Category: Blog

I am tempted to do an entire list on the sidebar of projects that I have the yarn for and want to make. I think it would scare me out of knitting though. Overwhelmed would be the appropriate word. I don’t think I could knit them all in years. But they are there for me to peruse, pick & choose, whenever I am ready to cast on a new project. I do believe that there are over 30 now, yarns, patterns, books, all ready to go. To keep them organized, remind myself of what there is to choose from and for visual motivation I do believe a sidebar list is going to do the trick. Bear with me, this one is going to take a while to get up….

I got through my first repeat of XO’s today on George’s bday sock. I like it alot.

rather lovey-dovey & that’s what I like

Today was one good day! Tracy’s chair came from Ikea, I got rid of an old chair by setting out for free on our sidewalk and the huge couch got put in the kids playroom. Whew! It was a workout but I am so pleased with it!
So here is the area in the living room before.

(Please ignore the mess all around my chair to the left back)

Now here is Tracy’s new sitting area with her table and her own set of boxes.

Look at the difference it made in natural light in the room! I love it! (Please don’t look at how dirty the carpet is surrounding where the couch was, ahem)
I decided to take a picture of our matching chairs too cuz she’s my bff and we match in more ways than one.

It is really hard to get good pictures at night with marcasite lampshades so everything is orange tinted. Oh well. You get the idea. I am not so sure about the matchy, matchy chair covers but I can always buy just the pad through Ikea if I decide I want a change. Cream leather comes to mind. mmmm….like buttah’

My niece Alyx, sister to the aforementioned nephew Evan, is doing modeling! Here are a few of the pictures that were in their local Wichita Eagle newspaper:

No, he’s not short, she is 6’1″ & gorgeous!

I love that dress…

And helloooo?? Those pants are beyond cute. Those heels would put her at 6’4″-5″. wow is all I have to say to that.
Alyx graduates from high school next month and then goes off to university. Good for her for having some fun before real life begins!
I am one proud Aunt.

My oldest nephew, Evan who is in Army Intelligence, is being shipped out to Iraq on April 6th.
I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, the patriot in me is proud. On the other hand, I am very concerned for his safety. Then again, if the democrats have their way we will just abandon Iraq and he’ll come home.

I found the perfect mens sock yarn, finally!

Cherry Tree Hill Java

And the perfect sock pattern to go with it, Jon’s Anniversox.

After getting them started last night and the pattern all set I switched to making chair pads for our kitchen chairs. We have always had an issue with how to sit all 5 of us (plus Tracy when she is here) in our small kitchen at our table. So we moved the table around and used our folding chairs so they fit better next to eachother. But they are not soft so pads were needed.

I love my chairs. Those are mine & Sadie’s chairs, the boys & man have dark brown metal chairs without the frilly glass leaves. Now to make the other 5 pads! I just used chocolate brown double worsted Peaches & Cream, held 2 strands together on size 13’s in a simple log cabin design. Now to come up with some cute ribbon to make the 4 corner ties. Oh yeah, and I am out of yarn. I have charcoal grey on hand and 2 cones of a green coming. It will be a fun mix of colors. And they will be so easy to wash & keep clean! Can you tell the simple things get me excited?

I might actually be 110% sure I won’t knit one thing from the spring/summer 2007 Vogue knitting magazine.

It’s actually horrific and offensive to me on some level. Okay, maybe offensive is too strong of a word but wow, it is not nice on the eyes. 

Now, I reserve the right to change my mind and go against all I just stated at a later date and actually knit something. But I highly doubt it.

Destash is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately they are not accepting new members and I have some stash I need to DESTASH. I do look forward to the K&P yarn swap that will happen in April but I have some stuff I wouldn’t mind making money on. Since going through my organizing phase I have found yarns I have had for well over 4 years with the best intention of knitting. I just never have found a pattern that will work with them. I do feel the need to have control. Buy yarns specifically for projects instead of hording it all and never using it. Even if I don’t use the newly purchased yarn immediately it’s already sitting in the perfect kit waiting for when I am ready.

And sock yarn. Oh how I love sock yarns. The colors, the different dyeing techniques, the never ending possiblities with patterns. Alas, if I knit only socks for the next year I would still have almost another year worth of sock yarn left. (I can only knit so fast people) How does 29, 920 yards (that is 83 pair knit using 360 yars average adult womens size) sound to you? AND none of the socks I have knit recently have used yarn in that count. But I did cast on for a pair of toe up 2 at once rpm’s for Sadie last night.using Freaky Purple superwash from Over the Rainbow yarns (linked on the sidebar).

Unfortunately for me I can only knit so fast and once I get too many projects on needles I flit around like a butterly pollinating and don’t get a whole lot accomplished in one place.
But to make myself feel better I finished one pair of socks yesterday and a sample sock for a project yet to be announced.

They are socks I made while teaching my last 2 socks on 2 circs class using Queensland Kathmandu DK yarn. I bought it at K & P of course. I am so making more of this exact same sock. I am a sock girl. I wear socks at home all day long. I wear through felted slippers but handknit socks, not a problem. Go figure!

I am going on a sock kick. I really want to hit my goal in the Lime & Violet sock marathon of 3 miles = 5280 yards (or was it 5 miles, who remembers) by July 15th. I am on my way! I am at 1380 yards = .78 miles knit so far. lol seriously I just guffawed at how lame that is! I better get going!
I took all the kids foot measurements yesterday planning/preparing to make them all socks. Kids socks go fast and they do eat up the yarn if you give them a longer leg. Shortie socks, like the pom squad, I can whip them out with leftover yarn that I have hanging out (but it is all in my mileage count so it counts).

And, drumroll please, Tracy has decided that knitting socks is not the most horrible thing in the knitting world. The aforementioned secret project she is test knitting for me. And she admitted she even looked through Sensational Knitted Socks looking for her next pair to knit! i am now going to do something i have never done on my blog before…..

SQUEEE!!!

I purchased the Rusted Root pattern a couple of days ago and Tracy pointed out that I could use my new purple yarn. So I cast on last night.

I love the deep purple, the lace pattern is simple and it’s top down so I can try it on as I go! I am planning to have it done for Easter but we’ll see just how fast it goes.

Tracy & I hit ross last night. Surprised? You shouldn’t be, it’s our second home. Since I ordered a new Ikea Poang chair for her in our living room (I am so good to her) I had to get some hat boxes for organization & storage for her knitting. Okay, I am guilty. I promptly got home & filled 2 of them with my knitting stuff. This morning she said she is fine with the 1 that is left. I would have happily removed my knitting so she had more room and she knows it ;o)

The bottom one is the perfect size to store all my granny squares in.

And let me leave you with a gratuitous shoe shot (another great find at ross)

i have a problem, don’t i?

Okay, a little side note on the shoe fetish. My mom started me on a shoe kick when I was about 13 and we were living in Turkey. Shoes were so exotic and inexpensive when we lived there that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spoil me. Plus, my 3 older sisters were in the states & I was FINALLY getting attention ;o) We return to the states and the addiction needed to be fed. She was an office manager so her shoes were all nice quality leather heels and flats. I went punk. I started at classic Vans (there was a vans store in the outlets with classics for $9.99 all the time (leftover from the skater boom of the early 80’s), Vision Streetwear & Converse. From there I climbed to Creepers & Docs, they were my shoes of choice. Now, keep in mind, this was the late 80’s early 90’s. No internet shopping. I had to order a newsprint black & white catalog from a store in SF to buy my shoes. It was a hassle & they cost A LOT.
So I got a job to support my habit. First I went the traditional 15 yr old route & tried fast food. That lasted all of 3 weeks. I bought a VW ’54 bug  (for a whopping $500) with my $$ then needed a job to pay for the insurance. Mom & Dad went halfsies on the car with me as long as I paid them my $25 a month for insurance. Instead of being traditional I started sewing homecoming, prom dresses for girls at school. That brought me enough to start a shoe collection.
Since then it has been up & down. I would go through cleanout phases and get rid of dozens at a time. My average shoe stock is between seventy and a hundred pair. George made a deal with me about 5 years ago that for every 2 pair I buy I had to get rid of, or circulate out, 1 pair. I quickly found he really wasn’t paying attention so didn’t get rid of any until I would go on another cleanout binge. I will do ridiculous things like buy a pair at Payless shoes for $3 just because they are $3. Those are the ones that get tossed. I can honestly say that right now I have 4 pair of shoes I have owned for years & never worn. But I may need them at some future point and they are good quality shoes, not the payless shoes, so I keep them.
Right now I am at a current shoe count of 76 pairs. Before winter I went through a cleanout and it was needed. I always have a goal for the season of what shoes I need. I give myself a limit of $$ and am pretty good at sticking to it. Tracy was surprised that I spent $22.99 on the Nine West shoes I bought because I am the queen of bargain hunting. I normally would have waited to see if they went on clearance but they were too perfect to pass up at that price. Then again I did pay $56 for a pair of BC shoes (of course now they are on sale) but they are more than worth it, those babies will make their money back!
I decided after my second kid that I really didn’t want to do the normal mom look in sweats, jeans that are the wrong size and tennies. I wanted to look hot. For my husband as much as for my self esteem (it also staved off the ugly truth that I had put on weight and hadn’t lost it). Even when I felt like crap I could put on some cute shoes and feel better about myself. Not just how I looked but inside. I knew I was trying feel good and it worked. Like I told Tracy the other day, I would wear heels every day all day if only I had the money for the BEST and my achilles tendon didn’t give me fits every once in a while.

My question to you is, can you ever have too many shoes? (it begs the question can you ever have too much yarn? Obvi, NO)
How can I get dressed & then say I don’t have the shoes I need for the outfit? Actually, I usually pick the shoes first and then build an outfit around them.
And, I judge people by their shoes. There, I said it. I think they say a lot about a person. I won’t go into just how my judgementalism works, that’s my secret. (repentance is probably needed for that)
I have thought of doing an asad, a shoe a day, pictorial (and I suppose I have been) but it makes me feel guilty for the amount of shoes I have so I am passing that one by.

Anyone else willing to flash their shoe stash?

you all may know this already but I love shoes, I love shoes when I get them 75% off in their current season, therefore, I love ross.

Brand: Nicole
Style: Belled
MSRP: $61.99
Ross: $14.99!!!!

Brand: Nine West
Style: Monika
MSRP: $78.95
Ross: $22.99!!!

Just thought I would leave today with something (s) spectacular! …yarn weighed against shoes, hmmm, i love them both so…