Thanks to MMario for such a great pattern.

SO Far- So Good and Unexpected Arrival

Printed out the spreadsheet of chores and routines, posted it on the side of the fridge in a plastic page protector and...it seems to be helping. Yesterday, BG helped by watching the babies play while I was able to get some extra cleaning done in 15-30 min spurts. House is starting to look presentable again. DH was impressed enough with clean kitchen that this AM he actually wiped up his coffee spots and rinsed his spoon....AND put it in the strainer..not just leaving it on the counter. WOOHOO! (life's little pleasures)
Well, here is a strange turn. Saved this post to finish later and went out to wait for babies to arrive. As I was standing there watching the neighborhood kids walk to school, I hear "mew". One of the boys had a little orange tom kitten following him to school. He said it wasn't his...as in: "I don't think its my kitten. My orange kitten has yellow eyes" (DUH!) So kitten is happily purring and eating Feegle food on the back porch. I am hoping to see this kid on his way home and hand the kitten back off (if it is still here). Poor thing looks to be about 6-8 weeks old and is covered in fleas. BG went out to comb it to see if she could get some off. I know DH doesn't want anymore cats around. (last time we found a kitten, I showed him and he didn't say a word. Then a few minutes later, he said, "Should we call it OhNo..as in Oh no..another cat?") Feegle has been sitting in the kitchen window staring at it with a pouty face..like: You aren't going to bring THAT THING in, are you?
In knitting news: I fixed the mistake in the Morpork Pie by going to the one section that was messed up, tinking only those stitches for several rows, and knitting that section back up. That is a first for me as I usually tink back entire rows to fix a mistake unless it is straight knitting where I can just drop the one stitch down. With lace work, I couldn't do that. But this method worked well and I will remember how next time. Thankfully, someone else at MMario's group was having the same problem and someone posted pics of how to fix it this way. Timely information!
Cast on the Wasp Woman socks with a wool silk blend from Creatively Dyed. Too big. Frogged and started with a smaller needle..still too big. I don't think the yarn has enough stretch to make these feasible, so frogged till I can find another yarn.
Got out my Jitterbug yarn to cast on the Mummy Returns socks, but was interrupted by waking babies.
Still working on QAL

FlyLady Routines/knitting time

Since DD moved in and then out, and I started watching babies 5 days a week, my cleaning routines have gone out the window. Add to that, the switching of the Master/Spare rooms and moving BG's homeschooling area. After numerous attempts to get back on track, I have decided to print out an Excel spreadsheet of what I hope to accomplish each week and will post it in a prominent place. My house and life were so much better when I was cleaning the FlyLady way. Lately, it seems a bit of depression has set in again as I look at the rampaging dust bunnies and general clutter that surrounds me. I have started re-posting at my ChoreWars site also. Its nice to have a place where I can be accountable to myself and to give me a little extra incentive to get this house back to normal...or what I would like normal to be. (I have made a deal with myself to buy yarn after [and only if] I accumulate enough 'gold".) Aside from the regular routines, I set aside time each week to tackle a major cleaning area in the house. This will include finding homes for the stuff I want to (or have to) keep and tossing a lot (I hope). I did this when DH was off at Army Training and found that the whole house was so much easier to clean and my life was more on an even keel. Lately, I seemed to be wave-tossed and going with the flow...all the while getting more and more frustrated with myself and family. I even may get my weekends back which, up to now, have been alternately set aside to catch up on the things that I didn't get done during the week and sitting around feeling sorry for myself.
Progressing a bit on the QAL shawl and was on the Morpork Pie shawl too, til I found a mistake and am having to tink back a couple of rows to find it. I don't think it can be too far. I probably just dropped a couple of yarnovers. I want to start a new pair of socks for the Super Sock Scarefest, but am trying to limit my new projects until I finish something. I just know, the way things are going, if I start something new, I will forget about the shawls and they will lie about unloved and unfinished.

The Mundane Life/Finally a Break!

I know most of life is routine and dull, but isn't it nice every once and a while to get out and enjoy? Over the weekend we got to just that. Last Thursday we drove up to Mohican Adventures to stay in a cabin with my son and daughter-in-law. A quiet dinner on the back deck overlooking the river was just the ticket to destress after the hectic week. Friday brought us intermitant showers and drizzle, so we drove thru the Mohican State Park and visited some of the sites there. There was a school group doing some exploration of the river down by the covered bridge, so we got to see them find fish and other natural river life. We gathered buckeyes and BG learned to skip rocks across the water. Saturday was muggy, but at least it didn't rain. We hiked up to Lyon's Falls and drove around to the dam. After a nice lunch, we played minature golf and DH took BG on the go carts while DS tried to speed past them. DD-i-l and I sat out as she is 8 weeks from her delivery date and we didn't want to push our luck. We drove home Saturday night as DH had Reserves to attend on Sunday. His enjoyment time was somewhat hampered working on a PowerPoint presentation he needed (and waited til the last minute to assemble).
I got a little bit of knitting done. Finished a washcloth I had started last week and did 3 more rows on my Queen Anne's Lace shawl/tablecloth. I am in the final pattern, but will repeat it a couple of times to get a nice diameter to fit the fining room table.

catch up

Seems I am always catching up, but never quite there. Another school year has started and I am behind. We need to get BG's assessment done and paperwork in for last year's homeschooling. BG has already started the new year of work, and seems to enjoy it a bit better this year. We have had 2 days in a row that the babies came sleeping and stayed asleep long enough for us to get a good hour of school work in.

We are getting away this weekend with my son and his wife. DD-i-l only has about 9 weeks left to her pregnancy and I sure need time away from watching dd's babies..even if it is only one day. Most weekends are spent trying to catch up on the housework that has slipped during the week when the babies are here. It will be nice to just sit and talk. Maybe I will get a good bit of knitting done too. New granddaughter is due mid November and her name will be Leeve.

DS#2 is planning on being home on leave in the middle of October. It will be good to have him home even a short time. He emailed me to tell me which PTerry books he has finished and which ones he just bought. We have another Discworld convert! I might even let him watch The Colour of Magic on my pc when he is here.

OTN: Morpork Pie shawl from MMario which is about 65% done. I have about 15 rows of round knitting to do then the border.
Queen Anne's Lace shawl from MMario which I am knitting up in crochet cotton for a tablecloth. I would estimate about 60% done. I have about 15 rows to do before I start the repeats to make it the right size. I just don't know how many repeats I am going to do. Enough for it to hang nicely over my 58 inch round oak table.
Mystery stole 4. Just started this project as the only clue out so far is #1. It is a beaded shawl and this will be my first beaded project. I got to row 5 (8 overall) and noticed I was 2 stitches over the count, so I ripped back to row 3 and found I was now 3 stitches short. grrrrr. So I frogged completely and am casting on again. It wasn't as hard as I thought to bead as you add the beads one at a time after you knit the stitch instaed of threading on all the beads before hand. A bit time consuming though. Pictures of the finished clue are showing up at the group and it looks nice.
Not OTN (yet): Sock Scare Fest socks, though I am downloading the patterns for a more convenient time.
Also planned for the near future: The Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild has decided to read Terry Pratchett's books in order and make an afghan square for each book. This is definitely something I want to do. We will each end up with our very own Pratchgans!

Pratchgan

Been a while since I posted, but had to share this exciting news. As I posted earlier, I was priviledged to contribute a square to the Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild's Pratchgan project. 99 people contibuted squares which Cherryred assembled and backed. After a little back and forth talk with Rob, Terry's assistant, Cherryred was able to present it to him in person! Here for your pleasure are a few pics:



All wrapped up and heading to its new home..PTerry's bed!

Early AM

I find myself with sleeping child time. Both babies and BG are still in bed...well, dgd is BACK to sleep after waking up crying several times overnight. I should be using this time to do things like make my bed, get dressed, maybe start a load of clothes. Instead I am fiddling with this blog. I was trying to get a link up with a changing pic...similar to the Ravelry button. The pic saves to my pc correctly, but when I link it here, it stops moving. I think it has to do with the original site I am trying to link to. The other ones I have tried have given me a code to copy and paste...this one didn't. Maybe I will try again later after many cups of coffee.
I didn't get to post yesterday about the Wednesday night knit. We had 18 people!!!!!!! (sorry Pterry, had to use that many !) I kinda felt bad cause we were scarfing up the tables left and right so other customers where milling around like they had no where to sit. (we only really used 5 tables) This was the first week we hadn't used the tables near the windows as some were bothered by the setting sun, but the electric lighting is plentiful, so it wasn't a problem.
I need to go shopping for the Music With Socks Swap I am doing with the Ankh-Morpork Knitters' Guild. Witht he 'luck' I have been having trying to produce a likeable/wearable pr of socks for myself, I may opt for the skein/pattern idea. Then I just need to find an awesome cd of music.

Sigh......

I really had reasonably good intentions of posting more often. Life sure interferes sometimes. Not only are my days filled with caring for dd's children, BG is now on crutches and needs extra help. Words that aren't quite comforting to start a phone conversation with: "The good news is...she's ok". BG fell up the steps at dd#2's house and twisted her ankle. We spent a few hours in the local ER getting x-rays. There doesn't appear to be any breaks or fractures, but they splinted her foot anyway and she is not allowed to put any pressure on it till her regular DR gets a look at it next Monday.
Started a pair of socks, (Nutkin Socks) got 3 sets of pattern into it and 'tried' it on...didn't fit over the heel. So frogged it til I can decide if I want to use the yarn for a different pattern or just add extra stitches somewhere. The pattern has no give so doesn't stretch..nor would it tighten up around the ankle again once on.
Working on the Seamless Baby Kimono in a Caron Simply Soft Tweed.. colorway Dark Sage. I love this pattern! It works up easily and fairly quickly. Body is done and I am working down the first sleeve. I did the one side tie and am not sure I like it. I may opt for small buttons instead.
I am sure there are many other things I can post about, but time has run out and I am needed.

Mom?

Mom? Where are you? I know you were told to lock yourself in the bathroom for extra knitting time....but........... Mom? You forgot me, Mom! ...Mom? ...Are you coming out? Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(posted by Feegle)

knit?

For a blog that's supposed to be (somewhat, at least) about knitting, this one sucks. Since I have started babysitting 2 of my grandkids, knitting time is down to a bare minimum. Just enough to keep me from going completely over the edge. Wednesday nights with our group still happen, but it seems some nights I get more coffee and chat in than knitting. We have some competition for the chatting also, in the form of a Bluegrass band. The music is great, but a bit loud. I used to knit while BG had her piano lesson, but these days I am rolling the double stroller up and down the hall keeping the babies entertained instead.
OTN: slowly working up the sleeves for the wool/silk sweater; BS Johnson hat (at a stand still while waiting for 4 lost stitches to reappear out of L-space); a light mint green baby blanket for new grandchild that should make an appearance in November.
O(ff)TN: the 2 single Jitterbug socks. I got past the heel and was doing the decreases when I realized I didn't like the way it fit on the ankle.
Looking at a couple of patterns:
http://www.knitzi.com/freedownloads/Nutkin.pdf
This one looks great, but not sure if I should use one of the Jitterbugs or my other skein of Wollmeise.
This free pattern from Ravelry looks good for the Moss Jitterbug:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/zombie-socks#
Decisions..decisions

House Sitting

I had the opportunity to house/dog/cat/fish sit at my son's this past weekend. BG and I went up Friday before son and daughter-in-law left to board the plane for Las Vegas where her sister got married in a beautiful family wedding out in the desert amid red/orange sand and rocks. Mostly we relaxed and vegged out in front of the TV. I got a good bit of knitting in. I finished the 6 pattern repeats of chart A and started chart B on my Bloody Stupid Johnson Hat, and started a pair of socks on ML from the new Jitterbug I bought at Knit-Wit Knits, (645 East State Street, Salem, OH.) If you are ever in the Salem area, stop in. The shop is located in the back of a thrift/craft/resale group of little stores, but worth the visit. The owner was very friendly and helpful. There was a nice little toy area for BG to play while I wandered.
I say I started a pair of socks, but actually I started the first sock of 2 different pair. I have one of Moss (75) and one of Castagna (128)on the magic loop. Hopefully SSS won't set in or I will have 2 unfinished pair.. lol.. or I will be wearing mismatched socks.
Returning now to the real world....sigh

Match It for Terry

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I am a big Terry Pratchett fan.
This is copied from http://www.matchitforpratchett.org/

Terry Pratchett, author of the bestselling Discworld novels, has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's. He has donated half a million pounds (approx $1 million) to Alzheimer's research and appeared in the media highlighting the low levels of research funding Alzheimer's receives. Millions of loyal readers from around the world have responded and are helping to match Terry's donation.

If you would like to help, follow the link or click on the Match It pic on left to take you to more info on how.

Kit's New Name

Well, we think we have finally found the perfect name for our wool stealing, wrestling kitten. We originally named her Ode which is Hebrew for 'yet again, another', but it never really stuck. Rodent and Pest were other names we toyed with, but she never responded. So we have been referring to her as Kit. After picking up balls of wool from where ever she drops them after stealing them the last couple of months, we were sure she had been a sheep dog in a past life. This too did not create any response in her.
Recently, I reread the Terry Pratchett/Tiffany Aching series ("Wee Free Men", "Hat Full of Sky" and "Wintersmith") and realized the aweful truth! She was a Nac Mac Feegle!
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nac_Mac_Feegle )
Looking directly at her, I said, "Are you a Feegle?" and she ran over and jumped on my lap! She has been coming whenever we call her name now.

Lost Projects

Been rooting around lately looking into bins I have stored. Found 3 baby afghans, 2 sweaters, 2 full size afghan, 2 washcloths. (and that was only 2 bins) Maybe I should make this year the year of finishing lost projects. I don't have enough XP points on Chore Wars to buy new yarn yet...lol.

adaptation

I like to think of myself as someone who adapts well when hit with a new situation. DD and the babies are in, still sorting thru clothes and things and deciding what to store and what to keep here. Babies came with colds, so sleep hasn't been overly abundant. Just trying to settle into a routine everyone can live with for a while. DH tends to hide out at his pc, then makes the run toward the bedroom at night. BG has been a big help running little errands and helping to entertain the little ones. I gave her the week off 'school' till things settle down a bit more. Truthfully, I don't think I could pull a lesson out of my head this week. (or any other convenient crevice of the body)
Almost done with my Ankh-Morpork swap items. Wish I could have thought of more creative things, but time slipped away fast on this one. Considering they are due to be mailed tomorrow, and all the scurrying with house prep and 2 DDs moving, I am doing well. (I still have hair and it isn't any greyer that I can see)
Kit still won't leave my wool alone. When she couldn't find a skein to swipe, she found my Fawkes socks and ran off with them! She is definately a wool-gatherer. We think she was a sheep dog in a former life.

edited 'cheers and growls' to include pic of Fawkes socks

In the continuing saga..........

Argh. Just when you think you have it mostly together, it comes undone. RoD is as complete as its going to be till DD and babies move back out. Sitting back on my laurels (tuckus really) (ok,ok, its an ever widening franny) and enjoying a little down time logging in my points at Chore Wars, BG comes up to talk with a popsicle in her hands. She off handedly mentions that she had to get it out of the big freezer cause the ones in the little one were all liquid. Now I know what you are thinking. Did I get up and run down to see why? NO. Its amazing how we sometimes tune out the little ones when they chatter at us all day and that's just what I did. Said the appropriate 'mommy' answer.."Uh huh" and didn't think about it. Didn't think about it at all till DH woke me at 5 am and said those awful words "Honey, the fridge is dead". Thankfully, we have been having sub freezing weather here, so everything I could rescue from the warm box in the kitchen went out on the back porch. Called around, found a good deal on new fridges at Sears, went and bought one, then came back to finish cleaning up the mess. Checked the sticky trap we put under there when we saw a mouse in the fall...empty..yeah! Moved the fridge out to find a herd of dust bunnies and 2 dead mice! eewwww! A couple of 15s of cleaning brought me a clean floor and tiles. Now I just had to wait for the new one to be delieverd..the next day. New one was installed with a minimun of fuss and looks great. Now to keep it clean..
Did you notice I mentioned Chore Wars above? Reclaiming the Home on Ravelry started a group. Looked like so much fun, I showed the ladies in my Noodlebug/FlyLady chat and we started our own. I created a list of about 120 items of chores around the house, we claim our chores for time and little virtual rewards and 'gold coins'. Its a great way to track what I actually have done and what I need to do. Another yarn-a-holic and I promised each other we would not buy any new yarn til we reached a certain level of points. Good incentive, huh?
DD#3 is supposed to be moving in here with little ones tomorrow. DD#2 is also moving into their new house this weekend. Hoping to start with a cleaner house before all the confusion starts.
OTN: still the BBS, Bloody Stupid Johnson hat, and swap item for Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild swap

Room...ahhh..hmmmm

Well, DH likes it, but just not sure myself. Was in love with the soft brown of the paper, but it has to be sealed. So I got the clear satin varnish they recommend and....
Its a bit darker than I would like, but I guess it does have that 'leather' look we thought it would have. Not sure its the romantic retreat I was thinking....more like living inside a tree or cave. Will have to see when I get bed and decorations in to warm it up a bit.
But first...DD#3 gets to use it with her 2 little ones while they get on their feet again.

Room of Doom walls done!

here is the corner before, cracks and ugly old paint

then finished

update on RoD

The Room of Doom is slowly becoming the Room of Delight. 3 walls done in the ripped brown paper so far, turned the corner and ran out of paper, so dh is ripping more as I speak. The rest of the house is barely managable right now. Just trying to keep on top of the important things like dishes and meals.

lol..just saw the date on the image...looks like I need to update the camera.

More later with final pics

textured ceiling

how to get a texture ceiling:
Option A:
1) open can (this can take up to 10 mins, so be patient),
2) stir gritty thick stuff being careful not to break paint stirrer (option ..get a 2x2 to stir)
3) scoop into paint pan (can't pour...maybe glop)
4) roll special looped roller in texture paint...push hard
5) find a wall scrapper..evenly distribute gritty mess around roller that doesn't roll
6) apply to ceiling using a light touch at first to distribute texture
6a) swear
7) increase pressure on roller to push, shove, roll, and generally spread the grit
7a) more swearing may be in order
8) apply light pressure to even out all the different peaks of grit
9) wipe up floor where excess grit fell
Congratulations. You have just textured 1 square foot of your ceiling!
Repeat 1-9 until 12 x 12 ceiling is covered or until your arm falls off, your neck cramps, or you throw in the towel.

Option B: Hire someone

Room of Doom

Well, all I can say is that it is progressing. We now have a time limit to get it done. Just as we were taking down the ceiling paper, DD called and asked if she and the 2 little ones could move in til she got a job, apartment and generally on her feet. What's a mother to do? Of Course we said yes.

So DH worked away finishing the ceiling scraping. As you can see, the ugly flowered wallpaper is gone leaving these even uglier dark pink painted walls which have another 2 layers of paper under them. So we primed the walls and ceiling white. Then noticed areas where the paper lifted under it from being wet.
So back to scraping! I was so mad. About 1/3 of the walls had to be re-scraped! Thankfully we had bought 2 gallons of the primer knowing we would need them to do both ceilings and walls.
Work was on hold for a few days as DD and babies were here for a short visit before she went back home to pack up the rest of her house.

Walls and ceiling are all primed now, cracks filled.

Next stage is to lightly texture the ceiling to cover imperfections. Then we plan on using the brown paper technique which will hide problems in the walls. Will post pics when it is all said and done.

In knitting news, the Nagini socks have been totally frogged and I will think of something different to use the yarn for. After turning the heel (which was a reverse heel flap, not a tradional short row heel) I found it was 3 inches too long for my foot and...had I added googly eyes.. would have made an interesting snake sock puppet.

I am starting the toe decreases on the BBS for Socks for Soldiers...just in time for the Army to change regulation colors again!

Started the first short row sequence on my Bloody Stupid Johnson hat http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTbsjohnson.html

Got my Pratchgan square finished and mailed. Made 3 dish cloths for the January swap, mailed out with a bag of OSU M&Ms and a row counter I made in OSU colors. Received 5 beautiful dish cloths from my swap partner. 2 Gloden Snitches, a PoA (large blue), NY state (white) and my name! (small blue) How cool is that!

Kitten stikes again!

I can remember a cat we had when I was little..Gino. When he wanted fed, he meowed. When he wanted out in the morning, he jumped on my Dad's bed and said "Me-out" (at least it sounded like that). Kit does not seem to have developed the voice to ask me to get up and feed her. The only time I hear her is if she looks around and can't find me and walks around panic-stricken meowing till I call her. Then she jumps up, purrs and promptly starts chewing on my arm.

I would like to tell you now about how she woke me this morning. I felt her jumping on the bed, heard her jump off, felt her jump on again and try to scrambled under the covers on DH's side. Groaning, I grabbed her and put her off the bed. That was when I felt the yarn. Digging under the covers, I recovered my skein and realized it was one I used to start a watch cap for DH. I got up, picked up the skein, and started winding.... around the bed post, around the dresser, out into the hall, around the humidifier, down the steps...half asleep I was amazed when I got to the bottom and realized the yarn went back up! Winding... back up the steps to the landing, around the box of books, back down the stairs, around the corner, around the desk chair and...WooHoo... there were the needles in the kitchen doorway! Surprisingly, this time she hadn't chewed all the way thru! Ah, what we put up with to have a cute, cuddly pet in the house!

Finished my Koolhaas! Haven't worked on my SSS..sigh.

In the RoD, I have taken off the first layer of wallpaper half way up the 2nd wall. Got 7 bins of yarn and banner trims out to the garage. I need to rearrange my pantry shelves in the basement so that I can still get to the cans. Then I will be placing more of the craft item bins from RoD down there so that I can remove the shelves from the wall and do the top half. Mostly I feel that I am just moving things around in there, altho I did find several skeins of yarn to donate to another Wednesday night knitter. She has been making small toys and things for kids in our local Children's Hospital. I have seen several ideas on Ravelry about how to organize my yarn and have great visions of how I want it to look when I am done. I think, when I honestly take a look at the amount of yarn I own, that taking down the walls and installing doors, and using the yarn as removable insulation is my best bet right now....lol. But, since this would be another 'out of sight..out of mind' ploy, I guess I should forget it.

goals

Goal is a four letter word, but one that I am learning slowly. I need to set realistic goals this year and stick with them. Some will become habits, and some will be just jobs done. In the housekeeping department, FlyLday is helping me create habits that make life a lot easier around here while keeping up with chores. Other goals will be things like the Room of Doom in the previous post and knitting of course. Getting projects finished in reasonable times and not starting new till others are finished. As a free creative spirit, schedules have always been seen as counter-productive and nasty. I am beginning to realize that they are actually my friends. Schedules can be freeing as it allows me to get things done and still have play time. So...I am exploring ways this pc of mine can help instead of hindering. I spend far too much time web surfing and playing games, then wondering where the time has gone.

All this goes hand and hand with another 4 letter word (in my book at least) called discipline. Not having much in my growing up years and not having done it for myself as an adult has severely effected the way I raised my children. You cannot pass on something you haven't learned yourself. Now I see the effects in my grand kids. Dh came from a heavily disciplined family and so we are at odds on the subject at times. Its not that I don't see the need, but rather the method. I want to instill in bg a self discipline she will enjoy for years to come. There's is much for me to learn this year.

New Year, New Projects

Wish I could report that the Nagini socks are finished, but, alas, I have not worked on them since the last post. I started the SpringShawlSurprise KAL and am on row 38 of clue 1. Clue 2 is out and clue 3 will be due soon, so really need to sit down in a quiet, no distraction place and just knit. (Yeah, like that exists around here!) Also OTN..well, currently ripped out and ready to restart...is my 6 inch afghan square for my Ravelry group, Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild. We are making squares based on things from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and the squares will be assembled into a Pratchgan as a gift to TP. I am doing a lifetimer/hourglass and have already changed the pattern for 4 stitches less per row to get it to the 6 inches. I had knit it thru the center of the hourglass and realized it would be too long. Now I am going thru the chart and finding rows that I can skip and still have it look like its supposed to. Need to lose almost 2 inches of knitting at this point. I think I can do it.

New kitten is such a joy! She has presented me with several balls of yarn this week. She finds them where they are stashed and brings them as a gift to my bed. One of them happened to be the gold from the illusion knitting I was doing, and as I wound the 40+ feet of yarn back on the ball, I saw that she had eaten thru the black contrasting yarn...grrrr. So illusion knitting project has been ripped out. I wasn't extemely happy with the design and was not sure whether to continue. I guess kitten decided for me. I never told you her name, did I? Officially, her name is Ode...Hebrew for 'yet, again, another' as in..another cat in the house. But we have toyed with other names: TSD (Tazmanian she-devil), Pest, Rodent, Vampiress (as she loves to leave teeth marks and draw blood). Mostly she just gets Kit.

DH informs me that he is signing up for another 3 weeks of training with the army which will happen late February or early March. This is in anticipation of earning his E6. Also, summer 'camp' will be longer again this year as they are scheduled to deploy late '08 or early '09.


I am really hoping to buckle down and get a lot of housecleaning
done while he is gone. Aside from regular chores, I am planning on switching the master bedroom and the spare/craft/storage room. This was my 2007 resolution, but it didn't happen. So I guess it's the 08 resolution now. As you can see, there is much work to be done, stripping wallpaper, repainting, sanding and refinishing the floors. (Yes, that really is floral wallpaper from the 50s in there!) The reason for the switch? WALL SPACE! The current master bedroom is slightly bigger, but not one wall of the room is solid wall. There are windows, a fireplace and built in bookshelves, doors and closets. I cannot rearrange in any way and the outlets are in inconvenient places, so we use a lot of extension cords and power bars. Ah, the joys of owning an older home!
The MB will become the spare/craft/computer room and I will still keep my clothes in the closets here.

Also, in the near future, I will be helping DD#2 pack and move into her new home. They are in contract, inspection has been done, loan 'approved' but not final, and just waiting for closing to take place. I am so happy for her. This was the first house they looked at in person and its darn near perfect for them. Price was great, too. She will be leaving a 3 bedroom townhouse with galley kitchen and 1 bath for a 4 bedroom bungalow with 3 full baths and a huge country kitchen! There will even be room for DS-i-l to have a real office for his internet work.
http://www.shawnolson.net/ (shamelessly plugging his site)

Not much else right now. I wil try to be more faithful in my blogging this year...but that's not a promise..lol