An FO and feeling inspried...

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

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

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...

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.

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?

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!

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!

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 Rhonda 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

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...

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

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

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!!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!!