May 5, 2006

So much trouble . . .

Hard to believe that these five little balls of yarn could cause so much trouble!
But they did. Starting with; just having the nerve to be discontinued in the first place - especially before I finished hubbies "never ending sweater"! Then I do the frantic internet search, with no luck for a couple of days. Then finally, I find a place that has it! I try to order online, and get a message that I am not permitted to do this, because I am trying to do some awful thing to their server - whatever.
So I call said shop in New York: "So very happy to find you online - no one seems to have any of this yarn left in my color. What is my color? Navy blue. You don't have any? Your site said it was one of the available colors. No thank you, I don't want brown or slate blue, it is a completely NAVY blue sweater. Yes, I understand I could mix it, but I am finished with the back, and the two front panels for this cardigan, and am one quarter done with the long sleeves - and really don't want to pull out parts and reknit to mix. Plus husband really wants an ALL navy blue sweater. Yes, I understand I could make it a short sleeved cardigan, but this defeats the purpose of knitting a sweater for my 'reptile blooded' husband to stay warm in all the air conditioning around here (here being home, and work, and resterants and . . .) Well, thank you anyhow. " ARRRGGGGHHHH! Why didn't they update their stupid site!!
Then a friend from California who is helping in my search, orders from the same company - but online works for her. We discuss the situation and how it went down for me, and assume they will send her a "We're so sorry" email on the coming Monday, and I continue my search. I find a yarn that I can possibley substitute, but nobody around here carries it because this is Florida and "We don't get much call for ______" (I get the same answer for Navy blue, wool sock yarn and anthing that isn't bright and cotton!) And at $10 per ball I want to be sure the color and everything matches. Also, I am a terrible guesstimater, and hubby does the math for me and decides I need another 7 balls, not the 2-3 I originaly thought.
Well . . . lo and behold, said friend in California never gets the expected "We're so sorry" email, instead she gets the 2 balls of Debbie Bliss wool/cotton she had ordered! Keep in mind they were instructed to send it straight to me in Florida, but it WAS sent. So I go back online and try to order the remaining 5 balls hubby says I need, and it STILL will not let me order (and this is from husbands computer or mine) So I have to email "Fantastic Fiber Friend in Cali" and ask her to jack up her credit card a few more bucks and order me more! Luckily she had a few bucks on her limit and loves me. Unfortunately they only had 3 balls left!
All in all, this has been quite an interesting project. Considering that I bought 2 balls more than it called for origanally, and am possibly still 1 or 2 balls short! Whew!
But it teaches me to NEVER procrastinate a knitting project in the form of years again!!!
MANY THANKS AND UNDYING APPRECIATION TO STEPHANIE! As my daughter would say "YOU ROCK!" ;)

May 2, 2006


More progress . . .

We have the frame work for walls now, hoping to have windows and drywall by the end of next week!
WOO HOO!

April 24, 2006

We have a ROOF!

Finally! Major progress to speak of on the house! The cinderblock shell has been sitting idle since before Thanksgiving (long story if you haven't heard it) but this past week - we got a roof!
They are going to be framing it out this week, and hopefully we will have a finished house by mid to late summer (I just love the thought of moving, in the middle of summer, in FLORIDA! aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!)
But . . . atleast it's finally moving along again. YEAH!!!!!!!!

April 19, 2006

Easter was beautiful!

We went to the sunrise services at the church we have been attending regularly - I should have been better prepared for it. I wasn't expecting the cold after the sun came up, or all the mosquitoes that were awake before I usually am. All in all, it was beautiful, but I don't know if we'll do it again. Breakfast with half the attendees afterwards, at Bob Evans, was very nice though. . . and I don't seem to have a dozen bites , so it wasn't THAT bad.

Then our daughter was baptised and confirmed into the church, at the regular Sunday service later that morning. It was really cool. Three girls were confirmed, and two of those were baptised. It was a great service, and almost all of Todd's cousins came early to attend the service with us. His cousin Phil took a bunch of pictures for us, since we were standing up with her.

Then we returned home, pigged out, played dice (yep! GREEDY) and played with my new CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! It was my Christmas present from Todd's mom - very cool! You melt 3-5 pounds of chocolate with some oil, then pour it in. It cascades down the falls, and pumps back up to the top. It was fun. Lots of fresh fruits to dip, along with cookies, and rice crispy treats, and pretzels! Yummy! Definetly a party device though. A lot of work for just hanging around on the weekend or something. But worth it.

Well, it's happened . . .


I FINALLY 'buckled down' to finish "Todd's Neverendng Sweater" named this because it was started in 2002, on size 4 needles, in NAVY blue DK weight yarn and ALL garter stitch! And I am running out of yarn! Yes, I bought two extra balls to be sure i had enough - but am going to need probably two more! I seem to be on gauge still, so have no idea what went wrong. Now the REAL issue is that Debbie Bliss wool/cotton was DISCONTINUED last fall! I am having absolutely NO LUCK digging up a couple more balls, even not being picky about dye lot! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
I am so depressed, I have been searching yarn shops, online, requesting on message boards. I even got a friend in San Diego to call around there (Thanks Bobbi) I just don't know what I am going to do. I want to shove it in the back of the closet and forget it exists - but I promised myself it would get finished before I made anything else.

Any fabulous ideas will be considered.
WAAAAAAA!

March 28, 2006

What kind of soul are you?

You Are a Newborn Soul
You are tolerant, accepting, and willing to give anyone a chance.On the flip side, you're easy to read and easily influenced by others.You have a fresh perspective on life, and you can be very creative.Noconformist and nontraditional, you've never met anyone who's like you.Inventive and artistic, you like to be a trendsetter.You have an upbeat spirit and you like almost everything.You make friends easily and often have long standing friendships.Implusive and trusting, you fall in love a little too easily.Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsoulareyouquiz/

March 18, 2006

Thought this was cool.

There were a few things of interest in this mag, most especially - the free stitch markers!

See?!

Not bad, huh?

March 17, 2006

It's finished!

It's actually been done for awhile, but I've been sick all week and haven't felt like blogging.
I think it turned out very nice. It is more a baby AFGHAN than a baby blanket, but it still turned out nicely - if I do say so myself.

March 5, 2006

Are these cool or what?

One of the sweet ladies that we "Chat & Sew" with on Mondays (Amber and I knit, many other knit or crochet) gave these to me last week. She hates knitting with circulars, and remembered me saying that I use them for most everything when she came across them while Spring" cleaning" over the weekend prior. A friend gave them to her "a few year back", and she really dislikes circs. So I am the proud new owner of a set of SEARS circs, kit #5790. A set of 2-5 needles that screw onto four different cables. Even if I never use them - "HOW COOL ARE THESE!?" They have to be circa 1950 or 60's. I'm going to check into it more and let you know. NEAT!

March 3, 2006

This will be "next" . . .

I have to finish hubbies "endless sweater" first, I have promised him - and myself - it will be done soon (meaning: before next winter sets in!)
But this ribbon yarn has been on sale at Michael's for awhile, and teasing me the whole time. The red isn't quite as dark as it looks here, it's more of an dark coral or orange/red, not my first choice in color, but teal and purple are my favoritest colors, and they all look so good together. It has been telling me it wants to be a shell or tank - probably for NEXT summer, but still . . .

February 25, 2006


The DAY AFTER . . .


Well, it's been one whole day, and from what I can tell - 40 is nothing to freak out about. I don't feel any older than I did at 39. Except for my hair, I went and got it frosted for my birthday (honey's other gift to me , along with the new wheel) and the chick went a bit crazy with the color. It was very light - my daughter said "Malfoy blond" - he's the towhead in Harry Potter films! I ran a toner with a touch of developer through my whole head, to darken the highlights and lighten the rest of my hair a tad. It looks a little better, but still - WOWE! My husband got up for work the next morning and said "Well, now I know what you will look like with grey hair!" This was suppose to hide/blend the few that were showing - NOT make the whole head look grey! Oh well, one of these days I will find a hairdresser that knows what they are doing .
I certainly wouldn't go back to 20 - O.M.G.!!!!!!!!, maybe 30 . . . but I am so much more comfortable in my skin than I was even then. I was still trying to "find" myself, and prove myself to certain people, and gain approval. Now . . . WHO CARES! I am me, most people like me, if you don't - I'm sorry, but NOT heartbroken.
Now, if we could just get to this point and still have the skin, the flexibility/mobility, and remain about the same weight as when we are 20 . . . . that would be something special! ;)
We are going to my hubbies cousins' house to meet up with all the cousins (he's got 4, plus their families in this neck of the woods) for a nice dinner out (I am thinking seafood) and a little birthday party after. It should be fun.
My friend Tamara about summed it up - "Today you are a woman" . . . kinda feels that way, with a bit less fanfare and presentation.

February 17, 2006

Isn't this cool ?

Knitted, felted, drink coasters! This is my project for a knitting exchange I joined for this month. It is my first exchange, and I wanted to do something different than a washcloth (even though those are great and I get compliments/requests for them all the time!)
I felted the first two that I made the other day, and am knitting on a new one with two colors - the same brown from the others, and some leftover green from Amber's helmet liner project. I like the two colors, but am not thrilled with all the ends to weave in. Would really like to see one in a varigated.
I bought a skein of Paton's Merino at work today (it's only $4.99 and I get a discount) in their "natural mixture" shade, and plan to overdye it with a burgandy or wine color - in a painted effect. That should be kinda neat. I have been wanting to dye something lately anyhow, so this will do nicely!
There are a couple more pix in the FO folder.

February 16, 2006

A few more rows . . .

Boy, am I glad that this baby isn't due until June! I took the picture outside in the late afternoon, so there is a bit of shadowing - sorry. I am on a green row now, for the middle, then plan to alternate the yellow and white again on the opposite side and end with green. it's twice as wide as that too. You can ask other's I have made "baby" blankets for - I tend to make them a little HUGE - like "mommy and baby" snuggle blankets! I managed to get a few more rows on it, but also had a little distraction for a Knitting Exchange I joined for this month. It's my first one, and I am excited! I will get a picture of what I'm doing for that up tomorrow, if I can.
I also had to finish a late birthday present for my great neice. She is such a cutie, and used to stand infront of me when I'd visit (and she was about 4) and while I was sitting on the couch knitting, she would "help me" knit on baby blankets (did quite a few of those while back in Sothern Cal - lots of FERTILE friends!) She would throw the yarn for me, then help me push the needle back down through the loop and off. Quite an accomplishment upside down and backwards! She is 6 now.
She got the biggest kick out of it, so I wanted to knit her something special to remember Aunt Tammy by. The FO is in my pics, along with a matching FO that Amber made for her - to comemorate their trip to Disney land together! I'm going to send them off this week.

February 13, 2006

My first wheel

Don't want to leave out my other wheel. (Sorry the picture is so dark, it's early and dark in this house.)
This one was made in Australia, for a lady I met in San Diego. She said it had a few quirks, and was bought for her by her EXhusband. She had a new husband, and a new wheel and just wanted to get rid of it - to someone who would get some use out of it. Well, the price was right for me - FREE!
I've been told it's styled after an Ashford Travelor wheel.
It's definetly gotten some use! At least the last 3 years! It sat in the corner of my living room for the first year of it's stay with me, before I finally listened to friends and joined the local adult- ed spinning class. Boy, am I glad I did! Margaret, my teacher, was GREAT! I learned so much in the year I was in her class. Things that people in my new guild haven't even tried yet! I almost feel like a pro!

February 13, 2006

My new (to me) toy!

Isn't she pretty?
I heard it was for sale at my guild meeting on Saturday, and . . . we bought it yesterday (Sunday)!
It lived with a lady up in Bradenton (about 45 minutes North of us) who had bought it from a lady in England 25 years ago. That lady told her, it was made in 1960- something. So it may be older than me! It's an old Ashford Traditional.
I think we got a good deal. I got the wheel, two knobby thingies (sorry, not sure what these are - yet), the lazy kate, four bobbins, a jumbo flyer and four jumbo bobbins - oh! and she threw in a book, "The care & feeding of spinning wheels" - all for $150!
I haven't tried her out yet, hubby took us to the Ringling Medieval Faire right after we picked her up, and by the time we got home and did dinner I was just too tired. I'll probabley give her a "whirl" tonight.