s m i t t e n 4 m i t t e n s

An FO and feeling inspried...

2011-10-02T01:29:00.007-04:00

I can't even remember the last post I made on here. It's been a long, long time. I feel like I've lost touch with things that I once loved to do. I feel consumed by work, family and day to day living and seem to have very little time for myself. I'm am struggling to find balance in my life and I'm feeling unhappy. It's high time I get back on track and I've started with an FO. It's been on going for I'd say at least 6 months. It's a sweater for Rowan (who is now 3 years old). The yarn is hand painted by Wandering Cat Yarns and the pattern I used is called Carnival Coat out of the Top Down For Toddlers book by Cabin Fever. Please excuse my lack of links, I'm feeling lazy...I had a long night at work. Baby steps! :)

Voila! I finished it up today and Rowan even helped me pick out buttons at the Fabric Centre downtown after her swimming lesson at the YMCA.

She wasn't the most co-operative model that I've ever had, but at least I could produce some kind of picture with it on her. It's a little big on her but she'll grow into it. Since I've taken all the time to make it, I'd rather her be able to wear it for as long as possible.

Now all that is said and done. I'm feeling inspired. Inspired enough to make myself something for a change. I've had my eye on this pattern that I found on Ravelry for a while now. It's called Owls. I don't know what it is about them but I love owls. They are so eerie and mysterious looking. As soon as I saw this pattern I knew that one day I had to make this for myself. I absolutely love it, getting excited here!!! I'm also impressed with myself, I even remembered my Ravlery user name and password as it has been equally as long as I have been on that site. It's done on chunky yarn, and I want to do it in the grey colour that it's pictured in. It just looks so awesome! YIPPEEE, I can't wait!!!

Next project is finding out what kind of yarn I would like to use and purchasing the pattern.

Off to bed for me now. The wheels are turning though, I'll be dreaming of all things owly and yarny.

The Search for the Perfect Slipper

2010-09-22T23:45:00.003-04:00

The summer came just as fast as it went and the last little while I've been feeling that urge to pull out the needles once again. The search has been on for the perfect quick and easy slipper. I wanted something relativity simple (instant gratification this project is key), but not too plain and Grandma like. After searching high and low on Ravelry and just googling slipper patterns I finally found what I was looking for. Which is good because I was beginning to think that maybe I was just being too damn picky and was wasting more time on the internet then knitting(since knitting time can be scarce to non exsitant as is). I was about to give up until this little number came along. Summer Cable Slippers by KLC Creations . This seems exactally what I was looking for in a slipper pattern and it is going along swimmingly! I realize that the pattern is called "Summer" Cable Slippers because they are not an overly thick slipper but they are perfect and perhaps will just be memories of summer slippers as the days are getting chillier. The pattern is written for ladies sizes but I am hoping after the first pair that I make that I might be able to modify it for child sizes. I'm on a mission this fall, all the girls are getting slippers.
Stay tuned for updates!

Wandering Cat Yarns Contest

2010-03-06T19:28:00.004-05:00

I know it's been too long, but I wanted to let everyone know that Wandering Cat Yarns are celebrating their 100th Sale, a HUGE milestone for them and to thank everyone for their awesomeness and support they are having a contest.

Rules:

To enter:
Go to Wandering Cat Yarns and look at all the pretty yarn - then come back here and leave a comment telling us what your favourite colourway is.

Extra entries:
To receive an extra entry...

POST about this contest on your own blog and email the link to wanderingcatstudio(at)hotmail(dot)com or let us know with your comment.

BUY stuff. Each item you buy (stitch markers and jewellery included) will give another entry.
(Items purchased today have already been entered in the contest!)

Deadline:
Contest runs from today to midnight, Friday, March 12. Draw will take place on Saturday, March 13 and the results will be posted on Rhonda's Blog.
Prize:
The winner will receive their choice of one (1) skein of either Alley Cat, Top Cat, Fluffy Cat, Slinky Cat Fingering, Stray Cat, Fat Cat or Fat Cat Kit, available from the shop at time of choosing, as well as a set of Wandering Cat Paw stitch markers.

Good Luck!

Do do do lookin' out my back door...

2009-12-10T17:35:00.003-05:00

What a wild day of snow and it's supposed to continue into the night and into tomorrow.
Yup, that's what we've been seeing up here for the last week. Snow, snow and more snow!

So, what's being going on in my life these days...

I've been working quite a bit. I'm back at Shopper's again.

Paisley and Ron were in the Owen Sound Santa Claus Parade for Coca-Cola.

Paisley turned six on Tuesday December 8th. It's hard to believe that she's 6 already. Rowan's also 18 months now. In another 6 months she will be 2. Life's gotta slow down! Over the weekend, Gramma and Grampa came to see Paisley for her birthday (early birthday).

I'm still on a bit of a knitting hiatus, but the Bella mittens are calling me back. Infact this snowy weather is inspiring me to maybe pick up the needles.

On Tuesday the 15th is Paisley's Christmas Assembly at school. I'm excited about that. Her class is sing "Up on the House Top" and apparently she is a dancer. She requested that I get her a new Christmas dress for this, so I'm going to have to take a look for her.

The Christmas crunch is on. I guess I get to start my shopping tomorrow since it's payday, whoo hoo!! I'm excited, I love Christmas shopping, wrapping and all of that fun stuff.

I guess that's about it for now. I want to post Paisley's birthday pictures too, but they are on my other camera right now.

2009-11-07T00:13:00.002-05:00

Well, I've recovered from the flu I had last week and so far (finger's crossed) nobody else in my family has even shown signs of symptoms yet. Pheewww!!
Onto some good news. I started working at Shoppers again here in Owen Sound. I already have BIG plans for my first paycheck. I was in fiber heaven today!! I took a very short walk across the river to my LYS Riverside Yarns here in Owen Sound (literally a 2 min walk from my work, this could be baaaad). I had always wanted to take a look in the store but just never got down there on my short visits home. They had quite a variety of yarns, but not near as much as Julie's store in Ancaster. Okay, on with the BIG plans here. LOL I will go back and treat myself to something yarnarifick at the store! What I really fell in love with though (and they don't sell it at the store) is Dream in Color Starry in Dusky Aurora. I'm thinking Ishbel in this colourway would be amazing. My other big plans for my paycheck (along with paying bills) is a bag of socks. I know, how fun eh? But I seem to be at an all time low of socks in my drawer right now. It's pretty bad and I need them for work.
Well, I'm off to bed now. I've worked everyday this week except Monday and I'm off this weekend (with mad amounts of laundry to take care of), hoooray!

November already?

2009-11-02T22:20:00.006-05:00

We are settling into our new place in Owen Sound. It's taking some time but it is coming along. I can hardly believe it's already been a month since we've been here. It actually seems longer to me. It's been so rainy and miserable these days, I'm guessing that might have something to do with it. The knitting has been a slow go, although I did manage to get one of the monkey socks for Amanda done (I just need to graft the toe). I'm having a hard time finding my groove in the new place. I was down with the flu last week and didn't do much of anything, I was in bed for 3 full days with an on and off fever, headache, body ache and stupid cough. I'm feeling a little better now but I still have a cough, my chest hurts a little and I get tired easy, coming around though.

The girls had a good Halloween even though it was a chilly one Paisley went out as my Rock & Roll Vampire and Rowan as my little parrot. Although she wasn't very impressed with Halloween at first, Rowan even went to at least a dozen houses with the help of Ron and I. Paisley and my nephew Lucas could have went out a little longer then the little one's, but we called it a relatively short night.
Paisley seems to be adjusting nicely to her new school. It's just a little weird for me because I went there when I was in public school. She even has my french teacher as her teacher this year, only for the morning though because she teaches french in the afternoon. She has a different teacher for the afternoon but my brother had her when he went there, so strange. Most of the teachers that taught there when I was young are gone now but there are still a few. Paisley even met a little friend in her class who conveniently lives in our building and on the same floor, so we've had a few play dates to compensate for the crappy weather we've been having.
The picture at the top is a view from my balcony and it was taken only 2 weeks ago. There are no leaves on that poor tree now.
I got a job at Shopper's Drugmart again, I go in tomorrow. It'll be nice having some extra money with Christmas coming just around the corner (yes, I said it.......Christmas).
That's about all that is new right now. I'll will try and get on here and post more often!!!

Adorable!

2009-09-18T15:49:00.003-04:00

Just a quick post to share my neat find. I went to Michael's today with my crafty neighbour Amanda
because she was looking for Halloween ideas and outside they had all their 2010 calendars for $1.50. Any how, I couldn't resist the "Funny Farms" calendar, too cute!

2009-09-16T13:49:00.008-04:00

I know...it seems like forever since I've last blogged. My lack of blogginess is due to the fact that I've been preoccupied with other things these days.
My big baby started Grade 1 last Tuesday (all day). So far so good, she seems to like it. I think she had a bad day yesterday though because she said she sucked at everything, no body wanted to play with her at recess and she didn't want to go to school again. *LOL* It seems funny now, but I kind of felt a little bad for her when she was telling me it all. It's cute though.
As I have probably mentioned in previous posts, Rowan is on the move and boy does she move. She's all over place and keeps me on my feet most of the time. She's started climbing ALL of the furniture including the desk (I could not possibly blog if she were awake right now because she'd be pressing all the keys) and the kitchen table (she climbs up onto the chairs and then up on to the table from there). It's madness! I don't remember Paisley being such a monkey (although she was one, she's wasn't nearly this bad). We've been enjoying our summer (finally) with all this sunny and warm weather we've been having and spending alot of time outdoors exploring. I took some pictures of her yesterday doing just that and modelling a sundress set that Rhon da for Paisley when she was a baby. The girls are so luck to have such a talented Gramma. I kept this outfit just incase I had another little girl and I'm so glad we got to wear it again. :-)

I have been knitting. I've been working away at the no purl Monkey socks and finished one. I also picked up regular Monkeys that I started probably over a year ago. They were supposed to be a present for my good friend/crafty neighbour Amanda. Unfortunately they got put down because I didn't do my usual heel and ended up not liking them. Well since I'm on a bit of a Monkey kick now and familiar with the pattern again I ripped back to where I started the heel and re-did it and now I'm well on my way to finishing this sock too. I'm still working on the Shawl Collared Baby Sweater for my niece's Christmas gift but I have to rip out my 3 needle bind off because I mixed up the fronts. ***insert swear word here*** No, I wasn't not at all pleased about this, but I supposed I should have been paying more attention. Needless to say this is why I've picked up the socks for now as a small break from the sweater.

Summer Craziness

2009-08-04T21:21:00.005-04:00

Last week the girls and I were away for the week in Owen Sound visiting my family. The week was full of events and the girls were busy and the bonus was that I still had time to work on a sweater for my little Robobee. Last Monday I cast on for the Shawl Collered Baby Sweater that Rhonda designed. It was a really quick knit, very straight forward to follow and extremely cute. It took me just one week to finish it and all I need is some nice buttons for it now. The pattern is available to purchase on Ravlery if anyone is interested. I can't wait to try it on Rowan and get a picture of her in it!!

As well as the knitting that took place as I said we were busy. My brother's girlfriend Genna and my sister were planning a surprise party for my little brother (who turned 20 today, Happy Birthday Chris) so we were running around all week getting things together for the party that was this past Saturday (Aug. 1st). He was suspicious of us though as we were doing quite a bit of sneaking around as well as a few minor slip ups during the week. The party went off as planned at around 5 on Saturday. He thought the party was for my parents anniversary which was on Sunday, so he was told to take them out of the house for the afternoon. Needless to say he was very surprised and enjoyed himself. He deserved it too, I couldn't ask for a better brother. The poor guy broke his cheek bone earlier that week at a baseball game. He took a fastball pitch to the side of the face. Luckily he was wearing a helmet or it could have been much worse. He had an emergency CT scan the next day just as a precaution and he actually broke it in 3 places right were all the bones in your face meet. He saw a specialist afterwards, and luckily he will not need corrective surgery and just time to heal the bones.

On Thursday my sister and I took the kids to Sauble Beach. Although it was cooler, the water was still quite nice once you got in and Rowan LOVED it. She didn't want to get out when it was time to leave.

Also, an unexpected turn of events. My brother works at Coca Cola in Owen Sound and it just so happened that they were looking for a truck driver at their branch and he told his boss about Ron and how he has his A-Z licence and his boss wanted Ron to come in to talk, so on Friday when Ron came up he went over and got a job offer for more that what he is making now at the company he's currently working for in Oakville and he took it. It's defiantly a great opportunity for him and he starts next Monday too. So for now, until we can find place, Ron will be staying at my parents and coming home on weekends to help me pack. It seems surreal right now though, I can't believe I'm moving back. It'll be weird, it's such a small city in comparison to Hamilton but it'll be a nice place to raise the girls.

Tears were shed here back in Hamilton with the unexpected news. I will miss my friends and family that I have here terribly but at the same time I am excited to be closer to my family and they have a LYS Riverside Yarns which I will be checking out ASAP. I am beyond nervous though because I don't deal with change well and there is so much to do in the next 2 months that I have left our place here.

I will try to keep my blog updated on everything that's going on here. :-)

Battered, Bruised & Pink...

2009-07-23T00:34:00.005-04:00

Last week I started a Flower Power Elephant. It was supposed to be for one of my nieces but Paisley decided she wanted a pink elephant and decided it was for her. He/she only had all but 2 legs missing as of last night so on this rainy Wednesday evening I decided to make him/her other 2 legs. My poor Paisley fell tonight and smacked her face on the asphalt. I heard her crying from outside, so I ran to the door to find her bloody which freaked me out (I tried to stay calm). I guess she fell so hard she made her nose bleed. I think she's going to be bruised up, the nose is already starting. I was frightened at first that she may have broke her nose when she first came in. My nose was broken when I was 11 and I had to have surgery to brake it back in place. She seems fine now though, snoozing away beside me here, I'm hoping the fact that her elephant's finished and with her in the morning when she wakes up will make her smile. I felt so bad for her tonight.

So here I am still awake, I wanted to keep an eye on her and besides that I'm trying to finish up Ron's laundry that is in the dryer so he has some clean clothes tomorrow. I think I'll be able to go to bed soon though, I can't wait for that stuff to be dry and I can bring in up in the basket and put it on the table for him. Tomorrow I will fold and put away (did I mention how much I HATE putting laundry away?).

Back to the Elephant. I knit it on 4mm needles because I used some worsted weight yarn, just some left over knit picks swish (in bubblegum pink) that I had left over from the pinwheel sweater I made. Next time, I think I'll knit it a bit tighter on smaller needles, maybe 3 1/4mm.

What a cool summer so far, and very wet. I'm hoping next week will bring just a little bit warmer temperatures and maybe a little mores sun. The girls and I are going to be staying up at my parent's in Owen Sound for the week and I'd like to go to Sauble Beach with them and my sister and her kids for the afternoon. Whatever the weather though, I'm sure we/they will have fun.

Flower Power Elephant Love

2009-07-15T15:29:00.003-04:00

She's been carrying it around for days now. She really loves this little elephant her Aunt Valerie made her for Easter. I catch her hugging, cuddling and dragging it all over the house. I think I'm going to have to make a few for my 2 nieces and my nephew. The pattern is a free ravelry pattern called Flower Power Elephant.

Well, that's all I have to post for now. My knitting always tends to get a little slower in the summer. I'm still plugging away at the blanket though. Maybe I'll start an elephant tonight.....

These feet were made for walking

2009-07-14T09:10:00.002-04:00

It's been a few days now and Rowan has been toddling around the livingroom. I caught her in action (she wasn't quite as co-operative once I had the camera out though).

Wandering Cat Yarns Contest!!

2009-07-09T08:59:00.006-04:00

Win yourself some beautiful hand painted yarn. Head on on over to WanderingCat's blog, leave a comment which on colourway you like best (mine is of course "Twilight", the colours look amazing together), link back to the contest on your blog and you're entered. Draw will be open till midnight Monday, July 13.

Good luck!!

Wandering Cat Yarns is avaiable on Etsy, you can purchase yarn there.

Wandering Cat Yarns on Facebook

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T11:26:00.007-04:00

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadian's out there, perhaps some much needing knitting time will ensue today for all you knitters out there. :-)

I also thought I would share some progress on the Ripple Baby blanket that I have been working on for my sister's little girl who was born back in May. It's a slow go, but I will get it done.

Paisley's summer holiday's have officially kicked of as of last Friday. Too bad the weather's been so crummy this week, I'd like to get out with the girls to the park or something but it's too iffy out to take them (I don't want to get caught in any downpours or thunderstorms). Maybe I'll just wait to get Rowan's new ride. I've been wanting to get a jogging stroller for her for a while and a used one popped up on kijiji yesterday for $50, a Jeep Liberty and it looks as though it is not in too bad of condition and it is mine. I have made arrangments and Rhonda said she would pick it up for me. Ironically I also just sold a bunch of my stuff that I am no longer using through the site to my MIL Rhonda's neighbour who fosters infants.

Well...back to the daily grind of cleaning while Rowan naps and Paisley plays outside with her friends (until it starts raining or something).

Enjoy the day!!!

***Edit***

Rhonda delivered the stroller this afternoon. I just finished scrubbing it down. It's in pretty good shape, just a bit sun faded (but it's evenly faded) and some minor surface scratches but other then that, it's decent. :-)

Can't wait to get out and have Rowan give it a test drive. Maybe tomorrow we'll have a nice break of no rain.

A Celebration!

2009-06-24T22:09:00.011-04:00

Today was a special day for one of my little ladies. She graduated the 2 year kindergarten. program at C.B. Stirling Elementary School here in Hamilton. Yes, Paisley will be in grade 1 in September!!! I got a few pictures of her, one before entering the gym with the graduating class and then I got a nice one of her teacher handing her the certificate. Unfortunately my camera's batteries were dying since the first picture but we did get some...at least.
:-)

I even caught my baby girl Rowan enjoying the festivities...or she was eagerly awaiting the treats afterwards.

We also received her report card yesterday and she did excellent, so I guess she'll be getting a bigger bike at some point this summer like she asked us for. She learned how to ride 2 wheeler earlier this spring, so she's exciting about riding now.

Mommy & Daddy are so very proud of you Paisley and can't wait to see what grade 1 will bring!!!!

Baby She's 1

2009-06-08T15:48:00.007-04:00

On Friday my baby girl Rowan turned 1. It seems like just yesterday I was trying to get on the computer after having her to blog about the new baby's arrival.
We had a small party for her on Saturday, both my parents and Ron's came for the gathering. I baked her a cupcake cake the night before, I was trying to make it into the shape of a heart. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted but hey...I tried. She loved the cake, so I guess it really didn't matter in the end. In the two months since my last post, I made her a hat for the big day. I made her the birthday cake hat from Susan B. Anderson's Ittty Bitty Hats. I've been just itching to get it up here too, but I figured I'd wait for her birthday.

As well as spending time outside with the girls and going to Paisley's soccer games, I have been knitting. I'm currently working on a baby blanket for my sister, it's the ripple baby blanket from More than one way to knit a hat. Ironically, I started it the night she went into labour without even knowing it. She wasn't actually due until June 25th, so she was well over a month early. She had her little girl Halle Brianne Rose on her birthday (May 22nd) which is kind of neat and at least I' ll never forget her birthday (I'm good with remembering birthdays anyway). I also finished the sweater I was making for Rowan. I promise, I will post pictures soon. (Famous last words eh??)

MIA

2009-04-01T17:19:00.013-04:00

It certainly has been a while since my last post. Needless to say, I have been busy!!
Paisley has been wanting a Wii Fit since Christmas so we finally purchased one earlier in March. I wasn't sure about it on the first day we got it, but I have become quite an addict and haven't missed a day since. I can't believe how much of a work out it is too! I love doing yoga, rhythm boxing (which you have to unlock with credits you earn for playing), I also love step aerobics and have unlocked advanced step and free step. I've been working on jogging as well! I can't believe how much fun I am having with it and have banked way more hours on it then my whole family combined. :-) It's even a really nice scale and you have to do a daily body test and weigh in everyday. I haven't really lost any weight yet(bummer, I keep fluctuating up and down), but I'm sure I have lost inches.
I have been knitting a bit too. I finished the Pinwheel sweater, and I need to rip out the edging on the shrug and redo it. I also received a new book for my birthday from Rhonda. Socks a la Carte. I've cast-on for a pair of socks and I like the book. It has really neat split pages inside where you can mix and match cuffs, bodies and toes. My only complaint about the book is the photographs. I felt they should have used a different colour of yarn to illustrate the patterns better but other then that a really cool concept. :-)

Last Wednesday we decided that we had enough of our Kraft Dinner Orange walls and painted them a really nice beige colour called Pecan Sandie. It looks so fresh and clean! I'm really liking it. We also rearranged the living room and Rowan has lots of crawling space. After years of searching we also found a blind for our little side window we have by the back door. Love LOVE love it!!!!!!

Speaking of Kraft Dinner, Rowan decided that she wanted it for lunch today with Paisley. My little baby's growing up. :( Although, she was too adorable while eating it.

I think that is about it. I'm just anxiously awaiting the nicer weather, we've got to get out and practise soccer with Paisley as it will be her first year playing. It's going to be fun going to games every week. I also can't wait to get some new pictures for my bare walls, I'm working on that next as well as touching up my baseboards. I'm thinking we're due for some family type stuff up on the walls....

Wow, what a ramble, but that has been my life lately!!! I've really gotta get knitting for my new niece due in June, eeeak.

hearts

2009-03-04T20:43:00.001-05:00

Your Heart is Red and Orange

Your heart is enthusiastic and optimistic.

You are creative, witty, and brilliant.

You bring levity and happiness to relationships.

You're good at loving people for who they are.

What Are the Colors of Your Heart?

On The Move

2009-03-03T15:49:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but as of Friday Rowan has officially been on the move. The crawling has begun. It's slow but she can get anything she wants now. Of course there are tonnes of things that she could possible get into but she goes right to my knitting corner every time, pulling out yarn or really anything in arms reach to her. I'm in need of something nice that I can keep my WIP's in so they are still close for me when I have free time to work on them. My birthday is coming up in 14 days and I asked them just that, although I'd like something decorative that has a flat surface so that I could possible set my tea on top (since hubby occupies my coffee table with his laptop). The last week in my house has been a sick fest here, both the girls have been sick. I had to take Rowan to see the doctor last week and she ended up having an ear infection. They're both still hacking and coughing with runny noses and a little cranky but I think they are getting better. As for me, I may be coming down with it...not sure yet. I've had a sore throat for a few days but it's not too sore. I'm hoping maybe it'll just go away and I get off un⋅scathed.

Knitting has been at a halt for now, although I did finish the i-cord edging on the pinwheel sweater last night and I'm pretty much done the shrug that I was knitting for Paisley. The shrug was for a wedding that we were supposed to go to on Saturday but couldn't go to due to the girls being under the weather. I'll get some pictures up here soon!

Not too much as been going on though. I'm glad that there has been no snow lately, I'll take this cold instead. It's so much easier getting Paisley to school and back without it...stroller moves better. :-)
Rowan will be 9 months on Thursday too, only 3 months until she's a year. Wow, it's been flying by!

Well, until next time...

Happy Knitting!!!!!

The power of Tink

2009-02-10T13:26:00.008-05:00

I finally started the Pinwheel Sweater for Rowan. Everything was going swimmingly until I came to the armholes. I tired my best to understand the pattern as written for the armholes, but after doing so it just wasn't working. So I tinked back...waaaay back to a mistake in my third colour on one of the yarn overs. Everything's A-OK now and I also found another way to do the armholes that I think makes a little more sense then the actual pattern so I will give that a whirl. It seems to be knitting up quick and I'm find the yarn lovely to work with. It's just Knit Picks Swish 100% Superwash wool. It feels nice to the touch though, I think it will be nice against Rowan girl's skin. :-) I'm very please at how my colours look together too. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do my striping but I think it will work quite nice. I'm also really getting a chance to use my new harmony options needles too.

We had a little fiasco with trying to ball my skeins of yarn. The natural shades come in skeins because it can be hand dyed. So Ron has helped Rhonda (mom) with this as a kid so he said he would help me because I never done it before. What an ordeal, this is what I ended up with:
Instead of 2 beautiful cakes I got this disaster. 4 small messed up balls and in the bag you see tangles...yes that's right, a huge tangled up mess! I guess next time I will wait until we go out to Rhonda's to do it. At least she has a swift (and knows what she is doing). *LOL*
I appreciate the effort on Ron's part though, it was sweet (even if we did argue a bit at the time over it). :-)

Aside from knitting Rowan turned 8 months last week. I can't believe that she will be a year old in 4 months. Both my girls are growing too fast! :-s

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Crummy Days!

2009-02-04T22:29:00.003-05:00

To start off, I wanted to go to Mary Maxim today to pick up some yarn to make a baby sweater for some friends of mine who just had a baby. Ron told me on Sunday that he would take me, ofcourse today on his day off he didn't want to go so now I don't get the yarn I need to start the project. I wasn't pleased that he didn't want to take me, nor did he remember that he said that he would. Now what am I to do????
I've had the the yarn to make a pinwheel sweater for well over a year (I ordered a bunch of knit picks swish). I was going to make it for my niece who was born December 2007, but I never got around to it so now since I have another baby girl of my own, I thought I'd make it for Rowan instead. I wanted to start on it tonight while I watched American Idol. I checked out which needles I would be needing for the pattern and discovered that they were pretty much the only dpns I didn't have. So while Ron and Paisley were making cal zones for supper he told me to slip out to Micheal's (which is now a 3min drive from our house) and get some. Do you think they had the size I was looking for?? Ofcourse not!! I leave and head to the next closest store Wal-mart and they also happen to be out of that size. I just needed 5.5mm dpns, I guess it just wasn't in the cards tonight to start that project either.
There...I just needed to vent on yet another unsuccessful day of knitting. Thanks for listening and hopefully next time I have some progress of aleast something up here.

mmm Pancakes!

2009-01-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

You Are Buttermilk Pancakes

Your prefer traditional, old fashioned foods.

You shy away from anything fake, and you like meals with simple ingredients.

It's not likely someone would find margarine or diet soda in your kitchen.

Instead, someone might find a loaf of homemade bread baking or a soup simmering.

What Kind of Pancakes Are You?

Meeeowww!!

2009-01-20T21:45:00.004-05:00

Rhonda sent me the pictures of Rowan in the kitty cat hat I made for her. She looks absolutely purrrfect in it! I'm planning on making another in a bit heavier yarn because the baby yarn is a little thin for this cold weather we've been having lately. I'd like to make one for my neice too, I'm sure she'd look like a doll in it. :-)

This pattern is from an old Patons Beehive Book, Issue 420.

(I've acquired quite a few of these little books over the last year.) Kitten Bonnet & Mitts called for Canadiana Fingering 4 ply or Patons Fuzzy Wuzzy. I would love to get my hands on some Fuzzy Wuzzy, too bad it's no longer available, I check on their site. The picture they show was done with it and it looks so cute. I just used some 4 ply baby yarn that I had in the old stash. It also used 3.25mm needle but I used a 3.5mm just because I was itching to try out my new knit picks needles that I got for Christmas. After wearing the hat on her for over a week now, it's gotten quite loose so when I do this hat again I will use the smaller needles. :-)

Baby Pants

2009-01-18T22:41:00.005-05:00

I got a phone call a little over a week ago from my sister and she had a favour to ask of me. Her friend is having a baby really soon and I guess she bought a knitted outfit at the hospital gift shop. It's the "going home" outfit for the baby but she was disappointed that it didn't have pants to go with it, so ofcourse my sister told her friend that I knit and that she would ask me if I could knit her some "Mary & Joseph Blue" pants. Her friend is from Haiti (moved to Canada not long ago), so my sister had to scratch her head a little on that colour and they came up with baby blue. *LOL*. After looking at pattern after pattern, I was having the hardest time finding exactly what I was looking for. Everything seemed like it was going to be too big for a newborn baby. I even started a pair out of a Debbie Bliss pattern book that I borrowed from Rhonda, but I ended up frogging them (they just seemed too large) and doing a little more searching on the Internet. I finally stumbled upon this pattern and decided to just go with it, the due date is fast approaching (February 1st). I just had to do a quick pair of booties to go with them too and on Friday I put them in the mail. She should get them sometime this week! :-)

I also knit a kitty cat bonnet for Rowan, but I have yet to get a picture of her wearing it. It was from an old Patons leaflet. It's too adorable! In search of finding a pattern for baby pants I also found a really cute pant pattern for Rowan as well. It's Baby Bell bottoms from the Blue Blog. I've never been a big fan of knitted pants but these are CUTE! I also want to do a moss stitch cardigan for the girl as well. It's just a pattern from the ball band of bernat baby softee and I thought it was sweet looking. All this knitting for Rowan and I think I need to find something to knit for Paisley...

Well that's about it for another weekend that came and went (too fast), we had a good one though. Saturday we dropped Rowan off at Gramma's house for the night and we took Paisley to a movie. She wanted to see The Tale of Desperaux but it wasn't playing around here so she settled for Bedtime Stories. It was fun for all! It was really nice to just get out and spend some quality time with just Paisley as well, I think she had fun but she was so tired (we missed the 7pm movie due to huge line ups and the new cinema on the Stoney Creek Mountain, so if you're from Hamilton and planning on going there...give yourself lots of time. It's a maaad house ) so then we came home again to check the times and the next time that feature was playing was 10:15, so we ended up going to Ancaster instead for one that was playing at 9:30. She was pooped out and fell alseep on the way home (it didn't help that she was sick all day the day before).

Well, I'd better get to bed. The baby's been a bit cranky all day today and hopefully she'll sleep a full night.

I love my needles

2008-12-31T13:47:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Robyn at Knit & Purl Mama I found a really neat & quick pattern for a headband and got to try out my new knit picks needles (which I might add are like knitting with butter...I love them so).

Now I give you Headband in Alaska knit up in just a little less then a day. I used some stash, Paton's Classic Wool. I'm thinking of gifting this to my Mom for a late Christmas gift. I will be knitting this again, I wouldn't mind one and I know a few others who could use one. :-)

That's all for now, Rowan is napping so it's back to the daily grind of house chores. I've got laundry to finish, ah the saga of the never ending laundry continues!

Happy New Year Years everyone, remember to drive safe tonight *wink*!

I wanted a sweater for Christmas too!

2008-12-28T13:39:00.008-05:00

I guess that's my signal to get sewing the sweater I started well over a year ago. Nearly 2 years ago, I was gifted several balls of Patons Decor in Aubergine for my birthday from my MIL Rhonda and I had started a sweater with that but I frogged it and the yarn sat for a while until I found the Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits Fall 2007 issue. So yesterday I got it out of hiding and started sewing. I've been loathing, no maybe fearing the sewing because I never like how it turns out because I am a poor seamstress. Surprisingly...it actually turned out not to bad. So now it is finally finished, all I need to do is find some buttons for it (I want to find pewter coloured ones) and ofcourse I'm going to wash it and block it a bit. :-) Once I find the buttons I like, I will post it up again. I'm really look forward to wearing it soon!

Christmas came and went like whirlwind. We did Christmas Eve at my In-Laws in Smithville, Christmas Day we went to Owen Sound to see my family and ended up staying the night and then on Boxing Day we went to Ron's Grandma's place in Ancaster. Santa was good to both of the girls, even Mommy got a few unexpected gifts from Santa, like a water dispenser and a mini food processor to make Rowan food. I whipped her up some applesauce last night and I absolutely love it and I got an awesome vest from Valerie. Someone also knew that I really, really wanted a set of knit picks harmony options. I can't wait to cast something on with them but it's been so hectic the last few days. Ron was sooo sick all day yesterday...eeeweeeey.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too, but I've got to go for now. Rowan just woke up from a nap, she's been fussy and the house is a mess (I've really got to clean today...soon)!

Seasons Greetings To All!

2008-12-24T13:26:00.008-05:00

Paisley & Rowan want to wish you a very happy holiday from our family to yours!

I'd sure LOVE to know where my yarn needles are.

2008-12-19T12:52:00.004-05:00

Oh where oh where have my yarn needles gone?
Oh where oh where can they be?
I've looked and looked for over a week
Oh where oh where can they be?

I need to sew my hats together for my nephew and neice's Christmas gifts. I guess I'll have to go buy one..after this snow subsides. I've seriously looked everywhere! I guess that's what happens when you change your living room around and have to move and reduce your knitting hole.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow......

Paisley's look-a-likes

2008-12-12T15:18:00.001-05:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Monday December, 8th, 2008

2008-12-10T07:36:00.006-05:00

On Monday my little girl Paisley turned 5 years old. It's hard to believe that she is 5 now and all that time has passed. She even has 2 loose teeth (the front bottom two) and the big teeth coming in behind. She's growing up on me...too fast! He had a little birthday party with her friends on Saturday, it was too cute.

Last Friday Dec. 5th my little Rowan girl turned 6 months old, eeeshh. Seems like just yesterday I brought her home from the hosptial.

Not much knitting has been taking place although I've been trying to get some last minute Christmas stuff done. Alot of change has been happening at my house these days, but I'll get into that a little later.

Gotta get Paisley going and ready for school. :-)

Taadaa, A Hat!

2008-11-20T15:29:00.003-05:00

I designed a hat to match Helena! I have written the pattern and will post it soon. :-)

Buttons for Helena

2008-11-17T16:36:00.002-05:00

Helena is completed now! I wanted buttons instead, so I put in button holes. So I tried for 3 but the first hole I put in was too close to the top it would have choked the poor baby, so I guess I try and fudge in the hole and go with the two. I also tried to make my own frog buttons but I don't like them at all so I will be looking for buttons to match.

Today I'll leave you with this..............That Paisley's so Wiiilldddd!

Beating the Rain

2008-11-15T20:04:00.002-05:00

All this rain and I need things to try and bring up my spirits . What better then a baby sweater. I casted on for Helena a few days ago and I'm nearly finished. Here's a sneak peek....

I am really enjoying this pattern. It's well written and very straight forward. I can't wait to finish it so I can cast on for another. This is the 3 month size and I'm thinking of gifting it to my neighbour next door that just had a baby girl only a few short weeks ago. Apparently they love knitted gifts, they told me this a while a go when she was still pregnant. I think they'd like Helena. The yarn sucks to knit with, it's just some baby yarn from wal-mart called baby luv by Georga but the colour's pretty and it's very soft, so it will be nice against the baby's skin.

For now, I'll leave you with Rowan today at 5 months/11 days.

Have a good weekend, perhaps a lot of knitting will be done with this crappy weather we're having her in Southern Ontario. :-)

Too funny!

2008-11-05T11:00:00.001-05:00

I just had to post this quick, as I found it quite humorous that a knitter out there got Obama to pose with her knitting. It just seems so crazy and knitterly as I am sitting here thinking of all the crazy things I have photographed my knitting with.

I'll leave you with that...

:-)

It's been a while....

2008-11-04T15:02:00.001-05:00

Wow! It's been quite a long time since my last post. Life's pretty busy when you have a school aged kiddo and a near 5 month old. I have been knitting a bit. I finished up some old projects like the raglan pullover sweater I started for Paisley almost a year ago from Cabin Fever. I also finished up the Raglan Baby Cardigan for a friend, but I forgot to take a picture of it and left it at my parents house when I was there last weekend. Silly me, it turned out beautiful though, when the recipient gets it, I'll get her to take a picture of it with her son wearing it.
It should fit him perfect! I've also been working on some booties and I'm still plugging away at my socks and the Raglan Baby Cardigan for Rowan with all those odd balls of cotton.

Well, It's Halloween and it's finally here. We decorated and carved a pumpkin, dressed up for the party at school and now there's only one thing left to do....go trick-or-treating. About an hour ago Paisley had an upset belly and was sick then she had some toast and now she's napping so we'll see how it goes. I told her to rest up before we go! She ended up making it out, not quite as enthusiastic as past years, but it was a good haul none the less. I was really proud of our decorating this year, so I took a picture of it. It all came down on Saturday though. My pumpkin also turned out better then expected. I was going for an evil Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas. Ron's the carver, but he wasn't here this time to do the pumpkin so I did it myself and even impressed him. :-) Paisley was really excited because Daddy did make it back in time to come with us to Trick-or-Treating. I guess in a few weeks we'll try Christmas decorating. I can't believe how close it is now!! I had just enough time to finally finish off this post this afternoon (Monday) while Rowan is napping and Paisley is watching a movie...horrraaay!!! It's so beautiful out for the first week of November, so I think when Rowan wakes up, we'll go outside for a while and enjoy it because I'm sure it's not going to last for too much longer.

Busy busy!

2008-10-01T22:26:00.006-04:00

We've been fairly busy here these days. Paisley's started school again, I'm constantly busy with Rowan and we're all trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible before the weather gets too cold out as well as trying to keep up with the day to day household chores. On top of it all, Paisley was in the afternoon kindergarten class and due to enrollment being down in the school this year, they had to split the classes up into 3 instead of 4 which means that Paisley is now in the mornings instead of PM now. It's going to take some adjusting but she seems to really like going in the AM.
On Sunday Rowan will be 4 months old already. Geeezz!! She's changing so much these days and becoming more and more animated. She just screams sometimes for no reason if you leave her, I think she likes to hear herself scream and it's pretty funny. :-)

Rowan has also been sleeping in the bassinet since birth, but last night she some how did a 180 degree spin in it, which scared me because I'm worried if she's that strong that she can spin around then maybe she could tip over since it's a cradle, so last night was her first night sleeping in her crib and she slept all night too. She's back in it tonight again, so we'll see how she does again. I'm hoping for the best! It feels a little sad and strange having her so far away now, I think I'm having some separation anxiety. *LOL*

I have been knitting a bit, but not near as much as I would like to. I'm currently finishing up some projects and I also started Rowan the Top Down Raglan Cardigan with odd balls of cotton.

Well, that's about it for me. I think we're heading up to visit my family in Owen Sound on Saturday. That should be nice because it's been a while since I've seen them. We were supposed to go up in September for my nephew Lucas' 4th birthday. His present is still sitting upstairs.

Unil next post.........

TTFN :-)

A Finished Item!

2008-09-16T11:11:00.008-04:00

Well the heart blanket that I have been working away at since Rowan was born is finally complete. I finished it over the weekend but just finally got a change to photograph it this morning. Today I will be gifting it to my neighbour who just had a baby girl about a month after I had Rowan. I'm also well on my way to having the Top Down Raglan Baby Cardigan made for another friend of mine who just had her baby boy a few weeks ago in August. I just have the ribbing left on one sleeve, it needs buttons and have to tie in all the ends as well. I started that sweater before I had Rowan and it's taken me this long to finish it up.

In other news, Rowan is getting huge! She's now 3 months and 2 weeks old and is babbling and cooing up a storm for us. It's really quite cute! :-) Paisley also started Senior Kindergarten, this is her first full week. Last week she went only 2 days. Of course I meant to bring my camera for the big day but after I got there I realized that I left it at home...bummer!! I believe it was at the beginning of June I sent away to change my last name to be the same as my little family's here and after waiting nearly 3 months, on Friday I finally received my new birth certificate. I'm actually quite excited about it. Call me old fashioned or whatever but I feel more complete with my family now. Next on the list is changing all my stuff over like drivers license, health card and such.

Feet Continued

2008-08-30T22:37:00.005-04:00

When you can't find what you're looking for, you do it yourself. :-)

Feet

2008-08-26T23:38:00.010-04:00

Last week our feet took us all the way to the Discovery Centre. Its a really neat museum type place on the bay front in Hamilton and my first time visiting too. They had lots of neat exhibits and facts on Canadian history, it was really quite educational for the kiddies and it was pretty just to be down on the water. After we walked over to Pier 4 and the kids played at the park and splash pad. (I went down on the bus with my neighbour, as our car isn't able to fit that many kids). To finish the day we all had ice cream before taking the trolley bus back downtown to catch our bus home. It was a really nice day! :-) Paisley had fun in the beaver's den and swimming with the fish. Don't mind the red-eye in the fishy picture, I was too lazy to edit tonight.

Rowan's been alot happier these days and the smiles are really coming out. She has her fussy times but for the most part she's pretty tolerable now, I'm really enjoying her alot more. She's getting so big too and starting to fit into her fun clothes. In these pictures she's sporting a $1 shirt and shorts I got her a walmart a few weeks ago.

I've been knitting a bit more these days. The girls have been going to bed at the same time for last few weeks, in between 8:30-10pm and it's been quite nice. As the colder weather approaches I think more and more knitting will be accomplished. Rowan's (most nights) is now sleeping all the way through to the morning which is a real nice treat. :-) Only 2 more week and Paisley is off to Senior Kindergarten. She's very excited to be going back so stayed tune for first day back to school photos!!

2 Months Old

2008-08-11T10:52:00.013-04:00

On Thursday Aug. 5th, Rowan turned 2 months. It's crazy and hard to believe that that much time has already went by. Unfortunately I have no knitting to share with you but I thought I'd at least post something.
Every time bring the camera out to catch a smile, we aren't so co-operative. Her crying seems a little less excessive these days, but she still cries ALOT. We've went through a few formula changes and she seems alot happier on Isomil a soy-based formula, just the original one without the Omegas because the higher iron was making her poops really hard. She had her 2 month check-up and got all of her needles on the 5th. She is doing great according to the doctor. Paisley also had a check-up and got her 4-6 year booster and she was a really good girl. Both of them are doing well on the growth chart, Paisley's above average and Rowan now weighs 9lbs 7oz and is in the 50th percentile. The doctor said that is excellent considering her lower birth weight. She eats like a tank though, so I'm not surprised. *LOL* I think things are coming along with Paisley as well. She truly does love her baby sister. On a whim Paisley went to my parent's house for a week while they were visiting us this weekend, so Rowan and I get a nice quite week. I miss Paisley like crazy even though I'm sure the break will be nice. This is the very first time she's been up to her grandparent's in Owen Sound all by herself. I guess she's a big girl now! :-) Maybe there is knitting in my future this week??

***This song is dedicated to my Paisley, this is her and her daddy's favourite song. My Green Kite by Peter Himmelman ***

Progress

2008-07-31T11:14:00.012-04:00

I'm still working away at the Spring Forward socks. I'm still only on the first sock, it's taking a while but hey at least I'm still knitting.

We were gone for a week up to my parent's house in Owen Sound. It was a crazy week because my mom looks after my sister's 2 kids while she goes to school for hairdressing and Rowan was really fussy the entire time too. It was still really good to see them though as always. I got a free hair cut out of the deal as well. :-) Paisley adores playing with her little cousin Reece who is almost 8 months now. I can't wait until Rowan's this age, Paisley will be great with her.

There hasn't been much going on these days though. It's hard to believe that Rowan's nearing two months old now and she's getting bigger every day. She looks alot like her daddy I think. That's about all for now but I'll leave you with a few pictures of Paisley & Rowan together and this damn bunny slippers that my sister gave me for Rowan that Reece outgrew. I think I'm obsessed with baby feet. *LOL*

Summer Days

2008-07-16T00:23:00.009-04:00

We've been spending quite a bit of time outdoors these days. It's just so easy, Paisley plays with all of her friends and Rowan sleeps like a little baby in her stroller lounging in the shade.

I have been knitting a bit. I'm still working on the blanket for my friend although I haven't made much progress on it. I find blanket knitting hot in the summer. I also just had to cast-on for another pair of socks. The S pring foward socks from kitty are a real easy knit and I don't really think they'll take long to knit up.

This weekend Ron was home and Saturday we took Paisley to Ron's company picnic. She had a blast there. She got to swim, got her face painted and got some air bushed tattoos, went in the bouncers and even won a humongous watermelon the scavenger hunt. I was really quite impressed! Then on Sunday Ron took Paisley out to get her haircut. We had a rough week when I found lice in her hair and although she did not have them bad, we both agreed that it would be easier just to get her hair cut, plus she's not the biggest fan of having her hair brushed or done up all cute anyway and her hair was always hanging in her face because she wouldn't leave her barrettes in. I'm still not quite sure where she got them because none of the kids in the neighbourhood have them, but we have it under control now. Uggh, I was having a crappy week last week, well actually it's been quite the month. *LOL* I'm heading for Owen Sound this weekend for sometime away, I should be nice. I'd like to head up to Sauble Beach with my sister and the kiddies one of the days. It's about 20 minutes from Owen Sound. I'm really looking forward to going, I just have to get through this week first and it's going alot better than last week (so far)! :-)

Rowan is 1 month old

2008-07-05T00:34:00.007-04:00

Wow! Today Rowan turned 1 month old! It's been a whirlwind month, that's for damn sure. We are all still adjusting to having a baby around the house, it's taking more time then I thought it would. Caring for two children is a challenge, but I'm sure I'll get the swing of things soon. I'm finding it hard delegating my time with them, especially with having a fussier baby. Kira, a good friend of mine that I worked with at S hoppers stopped by tonight for a visit. She's on mat leave right now as well. Her little guy Robbie is 6 months now but I guess he was also fussy baby and she said having a sling saved her life so she brought me one over because she happened to have 3 of them. I have Rowan in it as I type this post out, it's neat. I haven't been able to find my snugly yet, so this will do and is maybe a little easier to have on then the snugly anyway. It's called "the uppy guppy" and I love it so far, it's awesome. Despite her being very congested/wheezy today (we're actually going to the doctors tomorrow morning again after speaking with the on-call doctor tonight on the phone) she's out like a trout in it. Poor thing wouldn't sleep more then 10 minutes at a time all day today. Rhonda even took Paisley for a sleepover so I could have a break but I didn't even get a nap in. I sure hope this little cold passes soon, I feel so bad for my baby girl.

Well she seems settled enough now, I think it's time to get some sleep, I've lots of things to do tomorrow.

If your reading Kira...thanks a million, she seems to love it!! The onesie Rowan is wearing was a gift from Robyn at knit and purl mama, so I want to send out another thank-you to her as well, it's too cute!

Attempting to knit

2008-06-29T12:23:00.035-04:00

I attempted to knit a little bit this weekend. It didn't last long though....
It seems everytime I start something I am needed. *LOL* Infact, it's taken me all day to finish this post. :-) I'm forever making myself tea and not being able to drink it, everytime...without fail baby cries.
Awe, life with babies. You forget what it's like when you have a pretty self-sufficient 4 1/2 year old.
Ron was home this weekend, so on Friday we went out to Rhonda's for the afternoon for a visit and dinner then for the evening we planned to take Paisley to Niagara Falls for a fireworks display since Ron won't be home for Canada day. Rhonda watched Rowan for us and we had Paisley, Mommy & Daddy night. I think she had a really good time too! We bought her glow necklaces and bracelets at the dollar store and she was catching the attention of every kid there. It was a really nice time but fireworks are over way too quick. I was playing around with my camera settings on my point and shoot, so I have to post a few pictures of our evening. The falls are behind Paisley & Ron even though you can't actually see them. *LOL*I love the falls a night, they're always lit up and it's really pretty. I prefer to go in the evening when we do go. So that about summed up our weekend, we had a quite Sunday. We picked up a few groceries and did some laundry and then after supper we took Paisley to the park and her and Ron played with sparklers. It was nice having Daddy home, we sure do miss him a whole bunch when he's gone. :-)

20 Days

2008-06-25T09:54:00.010-04:00

Rowan is 20 days old today! It hardly seems that long. We've been busy adjusting to life having a new baby. Paisley's been helping out as much as she can with baby but she's still getting used to having a sister as well but I do think it's getting better. My only real frusteration this time around is that Rowan is very clingy. Paisley was much more content after feedings and stuff, it makes it difficult to get anything done sometimes. She cries so much more then her big sister did but oh well I guess that's the life of having babies and I have to dig out my snuggly sling. I looked for it all last week but it was no where I could see so it's a good thing Ron's home for a few days because I'm going to get him to look for it. :-) He's sleeping right now because he did baby duty last night and I got to sleep, it was really nice and I feel so refreshed today.

We had our first girls road trip to Owen Sound to see my family this past weekend, it was nice to see everyone as I only saw them briefly when I was in the hospital. It was nice have extra hands too as Ron had been gone for about a week and a half. I only had to stop once on the way up for a feeding and washroom break. Paisley wanted some timbits and a juice too.

Well, we're off to a doctors appointment and it's also the last day of school today for Paisley, they're having a pizza party. How fun, I remember those days. :-) It should be an interesting summer! *LOL*, something's telling me that I will be looking forward to Septmember getting here.........

Introducing Rowan

2008-06-12T14:59:00.007-04:00

Well, as some of you alreday know I finally had the baby. Rowan Gail Johnson was born Thursday June 5th, 2008 (right on my due date, talk about a punctual little one) weighing 5lbs 3oz. Yes...a tiny little thing! She's now a week old and doing great.

She was delivered via emergency c-section because apparently she did not like oxytocin, it was dropping her heartrate but in the end everything was perfect with her, we were able to go home on Sunday. :-)

We're just getting into the swing of things in our household with having a new baby. Paisley's adjusting...she's been a bit difiant as well though. As much as she loves her new little sister, I think she's feeling a little left out sometimes so we're trying to include her in everything. On Monday, she decided to call 911 10 time consecutively. I got a nice call back from the dispatcher. OMG, I was so mad and yesterday outside she threw a big fit and started hitting me. It's a slow go, but I'm sure everything will balance out eventually.

Ofcourse I have to put the going home outfit up on here too!

So all well and I'm on the road to recovery. I will post again really soon!

And hey...I have ankles again!!

Ewee, my narsty sandal tan. LOL

So, I'll leave you with some much cuter feet instead......

Still Waiting & Keeping Busy!

2008-05-30T22:27:00.006-04:00

I'm still here all preggo. Just been knitting to pass the time. Besides, I've been told I have to relax because my blood pressure's been a bit higher then normal..so why not knit? I've been working on the Baby Yoda Sweater (a free Ravelry download) and another little cardi from a Sirdar book that Rhonda has, I'm just not quite sure what the pattern is called. On the Baby Yoda Sweater, I haven't woven in my ends yet, I'm undecided as to whether or not I'm going to rip out my sewing especially in the sleeves, I'm just not loving the sewing job I did. Other then that I thought it came out pretty cute. :-) I've also finished the back of the other little cardi. I love the argyle lacy pattern.

Earlier in the week when Ron was home, he and Paisley had "Daddy-Daughter Day" and built a fairy house together. I thought I would share because it is so cute and he's just too damn crafty for his own good, *LOL* He told Paisley that the fairies would come at night time and there is a possibility that they may leave her something from time to time. It hasn't happened yet though. They're also protecting the watermelon plants that they planted in the garden beside it.

That's about all that is new for now. We are ready for baby, I'm just hoping she holds off until Wednesday or Thursday when Ron is home. I really need him, eeak! I'm actually getting a little nervous. Hope everyone has a great weekend! It's not supposed to be overly nice here in Hamilton...but hopefully it won't rain the whole weekend. :-)

My Fat Feet!

2008-05-22T23:47:00.010-04:00

Well, It's May 22nd. I'm 38 weeks today and still hanging in there. I'm ready...my feet are totally swollen and I'm just ready to get this baby out!! Any day now, please. :-) Ignore my narsty flip flop tan, LOL

The wedding came and went this past weekend and I made it through. Valerie got a picture of me all preggo and in action, it's too funny. It was a really nice wedding and my girls (my sister and Paisley) looked so beautiful. It was nice to see my family as well. My parents, brother and his girlfriend came back to my house to stay with me Sunday night, we took Paisley to the fireworks but it turned out they were cancelled due to high winds. It was nice to have the company anyway and we ended up having a movie night.

Last night I also finished the second heart blanket, which is going to be a shower gift for a friend. It turned out great, I just need to wash and block it a bit. I also finished the Jaywalker ankle socks a few weeks ago but have yet to post about them. I love them but they bother my feet right now with them being so puffy and all. :-)

Happy 25th Birthday to my sister as well, her wish was for me to have the baby today but it looks like it's not happening. Te he. :-)

Getting Ready!

2008-05-01T21:41:00.010-04:00

As of today, there is officially only 5 more weeks until Rowan Gail Johnson is expected into the world. I've been eagerly waiting to reveal the name on my blog and couldn't wait any longer. We've had the name picked out for months but I never spilled the beans on my blog. We wanted something different and nice like our Paisley May Johnson and it just stuck, believe it or not it was actually the first name I picked out of a baby name book I purchased from work and Ron and I both immediately like it. Hopefully the ultrasound techs were right when they said it was a girl, *LOL*.
I had a visit on Friday with my family doctor (who if all goes well will be delivering the baby) and then a visit with my OB on Monday and baby is head down and engaged and man I've been feeling it, I've been so achy down there. I've been spending some time yesterday packing my hospital bag and tonight I've been packing the baby bag. I'm doing up some baby laundry right now and it's kind of exciting because it's all clothes that have been given to me so when I bring them up to fold it will be a surprise. I don't have a dresser quite yet, so I'll put everything into the crib that Ron set up 2 weeks ago for me. Paisley's officially switched rooms as well, I can't remember if I mention it in a previous post or anything but we gave her a princess pink room (colour is called Cherry Blossom) and baby will be getting her old room which is canary yellow with bugs painted on the wall. She needed a big girl room and something a little less babyish.
:-) She absolutely loves her new room as well and I found Disney Princess wall stickers at the dollar store, so we just need a few more sheets to finish the room off.

Onto knitting...

I'm nearly finished my Jaywalker ankle socks and I've started a baby sweater for a baby shower that I've been invited to in June. I'm doing the Raglan Baby Sweater again and unfortunately it's coming out alot bigger then I expected so I may not be finishing it. I'm using knit picks shine DK, and it's super soft so it's kind of a bummer but perhaps I need to find different yarn, I'm undecided as for what to do just yet. I still really love that pattern though. I also want to do another heart blanket. My friend is having a boy, so it'll be some shade of blue, I just haven't decided on the yarn that I want to use for it yet. Come to think of it, she is my sister's really good friend and the one that is getting married on the 17th of this month and I'm taking the wedding pictures for her. It should be interesting since I will be 37 weeks preggo at the wedding. Good thing my sister-in-law Valerie is helping me out of the kindness of her heart (and I mean really thank goodness!!!)

So as you can see I've been keeping quite busy these days. We also just came back from a weekend up in Owen Sound visiting my family. Ron finally got to come with us and he was glad too because he hasn't seen my family since boxing day. It was a nice weekend and Ron had his new laptop to play with and his world of warcraft so he wasn't entirely bored when my sister, mom and I were doing stuff. My brother and him did some things too, so I think over all it was a good weekend for everyone. He even enticed my brother to purchase the same laptop this week. Ron's back on the road until next Thursday, but I can't wait for him to come home. There's some comfort and knowing he's around when I'm so close to having a baby, kind of scary. I sure hope he's home though because babies come when babies come, eaaak!!

*edit* Here is one garbage full of clothes that I have went through, there's still one more to go! Wow!!

Finishing things up!

2008-04-22T01:21:00.008-04:00

Last night I finished up the Heart Blanket. It looks great and the size is perfect for the stroller/car seat, I blocked it all out and it measures 24 1/2 " x 29 1/2". I absolutely love it! :-)

I also finished the Easy Baby Cardigan for my friend at work. We're meeting up sometime on Tuesday so that I can give it to her.

Now I've started a pair of Jaywalkers and I'm making ankle socks instead since the weathers been so wonderful. I was going to use the Lorna's Laces I got for my birthday but I think I'll save that for when I do a full size pair of socks. I'm using Opal Cotton that I had in my stash. I've never made ankle socks before, so I put the sock up to my ankle as I was knitting it and ended up doing a 2" leg before starting the heel. It seems like it's going to be okay, but we'll see.

I've been keeping busy! Paisley and I have been spending alot of time outside with it being so nice out lately. She just wants to be with her friends, digging in the dirt, riding her bike or jeep...anything outside, she's such an outdoors kid. I've noticed it makes her pooped out at night, so it's worth it letting her run a muck.

Well, that's about it for me for tonight, need sleep......

Sunny Days!

2008-04-18T11:05:00.005-04:00

Since I've messed up my blanket and need to tink back a few rows, I thought that I would take a break from it for a night. I got into the "Itty-bitty Hats" book again last evening and knit up the Upside Down Daisy Hat. Man is it ever cute! I also got to try out a new technique...sewing on an applique and it didn't turn out too bad (for my first try). I used some Lily Sugar Babies cotton that I had sitting in my stash that Rhonda gave me a long time ago. I thought it may be too heavy but apparently I was wrong and it looks just fine. :-)

I Can't wait to try this on a baby!!!

This beautiful weather's been great, I hope everyone that's having it right now is enjoying. It's so nice to not have to wear layers out. Have a great weekend. :-)

Excited!

2008-04-11T13:13:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I picked up my stroller and car set set. It's a Graco and literally in MINT condition. I bought it off our store manager for $100 and it's only been used for maybe a month. There was a little dust on it and tires a bit dirty but that's it, it's freaking perfect! What a sweet deal. It came complete with the base for the car and everything. I still have Paisley's "old" stroller and car seat but it's seen better days (got a lot of lovin') and car seat did not have a base and the sun visor also went missing somewhere.
I remember when I got my stroller for Paisley it was an exciting moment and ofcourse it is again. I'm getting stoked now! 55ish days left until the due date, wow!

I was knitting away on my blanket last night and realized that I made a mistake a few rows past, so I tore out 3 rows. I screwed up the seed stitch border and it was ribbed instead...fug!! Got it all fixed and then was looking at my
blanket again and several rows down I had done it again, but in the pattern rows. I can't bear to leave it either, it just bothers me so much. I guess I'll take it out to Rhonda's place on the weekend along with the Easy Baby Cardigan I need help fixing. For right now, all my knitting is on hold so I casted on for another pair of Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties to go with the Cardigan for a friend at work who just had her baby Feb. 29th. One bootee down and one to go, but I thinking I'm going through blanket withdrawl. *LOL*
For the Easy Baby Cardigan I'm using Wendy Peter Pan DK, it's such a nice yarn for the price, very enjoyable! I've used it before, but the more I knit with it the more I like it. 55% Nylon and 45% Acrylic blend! It has a nice feel to it and it's got alot of give, I'm not worried about the sweater not fitting her little guy, that's for sure!

Well, I guess it's back to my house cleaning. I only have 45 more minutes of quite time until I have to go get Paisley at school. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend, it's supposed to be very wet here in Southern Ontario but I'll try and make the best out of it. :-)

Knittin' Hearts!

2008-04-09T09:50:00.005-04:00

I finally started the heart blanket that I've been wanting to knit for baby. There's only one problem now...I can't stop knitting it!! I guess that's a good thing though, it's going to be done nice and quick. The original pattern was six blocks wide, but I wanted a slightly smaller blanket for going over the car seat, so Rhonda cut the pattern down for me and it will be 4 blocks wide instead and I'll probably do 5 blocks up. I'm really happy with it so far and I'm loving the pattern. Rhonda was so kind as to chart it out for me and I've been using the chart exclusively and haven't even looked at the actual pattern.

Pattern: Heart Blanket by Carole Prior
Needles: 4.5mm (although I could have probably went up a size)
Yarn: Pingouin Pingostar (Rhonda had this in her stash and gave me this yarn for the blanket)

Paper Bag Fun

2008-04-05T00:08:00.006-04:00

Today Paisley & I had some fun after school with some paper bags we bought at the dollar store. A great rainy day activity. :-)
Along with the owl and the sheep Paisley also wanted to make a Giraffe
but he didn't make the photo shoot because Paisley's 2 hands were occupied.

I finished the hat for baby as well, I didn't end up restarting it either. Valerie stopped by the other day and I got her opinion on it being too big and decided that it should be fine so I finished it up last night. Don't mind the ribbon, I left it a little longer because I'm not sure how big I actually want the bow to be. Water baby is so kindly modelling it for me. The pattern I used was out of the "Itty-bitty hats" book I got for my birthday. It's called "Ribbons", except the pattern had 4 or 5 eyelet rows with ribbon. I thought that was a bit much so I chose to do only one eyelet round.
Paisley sweater is pretty much done, I just want to take a picture of her wearing it so I'll probably post that next time.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! It's supposed to be nice here in Southern Ontario. Sunny and high of 13 degrees Celsius tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that! Paisley and I are going for dinner in Fonthill at our good friends The Carr's (I've mentioned my friend Becky a few times on my blog, her parents live in Fonthill). This is a rescheduled dinner from last month that got cancelled due a huge snowstorm here. It'll be nice to see them all!

I also springed up my blog a little bit by changing the colours around, I'm liking it so far, green's good!

Really...where does the time go? (Picture Heavy)

2008-04-01T16:59:00.013-04:00

Wow, a whole month went by and not a single post from me. Rest assured, I've been keeping busy though. March Break was spent up in Owen Sound, I got to hang out with my sister and mom while Paisley got to play with her cousin Lucas and also got practise in for when she becomes a big sister, she was holding and feeding her little cousin Reece (who just turned 3 months) all week long.
My birthday came and went on the 17th of March. Spent a quite weekend with Ron at home, which was nice. The day before my birthday, we went out to Rhonda's place and Ron made everyone dinner, shish-kabobs and rice (one of my faves) man were they ever tasty. I was also given my birthday gifts too. I got some new yummy sock yarn (Lorna's Laces) and I absolutely love the colourway. I think I may have found a pattern too! I also received "Itty-bitty Hats" by Susan B. Anderson from Rhonda and Valerie gave me 6 balls of yarn to make a blanket for baby, she recommended the pinwheel blanket as she made it a few months ago for a friend who was expecting, so I think this yarn also has a pattern to go with it. :-) Thanks again Ladies for the wonderful gifts. Ron & Paisley bought me a compact digital camera as their present I have my Canon digital SLR, but I really wanted something I could just slide in my pocket for walks to the park in the summer and also especially for at the hospital when I have baby I just didn't want to lug in my huge-ass camera for the birth-day. Shoppers had a wicked special the week before Easter on Olympus FE-220's (in blue) for $88 and couldn't pass up on that deal.
Good Friday was spent with my parents and brother, they came up for a visit and brought me a birthday cake and money card since they missed my actual birthday. I'm putting the money away for a new stroller-car set combo. Easter weekend was a strange one. Ron was working and out west and Paisley spent Sat-Sun at Rhonda's because I was working the whole weekend. Late Saturday evening I got a call from my sister wondering what I was up to and she came from Owen Sound with her kids for an unexpected visit. It was nice to see her though because I was feeling kind of lonely with Ron & Paisley not being home. She ended up staying until Tuesday afternoon so we had a really nice visit. Then Ron came home that evening (a day early) and unexpectedly and that was a nice surprise too. I miss him oodles when he's gone, so a day early was okay with me.

I have been knitting! On the weekend before my birthday, I was going through some old patterns at Rhonda's and fell in love with an old Beehive for Barins pattern, it's just a simple Crossover sweater for baby. Rhonda happened to have some Lilac coloured baby yarn that she so kindly offered to me for the project and I got started right way. It's all finished now, I just want to give it a wash and possibly iron the decorative edging on it so it lies nice and flat (damn acrylic!!) I also knit up Sartjee's Bootees with left over yarn and I was working on a hat, but it has come out too big so I think I'm going to have to frog it and restart with less stitches arrgg, and for the second time. I'm taking a break from it right now and trying to finish up Paisley's Top Down sweater. I also have a few other things on the needles like the Easy Baby Cardigan for a friend at work, but I have put it down for the moment. I've been getting side tracked very easily these days and startitis is really bad!! Don't mind the pictures of my work as they are not great shots, I was in a hurry and just wanted to get a picture of them up here.

I'm now over 30 weeks pregnant so this past weekend was my last weekend at work, I'm down to less then 10 weeks (65 days) until my due date. It's crazy how fast time flies. Now that I'm going to be home every weekend and most importantly when Ron is home, we have some major spring cleaning to start doing. Paisley wants to switch rooms and go into the room that is currently our spare/toy/knitting room and give baby her old room. I'll be moving the knitting stuff over to baby's room I think, I'll need the closet space in Paisley room. I also have boxes and boxes of girls clothes to go through and will be deciding what to keep and what to give away. It's going to be busy and I loathe organizing, it's always been my weak thing. So wish me luck!!

I smell chocolate chip cookies

2008-02-26T22:11:00.009-05:00

Since the hubby has been away, I've been finding myself in the kitchen baking tasty treats(since he usually does it). I used to bake alot when I was younger but I got away from it over the years and I forgot that I'm not bad at it either. I'm much better with the baked goods rather then cooking that's for sure, my idea of dinner (lets take tonight for example) is a spring mix salad with cucumbers, tomato, celery, carrots, bits of cheese and chicken breast. Nice and easy, I make spaghetti alot too, I'm sure my little P is getting sick of that. I do miss Ron alot for the good cooking, he's a great chef and makes excellent food. He'll be home Thursday sometime, so I may be able to score a meal or two when he's home (fingers crossed because I'm hungry, *LOL*). Okay back to the kitchen here, Paisley and I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies (our all time favourtie cookie). I found a recipe online and cut all the ingredients in half because Paisley and I DO NOT need that many cookies, infact there's too many as it is so the neighbour kids might get some tomorrow. I did that last week with the chocolate cake that I baked, I sent over half the cake for them. The idea of a sweet treat is that I just want a taste, not eat it all and besides with being pregnant and all I don't want to blow up like a blimp with all this baking. :-) It makes me feel good to give it away too and I really hope my recipients enjoy it. The cake was damn good and the cookies were also awesome as well. Mmm!

Paisley wanted to take some pictures of her and my belly tonight. Don't mind my strechy marks, *LOL* I got them after I had Paisley and now they're all popping out again. Trying to touch them out on photoshop tonight does not sound like my idea good time to me but they're still fun pictures so I'll put 'em up anyway. :-) On Thursday of this week I will be 26 weeks pregnant, it's actually crazy how fast the time goes. I've been really thinking about the 3-D ultrasound lately and would kind of like to have it done. So I told my mom about it the other day and she said she'd give me some money for it for my birthday (which is coming up next month on the 17th) if it was something that I really wanted done. There's a place that does it fairly close by, so I'm really considering it. Ofcourse I have to talk to Ron about it. I'd only be wanting the most basic package(as it is quite pricey). I don't need the"memory dvd" or anything like that and I'd be happy with just a few pictures. It's funny, because a few of the girls that I work with had it done and I said I would not be having it done and thought it kind of ruined the surprise but now that I'm further along in my pregnancy I'm changing my mind and sort of excited about it. I think it will be fun, I just hope Ron goes for it. :-)

As for knitting, I'm still plugging away on Paisley's top down sweater, I've just got the sleeves left to knit which shouldn't take long at all. I've been just slacking and dying to start baby stuff. I'll post pictures of knitting stuff soon! I also finally got to give Kira (the girl I worked with who had her baby boy at the beginning of Jan.) the raglan sweater I made for her little guy Robbie. She's supposed to email me a picture of him in it. She also LOVED Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties, I can't wait to see him in the ensemble.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. I'm feeling alot better after being sick earlier this month. The antibiotics definitely helped me and hopefully I won't be getting anymore colds this winter.

Road to Recovery & A $4 find

2008-02-13T21:30:00.008-05:00

By yesterday I still was not feeling good at all. I was also still stuck at my parent's house in Owen Sound and not feeling well enough to drive home yet so my mom sent me over to the hospital to get looked at. My sister gave me a ride so I wouldn't have to pay for parking. I checked in at triage and then nearly 2 hours later I was finally seen by a doctor (2 hour wait...not bad for the hosptial I thought??). He pretty much took one look at me to know what was up but still gave me a quick exam by checking my breathing, ears and such. I guess I have a sinus infection, so now I'm on anti-biotcs for 7 days taking 3 a day. I called my dad for a ride when I was done and he swung by wal-mart which is on the way home and I ran in to get my perscription filled (hubby's benefits have not kicked in yet, damn!!) while I was waiting the 15 minutes for filling I strolled around and came across a clearance rack of jackets. There was a nice tan jacket marked down to $4, I thought to myself this can't be right, $4?? I would totally purchase this coat for that price, heck I had $4 in loose change in my wallet. The size of the coat was even generous enough to accomodate a growing belly. I carried it in my arms and back over to get my presription and to think about whether or not I was going to purchase the coat. $17 later I paid for my script and I was walking out to the check-out ready to get my change out to buy this sweet deal and I saw the line up. It was lined up so long at all the check-outs, I would have been there for a 1/2 an hour at least. I didn't want to keep my dad waiting so I put the coat back, bummer....
I woke up pretty early this morning because sleeping is still slightly uncomfortable with my nose being so stuffy that I ran out to the dollarstore for a few items. The dollarstore just happens to be right beside wal-mart and I thought how funny it would be if this lonely $4 coat was still on the rack the next day so I decided to venture in and find out. Sure enough it was in the exact same place I had originally found it so off I went with it to the check out. As the cashier was ringing it through I was 1/2 expecting it to come up at a different price/more money then on the sale tag but sure enough it came up at the $4. I just bought myself a $4 jacket, LOL how sweet. :-)
Paisley and I also made the journey home back to Hamilton today, just in the process of relaxing, unpacking and getting the house warm. It's freaking feezing this place!! Yikes. Taking my time though because I am a bit tired. Ron will be home tomorrow around lunchtime and it's Valentine's Day, I'm excited. Paisley and I have cards for him!! I can't wait to see the hubby, he's been gone for nearly 10 days.
It's nice to be home, LOL but I miss my mommy. She took good care of P and I this week and it's weird to be home with just Paisley and I now. We'll probably go back on March Break for another visit or something.
P.S. spell checker's not working so pardon my mistakes I have made throughout this post. :-)

SICK!

2008-02-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

Well, yet again I have caught another cold, and it's a real dosey this time and by far the worst I have gotten so far. Paisley was sick for the majority of last week and had a slight eye infection. I ofcourse get everything 10X worse then she does because I had full out pink eye by Thursday night. Before I got really sick, I brought her up to my parents place in Owen Sound, so now we are stuck here until mommy is feeling a little better. We are also snow-stayed at the moment although it is nice and sunny out here now. I'm going to make this a rather quick post as I am still not feeling 100%.
This was the scene yesterday up here in Grey-Bruce county. Very little visibility as you can see.

Not too much knitting has been accomplished these days but I did manged to get a scarf knit for a neighbour who so kindly came over to help me shovel my drive-way on Thursday before my trip up to the parents. This scarf got knit up before I started feeling to terrible Friday night at my brother's hockey game. I also got my Mom's socks done before I came up for the visit. Don't mind my crummy pix, my mom's camera sucks! :-)

A Sweater For Paisley

2008-01-28T22:47:00.000-05:00

Today I got an email from Rhonda telling me that the pattern she ordered for us came today. We were looking for a top down sweater pattern for children in worsted weight yarn, she found one on Cabin Fever in just a plain raglan design which is just perfect. :-) I've already cast-on for the project and started the collar but now I have to put it on hold until I get a 4.5mm- 40cm circular, my stitches are starting to slide off my dpns. Unfortunately I only have a 80cm circ in that size and it's a bummer because I'm on a roll. I think it's going to be a fast knit once I get the needle. A few weeks ago Rhonda de-stashed a bunch of yarn to Valerie and me and I ended up with 7 or 8 balls of Patons Cotton in a light pink colour, so this is what I'm using to knit Paisley's sweater with.

My mom's socks are also well on their way to being done. I'm on the heel of the second sock right now, I just ran out of yarn and have to attach a new ball on. They should be finished in no time, I'm planning on making a trip up to see them in a little less then 2 weeks so I want them off the needles by then.

The fact of how much I miss Ron really hit home last night. Around 1am Paisley woke up crying hysterically. I asked her what was wrong and she said her nose hurt and then about a minute later it started bleeding. She's had nose bleeds before, so we cleaned it all up in about 10 mins but she was still upset then she started hacking up nasty clots. This is when I started getting panicky, my heart was racing all I could think of was this isn't right, but is it normal? Should we go to the hospital? We got our gear on to go, car keys in hand and I thought hey, am I over- reacting? Maybe I should call telehealth? I tried calling my mom first because I used to get really baaaad nose bleeds when I was little but no answer, so I proceeded to call telehealth. The nurse asked me a bunch of questions as they always do when you call and she told me that what was happening to Paisley was normal and that I didn't need to worry, (pheeww...that made me feel better) but that she may have a bit of a tummy ache from swallowing blood as the nose was probably already bleeding before she woke up crying. I would have felt kind of silly going to emergency over that, so I'm glad I rationalized myself into calling. I'm a big of a spazzoid when it comes to stuff like this and Ron usually is around to calm me down but I didn't have anyone. I also had to take apart our vaporizer because it wasn't working and of course I have no tools, I don't know where half his tool stuff goes. *LOL* In the garage some where I suppose, so I think I need my own little set of screwdrivers to keep inside the house so I know where they are at all times. The nurse that I spoke with wanted me to set the vaporizer up to add some humidity to the house as the dryness is probably a big cause of the nose bleeds. I some how fixed the vaporizer with all the wrong tools and got it going up in the bedroom, I put it on again for her tonight and I'm hoping it will help because I don't want a repeat of last night. Did I mention that my mom called me back after I was off the phone with telehealth? Ofcourse she told me everything was okay and that happened to me many, many times when I was kid. Who knew? I guess I do now. :-) I sure miss Ron though, he's been gone since last Tuesday night and he probably won't be home at least until the end of the week but I'm not completely sure (I guess that's the life having a trucker for a hubby?). I know I can't wait for a hug though, I need one. :-) It's just going to take some getting used to with having him gone for so long.

A Nice Surprise

2008-01-25T16:03:00.000-05:00

After running errands and picking Paisley up from school I came home to a nice surprise in my mailbox the other day. I've been used to the usual bills and such, but not anything really good. The envelope was address to me and was sent by Robyn from Knit & Purl Mama. What could it be? :-)
As soon as I got Paisley into the house and we got undressed from outside, we opened it together. Inside was a cute card that read "Congrats on another girl! Please send girl power our way. We find out soon. Hugs, Robyn" and 2 identical diaper vests (one in 0-3 months and the other in 3-8 months). She and her husband are also expecting their second child about a month after us. I just wanted to send out a huge thanks to Robyn because it really made my day getting that, so thoughtful of you and aren't they ever cute??

I'm still plugging away at my mom's socks. I've completed one sock now and I'm onto the next. With Ron being gone with his new job, it seems like I've had plenty of time to knit and I'm still managing to keep the house somewhat tidy as well. A friend at work also asked me if I could knit her a sweater for her son who will be born sometime in March. I sent her a few patterns to choose from and she chose the Easy Baby Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I can't wait to start this project!

I've also been doing a little reading, I got the book with a Palmer's Cocoa Butter gift pack that was on clearance at Shoppers last weekend. We've been talking about names and we have a few that we like but nothing we've solidly decided on. At least we're agreeing on names this time. :-)

They say it's a Girl

2008-01-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to quickly post that I had my ultrasound today and apparently we are having another little girl. :-) No boys in this gene pool I guess, oh well. Now the quest will be a name..........
They charge for the ultrasound pictures nowadays, $3 for 2 pictures. I was surprised! Ron couldn't be at the appointment with me, so I really wanted to get a picture for him to see when he's home on the weekend, plus too...isn't getting a picture a part of the whole pregnancy thing??

Update on my Christmas socks, they are done. I'm wearing 'em and they're super comfy. I have another pair of the cable twist socks on the needles as we speak for my mother.
I took Paisley out to Gramma & Grampa's tonight so that she could tell them the news that she would be having a sister and I acquired new stash, Rhonda was giving away a bunch of her acrylic and some cotton stuff, a whole green garbage bag stuffed full. Tomorrow while Paisley is at school I will be trying to fit it all into my storage drawers.

Sorry about my rather large header as well, that is a WIP and hopefully I'll resolve the size of it soon. :-)

LOL

2008-01-11T15:46:00.000-05:00

Jennifer --

[noun]:

A real life terminator

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!

2008-01-11T10:55:00.000-05:00

For Christmas Paisley got one of those little Disney fish aquariums from her Great-Aunt and Uncle. Ron & I set it up a few days after Christmas and we took her to the pet store and she pick out 2 fancy goldfish and we put it up in her room, we thought we could trust her with them up there. On 2 occasions she was caught feeding the fish and EXCESS amount of flakes so we confiscated the aquarium and put it downstairs. The water got all cloudy and after a week of it being up, Ron had to drain 1/2 the water and put fresh water in it again. We went back to the pet store a few days ago and we got different food for them, some goldfish pellets. Ron thought this may be easier for Paisley when feeding them. I really didn't think they liked them too much, but every morning I would come down and it looked as though they had eaten them all. The water still had a slight cloud, just as it always had but each day it seemed to be getting worse. Last night I noticed that the black bubble eye fish that Paisley named Roxy seemed to be struggling, he wasn't swimming around and just acting strange. I took the lid off and looked into the water and the smell was unreal, it smelled like a stagnant pond, there even seemed to be "things" floating around in the water. After talking on the phone with my mother, she recommended me to check the filter. I pulled it out only to discover that it was CAKED with slim and and food. This stirred up all the grime in the water even more, poor fish still struggling. My next step was to get them out of there and into something clean because the tank needed to be COMPLETELY cleaned!! I found a very large and clean bucket and filled it with water that was about room temperature. Lucky for me from days of working in a darkroom, I had a thermometer so that I could make sure that the water was indeed okay to drop the fish in. Paisley and I searched through the kitchen to find some thing that we could scoop the fish out of the dirty water with and transport them to the clean water. Finally with quick thinking on Paisley's part, she grabbed a slotted spoon which did the trick and we got them in. The black fish immediately started swimming about and acting more goldfish like. They seemed happy again, confused I'm sure but happy! We even got the snail that Aunt Valerie and Dave bought for Paisley into the clean bucket of water. Next was getting that fish tank cleaned and nice again. Using HOT, HOT water and some vinegar (I didn't want to use soap), I scrubbed everything down, rocks and all. There was a thick layer of scum underneath and on everything. I scrubbed out the grubby filter unit and got all the rocks, Ariel, the tree and pump all set up. It was time to transport the poor fish into the cleaned tank. I slowly dumped the bucket of clean water fish, snail and all gently back into the aquarium then I plugged everything back in and got the pump running again, all I had to do was add a little more water just to topped it off. I got the water to an appropriate temperate then added it and it was complete, aquarium IS Clean!! I really wish I had've taken a before picture of this mess. EEAsssh!! :-) Alot of precious knitting time wasted, but innocent lives were spared. Sadly, I really think that Roxy would have died over night, sally (orange fish) was doing better then Roxy but it was still not a good scene. Today I'm on a mission to get them goldfish flakes. :-)

The Cutest Damn Baby Booties EVER!

2008-01-08T14:43:00.000-05:00

I've made several pairs of baby booties in my day and never really liked any of 'em, some were too fiddley and some were too old fashioned. I found this free pattern while surfing the next last night and it was perfect...literally, the pattern is called Ruth's "Perfect" Baby Booties. I made these to go with the raglan baby sweater I made for my friend. I'm working on my second bootie right now and should be done it tonight. I'm in search of just a plain hat pattern now too because I think I will have enough yarn left over for one. The sweater is all finished now too and I love how it came out, my picture doesn't do the colour justice though, it's alot more blue then that it acutally looks.
I'm on a roll now, but as soon as I'm all done with the baby stuff, it's back to my socks. I need a new pair to wear!

So Samantha was asking how the baby belly was coming along. So far, so good! It's just really starting to pop out now, I will be 19 weeks on Thursday. Sometime this month I will be having the 20 week ultrasound. Hopefully they will be able to tell us the gender then because I'm anxious to know, I couldn't go through my whole pregnancy without knowing...I'm not good with surprises. Besides, I'd like to think about names before the kid is actually born. Any guesses on the gender?? I will keep you all posted. :-) Almost half over!!

****Update (January 9th): The ultrasound is next Thursday, Jan. 17th, whooohooo! I've also changed the picture of the sweater above, couldn't stand it. Booties (Paisley HAD to pose with 'em) and hat are done too, it's ready to be gifted, I wonder if she's had the baby yet. ****

Settling Down

2008-01-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

It was a really busy and eventful month in December for us and now we are finally starting to setting down into the New Year. I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Years, ours was fantastic as always and nice to be with our families. Santa as well as pretty much everyone else spoiled Paisley. She did VERY well. *LOL*
My sister also had her baby nearly a month early on December 17th, she weighed 5lbs10oz. She had to spend 10 days at the Hospital in London because baby Reece was having some respiratory problems at first and then some feeding problems but on boxing day Reece got to come home. She's as cute as a little button and I can't wait to get a little picture of her up here. As I probably mentioned before I was knitting the Seamless Yoked Baby Cardigan for her but it's going to be much to large (at least for a few months) so I think I need to cast-on for something smaller really soon, I'm just searching for the perfect pattern for her.
For Christmas I got the knitpicks collection of all the sock needles I could possible ever need, cascade sassy stripes sock yarn and some regia sock yarn from my MIL Rhonda. I think I got spoiled too. :-) I started putting the needles and sock yarn to good use by casting on for a pair of my annual Christmas socks. Last year I did jaywalkers with opal yarn that I got for Christmas. So this year I wanted to find a pattern simple enough to show off these so called "sassy stripes". I went through some old patterns and found the Cable Twist Socks from Hello Yarn and remembered that I really wanted to try this pattern and cast-on for it. One sock down!!

I was also thinking about Ravelry the other day and decided to check on my invite, only to find that I got my invite in October and the invite went into my junk email and I never received it. So they immediately sent me another one out and I was all set to join Ravelry. I'm just exploring it all now and getting everything all set up. Alot of time is being spent on it these days, *LOL* but I thought I should probably post on my neglected blog. :-)
Well, I think that's about it....wait...
I cast-on for another baby sweater for my friend's little guy (due really soon, possibly already or if not this weekend for sure). It's called Top Down Raglan Baby Sweater. A very quick and easy knit. I'm already to divide for my sleeves, front and back. The sleeves will be going on stitch holders ASAP. :-) I will be defiantly making this pattern again!!!

Mitts to match!

2007-12-04T16:28:00.000-05:00

I got busy this weekend after I finished the hat and by Monday I had myself a pair of mittens to match my cozy cabled hat. I still have 2 balls of the Alpaca Silk left....what to do???? A scarf? Hummm....
I love them, they are very warm but my only beef is that the Alpaca Silk is very silky and my hand tends to move around alot. I even did them on a smaller needle size them the pattern required. Today I got smart and wore a pair of magic gloves underneath them and that seems to elimate the moving around on the hand and now they're extra warm.

I also have a sneakpeak of the Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater too, I'm not quite finished it yet, but soon. :-)

Gettin' Cozy with Cables!

2007-11-30T22:55:00.001-05:00

Hello again!!
Maaaan we sure had some chilly days this week and I wanted nothing more for myself then a nice warm hat to wear when I go out to take Paisley to school and back everyday. I searched a bit on the net this afternoon for a free pattern and finally came aross one that I liked (alot). First I'm just going to say that sometimes free patterns are the best patterns, I loved making every inch of this hat. I've never visited this blog before and found the hat pattern/blog off google, but man it's cute. It's called Cozy Cabled Toque (from Domestic Affair). It called for bulky weight yarn, so I just double stranded some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK that Rhonda gave me a while back and I used 6mm needles instead of the 6.5mm the pattern was using. I really love how it turned out for the most part. The only part I wasn't too crazy on was how I did the baby cables, I don't think I did them quite right but I still really love the toque anyway. Let me know what you think, I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking it may need a pom-pom as well......?? This is the very first hat that I've knit that I actually enjoyed, I was never too fond of making them before. If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift to knit, this would work great!
I'll be making this toque again, so I'll have time to get those baby cables right!!!! Next on my agenda is cabled mitts to match perhaps, sounds tempting. I'm more then 1/2 finished the Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater as well. I've been pretty busy this week with.......knitting! :-)

Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned my sweater (Tiltled Duster) in a while. It's been done for quite some time, I just need to (groan) sew it all up and get some nice buttons for it, I really would like to wear it soon. :-)

Finally...some knitting!!

2007-11-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

It was pretty chilly last week in Southern Ontario and since Paisley's in school this year I thought why not knit her some warm mittens and I also needed to live up to my title "Smitten4Mittens". I created my blog nearly 2 years ago and I don't think I've made any mittens since the very first few posts. I was browsing on annypurls blog and noticed that she had recently made mittens for her son. I fell in love with the pattern that she used and had to get it! The pattern is called Target Wave Mittens from Norah Gaugh an's Knitting Nature. It was a pretty straight forward pattern to follow and now I'm on a mission to make more. By the suggestion of Rhonda, I did the pattern on 3 1/4 mm needles for a tighter and warmer knit. I did it in the medium size and the fit turned out perfect! Paisley would like to give a pair to her cousin Lucas and her best friend Briana for Christmas this year. :-) I hope you enjoy my rather uncooperative model. If you're looking for a super quick knit, this is it! It only took my 2 days to make these babies working on them on and off.

It's also time to start another Seamless Yoked Baby Sweater. My sister's due date is appraoching and fast (January 10th).

The many reasons for being MIA

2007-11-14T08:58:00.000-05:00

Hello to all! Wow, LOL it's been quite a while since my last post. Geez, I've even missed Halloween!! Paisley went out as a pumpkin, although she's lucky she even went out at all, she was sick with a fever and vomitting the day before and then the Thurs and Friday she was also sick. Some kind of flu bug took out my whole family last month and part of this one too. I think it's finally gone now though, at least I know I'm feeling better. Last month was the worst though, the evil bug got me first, slow taking Paisley out, then ME AGAIN, then Ron. Terrible, LOL sooo terrible! Not much knitting was done last month either, I started the monkey socks and still have it 3/4 of the way done on the needle. I've just been so damn tired. I will get back to it...soon but I just had to cast on for a baby sweater last night. My sister's date for her c-section is January 10th, I'd better get moving!!!!! It's the first knitting I've done in weeks too.

I also have some exciting news that I would like to share with you all. I think it's pretty safe at this point to spill the beans and it will explain some of my lack of blogging and knitting as well. There are actually 2 things now that I think of it.....

Ron got a job!!!! He starts friday. It's at a company called Challenger in Cambridge and.....

we're expecting again, I'm about 11 weeks along and I've been freaking TIRED (I think I'm starting to come around though)!! LOL

So that about sums it all up.....

Birthday is my next focus, Paisley's birthday is on December 8th and she wants a party this year. My child also informed her gramma and I that she wants mitts and a hat made out of Alpaca! How hallarious is that??

Oh yeah, LOL We went for a drive the other night and I couldn't believe how many people have their Chirstmas lights up!! I LOVE Christmas but I would wait at least until the Santa Claus Parade, that was always a tradition with my family.

Okay, that's really it for now!!

It's Crazy Sock Day!

2007-10-19T22:19:00.001-04:00

Every month the teacher sends home a calendar for Paisley and it keeps us informed as to what's going on in the kindergarten class. Well, this month on October 19th it said it was "Crazy Sock Day". What a great day especially for moms who love to knit socks and it's Socktoberfest too. These are the socks I came up with for Paisley. It took me a little longer to knit them due to the flu that was kicking my $## all last week and most of this week as well but I finished them last night. I used some Bernat Sox yarn that Rhonda gave to me waaaay back just for making socks for Paisley and I used the Broadripple pattern that I've used many times before but I kind of made it my own. Using 3.5mm dpns I casted on 48 sts and divided over 3 needles (16 sts on each). The cuff is just done in garter using the ripple pattern. It's a very easy pattern, I think I'll write it out incase anyone is intersted in making kiddie broadripples.

Now that I'm done those socks, I've cast-on for a pair of monkey socks using my new knitpick sock yarn. Yet another very easy pattern. I've had this one lying around for almost a year and I'm kicking myself for not trying this pattern sooner. Everyone's getting a pair of monkey's for Christmas this year. :-) I will post a pick of my progress next post but I'm almost to the heel of the first sock. I'm quite enjoying the knitpicks essentials and I think they are going to be nice to wear although this pair I am working on are not for me. :(

It was like Christmas!

2007-10-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

My order from Knit picks arrived on Tuesday. I would have posted sooner but it was just one of those weeks! I was surprised at how fast the delivery was and everything looked and felt great. So far, I am very impressed with it all. :-)
I took some pictures of my newly acquired stash. The first pic to the left is for the pinwheel sweater that I am going to make for my sister's baby girl (due in January). The yarn is swish(100%) superwash. It feels awesome and I can't wait to start knitting with it.

The yarn I got for the argyle cardigan is shine sport. I actually started knitting with this one and it seems to be knitting up great so far. It say it is 60% cotton & 40% modal. It feels nice!! :-)

The sock yarn looks delicious! mmm mmm......

Alright...I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I'm off to work now!!

Excited!!

2007-09-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

I just put in my first ever online order for yarn tonight from knitpicks, so now I'm anxiously waiting for my delivery. It said approximately 15 business days, I'm totally excited. *LOL*
I ordered the yarn for the pinwheel sweater I'm making for my sister's little baby girl (due in mid Jan.) and the yarn for my co-workers baby boy (also due mid Jan.) and I decided on the Argyle Cardigan for him from Debbie Bliss Special Knits. I also ordered some sock yarn....
I assured the hubby that this purchase was strictly baby gifts and Christmas gifts but I had to get myself a little something too, the colours in arugula looked really fun!! It's gonna be like Christmas when this package comes!!! :-)

I also promised first day of school photos! Wednesday Sept. 12th was the big day and this week was the first full week of school. She goes every afternoon from 12:25-2:55pm so during that time, I've been having nice quite knitting time, house cleaning and socializing with the neighbours and the DH. I think I could really get used to this!
She's been enjoying school so far and has been eager to go every day. I'm also proud to say that she has went to bed 3 nights in a row all by herself after story time with no problems. Bedtime has always been a bit of a battle with us. It hasn't all been as peachy as it sounds (a few tantrums this week) but overall we had a good day today. :-)

Alright enough of this typing, it's back to knitting MY sweater.......

"Till death do us part" Lucky Stitch Markers.

2007-09-11T22:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post but rest assured I have been busy!

This past weekend my DH's best friend and his fiance of 2 years got married. Ron was a groomsman and Paisley was the flower girl and I did the wedding photos so maaaannn was I ever a busy woman (as you can probably imagine). It was a beautifully fun wedding and as the wedding favours they did up cute little frames and attached hershey kisses to it with ribbon and a little heart charm. Clever me came up with a way to always remember they're special day...I made the heart charms (I had 2 of them) into stitch markers. I will always use them and hopefully it will bring them good luck in their marriage together.

Congratulations David & Alexis!!!

I have scrapped yet another sweater and started a new one from Interweave knits Fall 2007. It's the Tilted Duster.
So far it is going great and everything is measuring up. I think I'm more them 1/2 way done too. It's done on 5.5mm needles and is knitting up pretty quick, it's also done in a few pieces so it doesn't seem to be taking as long. I'm not photographing it unitl it's finished, so you will just have to wait and see. I'm very happy with it so far!!

I also found out a few days ago that my sister is having a little girl, so I'm thinking a pinwheel sweater might be a good choice. I've been looking through the knitpicks catalouge.......hummm.... :-)

Tomorrow my baby has her first day of school. Both her and I are very excited. *LOL* I will be taking pictures.
This weekend is also another very busy weekend. It's my nephew Lucas's birthday party on saturday so we will be heading up after school on Friday. It just seems like it never ends these days, there's always something going on.

Finally...Do you think I'd actually end the post without putting a picture of my little flower girl up here????

What colour are you???

2007-09-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

This is exact...eeeshh. I love purple. (not sure about the graceful part though, lol)

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors.
You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful.
People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you.
And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off!

Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Creative Juices

2007-08-08T22:03:00.000-04:00

First, I must start out with that today I'm very proud of myself. About 2 weeks ago I was at the mall (or at least I think it was the mall, I can't quite remember) I saw a watch that was made out of shells and I instantly fell in love with it. Now since I can't remember where I even saw this watch, the ideas started spinning, I needed to have this watch or one just like it. We took a trip out to the dollar store bright and early this morning (since Paisley had me up at 6am) and I got myself some shell beads which were apparently "genuine" and some beading elastic as well as numerous other things that you end up getting when you go to the dollar store that you did not intend on purchasing. After we got home, I went through my jewelry to see if I had any old watches that may be suitable for my little project and this is what I came up with. I'm so thrilled with how it came out looking. I wish I could show you the one I saw originally.

We also stopped off at Shopper's Drugmart on our little trip this morning and Paisley decided on the lunch bag that she wants for school. Now...I am not often sucked in to gimmicky stuff like Bratz, but this little bag was just too cute to pass up on. *LOL* I think it was the little skulls with the red bows in their hair that did it for me so I immediately had to say yes to my darling little girl. Spoiled...I think?
I'm so lame, I actually had to take a picture of the thing.

One more thing. I had to return stuff to the Hamilton Public Library today and on my way out I find an old beehive knitting booklet with patterns in it, so for 25 cents I bought it just to have in my collection.

The blanket is coming along, I should be finished it within the next day or 2. I ran into a few minor problems, but Rhonda bailed me out and got me back on track yet again. Thanks again!!

Well, I guess that's it for me. We're off to Owen Sound for the weekend. hopefully we can hit the beach this year (unlike last month, last year or the year before that). We also have a family reunion on Sunday for Ron's family in Fergus, so it should be a pretty busy weekend. I really looking forward to getting away though because I worked 7 days in a row straight right over this long weekend past and then today was my only day off and then I'm back in tomorrow night. Pheeeeww, I need a break. Lately, there's been a lot of drama at work too so I want to get away from all that.

Okay..I'm off now... off to bed that is.

zzz zzz zzz

z
z

A sneak peak!

2007-07-26T06:37:00.000-04:00

At last! Some knitting to share. I have been working on a blanket by Marie Grace Designs. Rhonda just finished this blanket for Samantha, it's the one that starts at the center on four needles and eventually you change to circulars. It's knit around in a circle and you end up with a square at the end, amazing!!! :-)

I haven't be able to work on it for a few days because I'm still trying to figure out why I have 100 stitches in between one set markers and all the rest have 101 (which is what they all should have), maybe I missed an increase or something. It's frustrating though because I just want to work on the damn thing, the pattern is one of those addictive ones.

There's something about knitting in the round that seems to make it progress quicker too....

I have some good news to share....

Remember back in January when I posted about my DH getting permanently laid off from his job of 5 years? Well, all these months he's been on EI, trying to get government help to go back to school. The process of it all is quite a lengthy one (some may get frustrated during) because he started his mission back in March and it stuck with it. He finally got a call last week saying they will cover the cost of the program he wants to take, yay!!!! He's going to get his A-Z truck license and no, this does not necessarily mean he will be on the road all the time, there is alot of option available in this field because there is such a demand for drivers. I'm so proud of him, all I wanted him to do was find a job that he could enjoy instead of going back to some stinky factory to be miserable for a lifetime or to get laid off again the way manufacturing is going these days. If all goes well, he should be starting school on Monday or the next Monday after. It's a 6 week program and he should be working by September (hopefully). :-)

If you're a Canadian citizen, unemployed, on EI and going through the motions of trying to get help to go back to school, my advise to you it to just stick with it. It does happen for some so just tough it out, even when you're frustrated and it is not looking hopeful. It just takes time, unfortunately a long time.

Well, that's it for now. Everyone enjoy the rest of your day!

2007-07-06T22:11:00.001-04:00

Wow Samantha, I have been a slacker. Geeezz!! It's been over a month since I've posted anything. My excuse is ligit, I've been working ALOT these days (5 days a week) and spending alot of time outdoors and we also bought a pool pass for the family.

I have no fun knitting content as of late to show, so instead I'll post some fun pictures from our long weekend in Owen Sound. Most of these pictures were taken a place called Story Book Park just outside of Owen Sound. Ahh, childhood nostalgia

My sister is expecting again in January, so I will have baby knits to show for very shortly. I'm very excited about this news because I have never knit a blanket before, so oohh boy is it ever gonna happen. At the end of July, early August we should know the gender and that's when the fun is really going to begin. (I want a niece, girls are fun to knit for).

Rockin' with my socks out!

2007-05-27T17:59:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to say that I finally found a pattern to knit my friend Becky's socks. The yarn and pattern look just freakin' awesome together, I'm so impressed! I've also finished a pair for my sister (the not-so secret birthday socks) in the same yarn but a different colour and both suited this pattern really well! I don't want to ruin the surprise too much for my sister so I will hold back from putting a picture of them up until after I give them to her. The pattern is one that I borrowed from Rhonda called Horcrux Socks. The yarn I'm using is Invicta Extra by Scheepjes (on 2.5mm needles) and I'm finding it really nice yarn to work with.

Still Knitting!

2007-05-23T10:10:00.000-04:00

Wow!! It's been a while since my last post. :-) I'm still here and still knitting!!

I'm working on secret birthday socks. I have one of them completled and almost to the heel on the next. The pattern's a breeze! I think my friend Bex will be getting her socks sooner then she thinks now. I'm still working on the sweater too!!

My parents finally came for a visit about 2 weeks ago. They brought a birthday present(btw,lol my b-days in March) from my Grandma (she mailed it to my parent's place because she lives in Quebec). It was a box full of yarn, all differnt colours. I also got a really nice gift from my brother's girlfriend's Mom, it had a teapot, tea and chocolates in a really nice, BIG basket. I know a few weeks ago on Rhonda's blog, she was asking to see everyone's baskets. Now I know it's late, but I'm posting mine. I also got myself a little purse at work and guess what???? It's a basket too, I thought it was so cute and summery and perfect for socks!!

Paisley's been getting right into summer these days with sidewalk chalk and rocking out on the guitar just like her daddy. We've also been eating outside alot on my new patio set that I got for mother's day. I've been knitting there too. :-)

I've got new Stitchmarkers!!!!!

2007-04-26T22:16:00.000-04:00

First off, I would love to thank the ladies who made my stitch markers.

Robyn (letters) and Leigh (b&w ones) made these ones, aren't they lovely??

Barb made these ones! The tea was a nice touch. Thanks!!! :-)

Karine made these beautiful markers!

I'm still waiting on one more set coming from someone out there! Hopefully I will get them soon.

As for the one's I made and sent out, here they are! I was pretty happy with they way they turned out because this was my first time making stitch markers. I did have a tiny bit of help though (credit where credit is due), Ron helped me twist the wire just right. What a nice husband! :-)

I currently have another pair of jaywalkers on the needles, actually they're almost done. Ohh, I can't wait to wear another new pair of socks. Mmm mmm!! Two very different socks, yet the same, gotta love it. After the socks are completed, I'm going to get back to the sweater and finish those arms. :-)

A few weeks ago Paisley asked for (more like demanded) slippers, so I went surfed the net in search of a pattern for slippers. Finally I found a pattern from Knitting at Knoon and this is what I came up with. The pattern is family of slippers. Of course now that I knit her slippers, she doesn't want to wear them! I still think they're cute. :-)

Fudge.

2007-04-10T23:28:00.000-04:00

Have you ever experienced failure in everything you've casted-on for?? Lately that seems to be the case for me! Arrrg.

Tierra was going along beautifully! I have the front and back finished and I think it looks fabulous, but unfortunately I've cast-on for my sleeves 3 times now and it doesn't seem to be working. I don't know what to do now because I really want to finish the sweater. I've already come so far! The sleeve just seems like it's going to be waaaay to big even on the smallest size given (unless I'm just not understanding the pattern quite right, but it seems like it's knit up from the cuff and then it decreases at the top to fit the shoulders).

Being anxious to knit SOMETHING for now, I got my sock needles out, my green birthday sock yarn that I got from Rhonda and the Embossed Leaves pattern and started to cast on for them. I don't think I even knit 3 rounds and Riiiiippp, and I did that about 3 times until I finally called it quits for the night and came over the computer to vent it all out on my blog!!!!!!!

What's a woman to do??

Unto something a little less melancholy.

I hope everyone had a great Easter/long weekend!!

On Saturday we finally painted the ceramic eggs that Ron made out of poly-fill, it was a really great family event. Ron even painted a golden egg with the year painted on it, too funny. The multi-coloured ones are Paisley's eggs.
Later that night, Ron and I enjoyed some not so child friendly television. We watched the 1/2 of seasons 3 & 4 of Viva la Bam. Quality tv if you enjoy laughing so much you may have to pee. It's not for everyone though. :-)
Paisley was so excited Sunday morning. because the Easter bunny left her a trail of chocolate eggs all the way downstairs to her basket, he also left things at Gramma's house and her Auntie Valerie's place. Come to think of it, I think she even has some stuff that he left up at her Grandma's in Owen Sound too. What a lucky girl!!

I'm almost done the my stitch markers for the exhange too, I have until sunday to get them all mailed out, so I guess I better get cracking.

P.S. I did have links on everything in here that required them, but then netscape just randomly closed on me and I lost everything except for an early draft I saved, but I'm too lazy to go and get the links for everything!!! Double fudge I guess.... :-)

Oh yeah...my new members of the family that I've been meaning to show off :

Weight and such...

2007-03-24T00:07:00.000-04:00

First I'm going to start off with "YAAAYYY" because I haven't been able to log into blogger for days. Internet Explorer was being a pain in the arse so Ron got us Nescape to use instead of IE and ever since we got Netscape I couldn't log in. Still trying to figure out why it's just shutting down on the main blogger page. Hummm!

Not too much progess on the knitting this week, but I am on day 5 of my Healthy Eating Diet. I want to loose some weight by the summer, this winter has me feeling a little frumpy. I'm charting my progress through ticker factory (bottom of blog). I even bought myself a scale with a wal-mart gift card I got for my birthday last weekend from my DH. He laughed and said he wouldn't dare buy me a scale, but was impressed that I bought myself one. This is actually the first time ever that I feel motivated to do this. I would love to loose 40 lbs eventually.

Oooohhh, I almost forgot to mention my MIL Rhonda gave me a wonderful birthday gift. I got a set of bamboo circular needles. The really cool part about them is that the cable part is all flexible and bendable which means you don't have to straighten it out in boiling hot water. HOW cool is that??? I also got lime green Cherry Tree sock yarn with it, which I thought was such an appropriate colour for me since my birthday's on St. Patty's Day. My my SIL Valerie, I got a yarn kit in really cute colours. I will have to post a picture on here soon of my new stuff. :-) Thanks Rhonda & Valerie, loved it!!!

Well, I'm off to bed. Itl will be a long day at work tomorrow since it's 20x the points day at Shopper's Drugmart and we're having wicked, mad Saturday Only special deals. EEAkkk! :-)

I love cables!

2007-03-12T12:08:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since my last post, but it's been productive time away. I started the sweater for myself and I've already knit 16". At 19" I get to start the decreasing for the armholes, so I'm moving right along.

I was also going through my patterns and I found Irish Hiking Scarf and started it on the Fleece Artist that I won from Cynthia's contest last year for Warming Grace. It is beeeeaaautifuul. The bad part is that I think I'm going to run out of yarn before the scarf is finished and I already love it sooo much that I don't want to frog it and use the yarn for something else. So now I'm on the hunt for another skein of yarn in similar colourway. If someone out there has some and would like to sell it to me, please, please let me know. I'm on a mission to find the yarn!! I'm looking for the ball band because I think it has the colour on it and I know it was a Favourite fleece socks/mittens kit. Hopefully I will find something close. :-)

Onto other non-knitting things! We've decided that we are going to take Paisley to Disney on Ice on Thursday. They will be at Copps Coliseum here in Hamilton Mar 14-18. She's very excited. We thought instead of going out for dinner for my birthday (which is Sat. 17th) we would do this instead, so it should be fun. Paisley's all ready for it because Peter Pan and Little Mermaid were advertised on the commercial.

Oh, two more things, I also join the Stitchmarker Exchange. I can't seem to access the sit to post a link, but I will. If you are interested you could also visit Robyn's blog (from knitmamaknit), she's the host for the event. You have until Thurs to sign up! :-)

I did the quiz "what kind of sock yarn are you" from Samantha's blog, apparently I'm "Fruity".

2007-02-25T22:54:00.000-05:00

As of Friday morning the Broadripple socks that I did on the Cherry Tree Hill yarn that Rhonda gave me are finally done! I got my lovely Mom to model them for me since I have a hard time taking a nice shot of my socks on my feet. I also finally got a chance to photograph the socks that I made Paisley with the same yarn. I just cast on 44 sts and did a K2P2 to rib for the kiddie socks. The only way I could get that my dear daughter to model the socks for me on Friday was to keep her tights on and also model with her Grandma.

Awwe..look at my hardworking ladies below:

I had a busy weekend beginning on Friday. My parents came from Owen Sound for an overnight visit. My brother had a hockey playoff game against Niagara-on-the-Lake in Virgil, ON and they needed a place to stay and since we live fairly close to Niagara we welcomed them. :-) We all went on Friday night to see the game and it was a victorious win for the Owen Sound Jr. Attack(midget team). Unfortunately because my brother's a goaltender, it wasn't his night in net so we didn't get to see him play, but it was an excellent game and now they get to enter the semi-finals and I got to try out my new socks at the arena too and they kept my toes toasty. They all left on Saturday morning before I had to go to work and boy did I ever have a busy day in the photo lab, it just seemed like everyone in Hamilton wanted to get their pictures done but it was well rewarded afterwards because Ron and I had an evening to ourselves! My MIL Rhonda took Paisley for one of their "Saturday Night Specials". On the spur of the moments we decided to use our theatre coupons that we got in boxes of Lipton tea and went to the movies and it cost us a whole $1.90, can't beat that! We went to see Night At the Museum. It was a fun movie, a little unrealistic, but very cute, I recommend it for a great family movie!! On the way home, we stopped for some Swiss Chalet take-out and headed for home for a night of knitting/online game playing. Yep, *LOL* that's what we do, our computer's in the living room so he plays his World of Warcraft and I do my knitting and we talk. I started playing around with the sweater I want to knit, but haven't quite started it yet. I will post progress pictures one I actually get started!

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Friday night while my mom and I watched a movie I managed to knit a barbie dress for Paisley. It wasn't from a pattern or anything, I just started knitting and knitting and knitting and came up with this:
I had fun knitting it because I had no idea how it was going to turn out or if it was even going to work out, but it fit. I even glitter glued a little heart on the dress as an added touch.

Well..that's about it for my weekend. It's always over so fast! I hope everyone else had a good one. Tomorrow Paisley has her very first visit to the dentist. I am so excited and very curious to see how it goes. I (unlike many) love going to the dentist, I love have my teeth poked and prodded at and love that feeling of have my teeth cleaned. It always feels so awesome afterwards! I am hoping she takes after me and enjoys dentist visits.

A New Pattern = A Fresh Start ?

2007-02-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not have noticed, my progress bar for my 4-ways cardi hasn't moved for months. This is because I am no longer feeling the love for this project. I really do want to complete an entire sweater for myself but I got really bored with the pattern. :-(

I am excited to say that I have been inspired once again to knit a sweater for me!! I fell in love with a pattern the other day as I was flipping through a magazine. It happens to be a free pattern courtesy of Berroco called Tierra. They are using berroco softwist, which is coincidentally the same yarn used for the 4-ways cardi. I'm not sure if any of you will remember but, for my birthday last year, Rhonda bought me all the yarn to do the cardi, but in Paton's Decor. I was stoked to find out that I could probably use the yarn for this pattern as well so I started to do a gauge, I completed it on the 5mm needles used in the pattern and it didn't work out, so I casted on for a 2nd gauge on 4.5mm, completed it and it still didn't measure up. Hummm, the whole time I was thinking, could this be why my 4-ways cardi was way off from the measurements that the back and the arms were supposed to be? It was also done on 5mm needles. I quickly emailed Rhonda for some advice and she replied back to me telling me not to drop down any lower then a 4mm needle. So again, I got out the 4mm and started another gauge (20 sts=4mm 28 Rows=4mm), finished it in a flash and lucky for me this time it was bang on. Friggin' eh!!! :-) So, I will be attempting this project really, really soon....I'm mega excited about it. I even did a swatch of the 18 st cable pattern!

On to some more exciting knitting news for me!! My hubby took me over to Ikea on Monday and bought me some storage for my out of control knitting. I had knitting stored in 4 different boxes and 5 different bags around the house and he was tired of always running into it. Today I finally got to organizing it all. I HATE organizing, but it was actually kind of fun seeing everything I had. We only had one incident, my little helper Paisley spilled a margarine container of beads all over the entire spare room. Arrrggg, *LOL* it's hard to find good help these days.

I bet your wondering what else I've been up to......

Well, I completed another scarf for my friend at work (pictured gold). I can't wait to see Nabila again, so she can try it on, I picked gold (odd colour) because I thought it would go good with her complexion, it will be interesting to see if I was right. The other scarf is one of the first of the 7 scarves I made and it was for myself (blue).

(Don't mind my self-modelling, I was bumming around the house)

Wow, all that I have on the needles right now is the last Cherry Tree Hill sock, I'm onto the heel flap right now and should be done it soon. I think I'm done with scarves for this year, but more sock are in order! I've got to cast on for Becky's socks soon too, she's still waiting...what a patient woman.

Bad blogger!

2007-02-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since my last post, eeek! So much has been going on for me lately, but I guess that shouldn't excuse for my lack of blogging these days. I'll blame it partly on my dh and his silly online game World of Warcraft (he's a computer hog).

A few weeks ago, my hubby got permanently laid off from his job of nearly 5 years. On a whim after our weekend to Owen Sound (see last post), we decided that we would like a change and decided that we were going to move to Owen Sound (that is where my family is from and where Ron's always wanted to live). It is a nice city and we made several trips back there since that weekend to try and find a place to live. The first time we went back we got caught in that huge snow storm and got snow-stayed there for 3 days, it even took us 7 hours to get there when it only should have been a 2.5 hour drive. We couldn't really get out to do much house hunting either but we did call some places. We finally got a few calls a week later and we drove back up on Monday morning again only to get stood up by this guy that was going to show us a few places he had. Bahh, so on the way home we talked about it and we're going to take this as a sign not to move there right now, we're going to stay in Hamilton...at least for now. :-)
So I guess we better register Miss Paisley for Jr. Kindergarten for September, she's very excited and has a friend 2 doors down that will be going with her.

With all of this going on, I still managed to knit 6 scarfs with some dollar store eyelash yarn and gave them away to people, I even made one for myself. :-) Made Paisley a pair of Cherry Tree socks to match mine and I'm working the way down the cuff of my second sock (which, lol should be done by now but I got sidetracked by scarves). I will get some pictures of all of this asap!!!! :-) I even have one more scarf left to make but I'm going to make sure my sock is done first because they'd be sure nice to wear in these frigid temperatures we are having in Southern Ontario.

Hope every one's staying warm and cozy out there if you're having this cold weather that we're having here, if so..perhaps we will see alot of blogging and new knits! :-)

cher·ry

2007-01-26T09:32:00.000-05:00

When I looked up the word Cherry in the dictionary today, I particularly liked definition:

"7. Slang.
a.
something new or unused."

I've got something new!! Last week Rhonda gave me some of her Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that she wound wound using her new yarn meter she bought herself from all her hard work. I've never used Cherry Tree yarn before, but it felt so nice and sat in my bag all week taunting while I worked on the hat. Well, it certainly got the best of me be because as soon as I was done the hat (haven't even tied my ends in yet) I just had to cast on for some silly socks. I'm using the Broadripple pattern again, but I've modified the pattern slightly so that I can use sock yarn instead of a double knitting yarn. The actual pattern calls for 56 sts and I'm using 64, so really there's only 2 extra stitches on each needle which I don't think makes too much of a difference at all. I'm making wicked progress so far because as I've mentioned before, the Broadripple pattern is addictive (and easy). The yarn did not disappoint either, it knits up wonderfully and feels nice on my feet when I tried them on. The colours are all over the place, but it doesn't seem too overwhelming for the pattern. I just can't wait until they are done and I can wear them. :-)

I'm almost done sock number one, so I guess I've popped the proverbial cherry.

When I was trying to take a picture for my blog, Paisley had to get in on the action. She named this pose her "Grandma Face" (I'm not kidding). As much as she has been rotten lately, this kid makes me laugh. Where do they come up with this stuff???

We're off to Owen Sound this weekend for a little winter fun. We're going to take Paisley & Lucas skating and quite possibly some tobogganing. It will be Paisley's first time doing both. I will definitely be posting some pictures when I'm back. It's going to be fun times, ohhh I can't wait!! :-)

One more thing before I go...
I don't think I mentioned that Paisley saw The Needle Emporium on CH Morning Live yesterday. She had to inform Ron and I that she goes to "Julie's house" with Gramma all the time and she also has too dogs. What a girl, I just thought it was so cute. :-)

Have a good weekend everyone!

That Darn Hat!

2007-01-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

The Army Girl Ear flap Hat is nearing completion and it's a very, very good thing because I really did not like this pattern. It started out a little rough, got a little better and then once I got to the crown, I was lost again. It's kind of like knitting blind and I'm sure you all know what I mean by that. I felt as though the pattern was a little vague in explaining things and the way it was written was a little confusing. I'm not even so sure I like how it turned out! There is a positive to this whole thing... I learned two new techniques!!! On Saturday night Rhonda taught me the cable cast-on method and I also learned how to do an attached i-cord.

That's it for me today, just a short little post. Going out to one of our Ontario Early Years Centres very shortly (Paisley calls it playgroup). For any parents (in Ontario) who have never heard of OEYC, you should check out their link to find a centre in your area, it's a great place to take your kiddies. They have all kinds of fun and activities for them there as wells as it allows them to interact with children in their own age group. Did I mention that it's free too? I believe it's for children 0-6 years old.

Back in Blogland

2007-01-17T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have been without internet access since the wee hours of Friday morning and going nuts. It's just amazing how much we use the net getting through our day to day. When you don't have it...you realize just how much it is used. Really...lol how could we ever have lived without this invention years and years ago (kind of sad??). On the upside to lack of interent, we apparently have the fastest highspeed in the city. We had sympatico before but I think it was dsl light so the cable is alot faster (so far, we'll see how it goes). Unfortunately I don't have any exciting knitting content to talk about (and you'd think with less computer time I would have something crazy knit up). The Army Girl hat is still on the needles and needs to be frogged and restarted. What really sucks is that it's like -50 degrees out in Manitoba right now so it would be nice to have it all finished so I can send the hat, mitts (which could probably really be used right now) and the rest of the Christmas parcel out to my best friend Kerri. Soon..soon...soon...

In the meantime...I've been tagged with a meme by Samantha and since it's been a while since I've done one here we go:

Alphabet Meme

A- Available or single? The equivalent to being married(I'm entitled to 1/2, j/k).
B- Best Friend? Ron, Paisley, Kerri, Bex, Berns {I guess that's friend(s)}
C- Cake or Pie? Apple pie (warm with ice cream)
D- Drink of Choice? Tea(pref. Earl Grey)
E- Essential Item? Computer(w/Internet), knitting, music
F- Favorite Color? mauvey purple (can't really describe it)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Not a big fan of either
H- Hometown? Owen Sound, ON, Canada
I- Indulgence? Fudgeo Cookies (Damn them)
J- January or February? February, one step closer to spring
K- Kids and names? Paisley May Johnson (3 years old)
L- Life is incomplete without? Ron and Paisley
M- Marriage Date? We've been together since Sept.20th,2002 (that's what really counts!)
N- Number of Siblings? Sister (2 years younger) and brother (8 years younger).
O- Oranges or apples? Both, just depends on the day.
P- Phobias/Fears? dying, fires,tornadoes.
Q- Favorite Quote? BooooUrns! Can't really think of any
R- Reason to Smile? I'm back online and Paisley's sleeping.
S- Season? Summer
T- Tag three people! (If any of my facebook friends are reading) Kerri, Genna, Christa
U- Unknown Fact About Me? I used to be afraid of the dark and had a night light until I was 16.
V- Vegetable you hate? brussel sprouts.
W- Worst habit? Repeating myself when I'm talking.
X- X-Rays you’ve had? When I was 12, I broke my nose while playing baseball and then again when I was 18, I sprained my ankle really bad sliding into 2nd.
Y- Your favorite food? Pasta.
Z- Zodiac? Pisces.

That's it for me tonight! Knit on Knitters Knit on!!

A Perfect Gauge (hopefully)

2007-01-09T22:39:00.001-05:00

Now that the camo mittens are all done, I'm onto the hat I've been wanting to make for Kerri. It's called Army Girl Earflap hat from Interweave Knits (winter 2005) about 1/2 way down the page on the link. When I was out visiting her in October, she saw a knitted hat that her hubby's bestfriend had and she asked me if I could make her a similar one and I've been on the hunt for a pattern ever since. Now I've finally found one that's perfect (with a little help from my MIL Rhonda) and I'm itching to get started on it. I'm taking a short hiatus from socks because I need to mail this gift out (along with Christmas stuff for Kerri & family) before it's too warm for knit wear. So, Bex...if your reading, I have to pause on your socks temporarily. Becky will eventually be receiving a pair of Emobssed Leaves socks (also a pattern from Interweave Knits), more on the socks a little later and back to the hat!! Keeping with the "Knit from your Stash" project, I took two odd balls of yarn from my stash, one was worsted and one was fingering weight, I thought I'd try and get a tweedy look and put them together, did up a gauge (16sts and 25 rows = 4")and sucess, it seemed to work. I don't always do a swatch before I start a project, but I thought this time I didn't really want to be effing around and I really want to use up my stash yarn, because alot of it was stuff that I got or that was given to me when I first started knitting (almost 3 years ago) and I would love to buy something nice for myself when it's all gone. :)

Today I started the hat. I've done about 10 rows on the pattern and something doesn't seem right. I'm going to rip it all out and try it again tomorrow. I just can't seem to maintain the ribbed garter stitch pattern (R.S. k1, p1, WS purl). I think the m1's are throwing me off, not too sure. I may have to consult a professional knitter about this.....

Camouflage Mittens

2007-01-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

Yes...you read it correctly, I am making camo mitts. The yarn is from my stash, woot woot! It doesn't even have the ball band on it anymore, but my guess is bernat because I think they have the camouflage shades. Now, you're probably wondering why I'm making camo mitts? The mitts are for my best friend Kerri's hubby, he's in the military and I thought Kerri and him would get a kick out of them. They are cute though, even if he's not a mitt guy. I thought he could wear them outside with their boys or something since it is freezing in Manitoba. I am contemplating making an ear flap had to match, I just haven't decided yet because I still have to knit Kerri the hat she wanted. :-) I'm busting in on the stash with this project, how sweet is that? This is also my first time knitting mitts in the round and I'm loving it. It's also been over a year since I've made mitts and I have to live up to the title of my name. As far as patterns go, I'm not really using one. I just looked at a few patterns for men so I could get the correct number of stitches on the needles and steps for the gusset and top shaping. I'm using my new dpns I got for Christmas (3.5mm) as well. One mitt done and another on the needles, I'm almost done the ribbed cuff on the 2nd mitt. Mittens are such a quick knit, gotta love it! :-)

Well, I'm off to bake banana bread, Paisley wants to bake and I have 3 bananas that are really yellow and have brown spots on them (I will NOT eat banana's like that, they have to be slightly green for me to eat them).

Christmas Madness and a Quiet New Year!

2007-01-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

Christmas flew by like a whirlwind! Christmas Eve was spent at work (what a crazy day but there was lots of good food from our potluck) followed by Christmas out at Ron's parents house in Smithville. We did everything but "Santa" stuff on the 24th and by 7am Christmas Day, Paisley was out in the livingroom slightly disappointed that she missed Santa but excited about more gifts. We let her tear through her stocking first so we could wake up a bit and let Gramma & Grampa get up too. This was a very exciting Christmas for us because it's the first year that Paisley really understands what's going on and she was very impressed with her stocking (Yes that is Opal sock yarn in the picture to your left, I got it from my wonderful MIL and I also got some new dpns from Paisley). My only real disappoinent was our lack of snow on Christmas this year. Although I'd rather drive on snowless roads, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without a little snow on the gound. Boxing Day was spent looking for a new keyboard because our wireless decided to die on us that moring and then we were heading out to Ancaster for more Christmas at Ron's Grandma's. We also had to pick up 2 gifts on our way, one for a man and one for a woman, so we could swap gifts. A quick stop at Shoppers and Canadian Tire did the trick and we were on our way for more Christmas madness. Afther that was all said and done, we had one more day to clean up our house and find homes for the new stuff before my parents came on the 27th. We did our Christmas with them shortly after they arrived and the next day we did our big dinner and just look at our poor tree after they arrived!! I think we are in need of a larger tree next year. :-)

Onto the Christmas socks:

The Broadripple Socks (yellow) that I made were gifted to my mom and the 2nd pair of Jaywalkers (pink) I made were for my brother's girlfriend Genna. My mom wore her's the whole time they were at my place, I had to wash them for her. There's nothing more gratifying then watching something you made getting a work out, I bet my mom's even wearing them right now. Ha ha!

What a crazy week eh??? On Saturday the 30th we got my parents to babysit Paisley so I could go to my friend Becky's birthday party. It was good times and nice to get out for an evening (something we don't do very often). It was at a steakhouse in Niagara Falls called Wildfire, the food was good and so was the Carlsberg, MMmm Beer! New Years Eve I had to work 8-4pm and my parents were heading back to Owen Sound so I was up at 6am. Ron and I had planed to stay up and bring in the new year, but by 10:30 I feel asleep on the couch.

Can you blame me???? ha ha. We certainly had fun though!

Happy New Years and Blogoversary!

2007-01-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick Happy New Years to everyone, also a few days ago was my 1st Blogoversary. I see every one's slowly changing to the new blogger, all of your blogs are looking good!
It was a very busy Christmas for us (hence my lack of posts lately), I will fill you in on all of our fun soon, but I have to go now! The socks were love by their recipients too, I have pictures to show. :-)

2006-12-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't let me post the picture in my post, so here she is!

Her new Christmas dress is from my good friend Becky and her mom Liz, so if either you are reading this, I hope you got your picture in the mail and thank you both again, she looked adorable!

Some Holiday Baking

2006-12-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

Paisley loves baking, she would bake cookies everyday if she could. We decided to try our hand at Gingerbread men and do a little holiday baking. They turned out better then I expected though, yummy! I love Gingerbread. Paisley rolled the dough, used the cookie cutter and also decorated them with icing. Daddy whipped up his special creamy icing for us as well. We didn't really have too many problems except for daddy decorating the men in places that shouldn't be decorated...bad hubby!!! It made me laugh though, because that is so like him. Here's a picture of our mad artistic skills, I had to sensor out daddy's man though! :-)

At last her had work can be rewarded with a cookie and some relaxing!

Unfortunately, we had a little incident the next day. I went upstairs for a minute and while I was gone, I heard a loud crash. I came running down the stairs only to find that she dropped the whole plate of cookies on the floor icing side down and several of them had busted limbs, it was sad day for the men, but many were still enjoyed.

I almost have my second pair of Jaywalkers completed too, woot woot!!!
I also started working on the second broadripple sock, I need to get that finished as well. I'm trying, I'm trying but I'm running out of time, only 10 more days left.

As promised, I'm also putting up the picture of Paisley on Santa's lap(I know...holy pictures). This is a big deal because it's the first year she actually wanted to sit on his lap, last year she bawled when we put her on his lap.

A Big Little Girl

2006-12-12T13:24:00.000-05:00

On Friday December 8th, my baby turned 3 years old. She had a blast at her little party and is now completely wound up (probably until Christmas) because on sunday we went to the kids Christmas party for Ron's work and she had more fun, more presents and she got to see Santa! All things considered though, she is being a pretty good girl...just a little more hyper then usual. For her birthday, Ron and I couldn't pass up a good deal on a powerwheels (well I think it's actually little tykes) Princess Jeep, we were at Walmart and they had them on sale for $99.99 (reg 299.99). I have yet to get a picture with her on it, but stay tuned I'm going to try and get one.

My knitting has been on hold since thursday night due to all the commotion that's been going on around here. Today is my SIL's birthday, Happy Birthday Valerie!! Tomorrow my hubby's birthday(Dec.13th), Happy Birthday Ron and to Ron's cousin Sean too! Happy Brthday everyone!!

Okay..well my big girl is helping herself to milk and it's going all over the counter, I think that's my signal to jet........

Oh needle where art thou?

2006-12-05T12:57:00.000-05:00

One of my 2.5mm sock needles has vanished. I've looked everywhere, under the couches, in my knitting basket and around Paisley's barbie stuff she has out on the carpet. It is gone, ahhhh!!! I need to get my Christmas socks done. I'm done one of the Jaywalkers and working my way down the leg of the 2nd, however I do need that needle back, wherever went. I will keep looking and hope for the best. I have pictures, but I will post them later. I just needed to vent right now. :-) So thanks for reading!!

Drum Roll Please....

2006-11-28T19:05:00.000-05:00

They're done...they're finally done!! I'm wearing them on my feet right now. Presenting the finished Jaywalkers, Daaduudadaaa!! Man these socks were a pain in my ass, they would have been done ages ago if it wasn't for that daughter of mine, she pulled the sock off the needles twice on me. I have 2 more pairs to make, but if someone knows a lovely, more mindless pattern that will knit up quick (sometime before xmas) feel free to let me know. :-)

I do have Happy Feet now though, the socks are damn comfy, they look cool and these babies are mine (not being gifted to anyone). I just wanna dance all over in 'em!

Onto Christmas things (which is quickly approaching), Paisley and I went for a walk in the fog tonight (which really should have been snow) to mail all of our Christmas cards. I'm not too sure if I'm sending them out too early, but oh well I guess I'll be the first card on everyone's mantel (or where ever they put them). We have yet to decorate the house though, we're waiting until after Paisley's birthday on December 8th. It's kind of hard to believe that my baby's going to be 3 years old, she growing up too fast. She is super excited about her birthday because her cousin Lucas is coming and she doesn't get too see him very often (he's 9 months younger), so it should be a good time. December is always a crazy a month for us since everyone's birthday is right before Christmas (Paisley, Ron, Ron's sister Valerie and Grampa). It be interesting!

That's if for me, I've got to give a bath to a messy child and to bake brownies (perhaps before the bath??).

Night Away From Socks!

2006-11-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

I thought that last night I would take the evening off of sock knitting! While I was hunting for a pattern that went MIA (and still can't find either) I came across some dollarstore yarn that someone gave me and decided to make a scarf for Paisley. The is the Cotton Candy Keyhole Scarf. I thought I would try the keyhole scarf since she loves wearing them but can't seem to keep them on (don't mind my uncooperative model, te he). The ball band didn't have a gauge or needle size so I went with 8mm needles, the yarn is really chunky.

As for the socks, I am finished on of the Broadripples, and have cast-on for the second sock but haven't made too much progress. The Jaywalkers would be finished by now but they are pretty much the same as my last post because a day later, Paisley ripped needles out of it on me. She was playing quitely on the floor and I was on the couch knitting away. She asked me to get something for her so I set my knitting down on the end table beside me. I was gone seconds and she was already on the couch and had my knitting in her hands, as soon as she saw me and I said something to her she ripped 2 of my needles out right in front of me. I was sooo pissed I didn't know what to do. Actually, I'm still really mad but it's getting better! I guess I'm going to have to get box and lock up my knitting everytime I leave it unattended!

That was fun!

2006-11-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks Samantha, that was fun!! :-)
( Edit: sorry had to smush it a bit, I wanted my sidebar back!!!!)