Finished Objects

I can't believe it's the middle of October!!!Where does the time go?

Seems like school just started a few weeks ago.  I really haven't been knitting much, I always plan to but for some reason I run out of time.  FB is such a time suck, and if you really want to burn up hours in a day get on Hay Day.   I have a pretty nice farm, I hate it.  Hay Day can eat up hours and hours of precious knitting time.  The bastards.... they make it where you can't see the time on your phone while you're playing.  That's just evil.

One of our teachers at school had a baby girl just a week after school started.  She'll return to work tomorrow after her maternity leave is up.   I made these for her.

I looked for the longest time trying to find a baby bootie pattern that was different.  Hope they fit the little cutie.

I also made these slippers last night.

I use a shrunken sweater!  Yeah, I hate throwing out expensive yarn even when the sweater I made with it shrinks to where I can't wear it anymore.  I'd made the sweater about 15 years ago.  The yarn was some from Aunt Shorty's stash and must have been a little on the old side because is sort of started shedding.  Then after a couple of washes it was shrinking up, even with careful washing and drying.  So I tossed that baby in with the towels on hot and it went down to a felted size 4 toddler.   I should have taken a before pic, but I totally forgot about the blog.  I felted the sweater with the intention of making either mittens or slippers.  It just took me 13 years to do it.

The tops are actually the sleeves, the back of the sweater was large enough to make the inner-sole and the heel bands.  I had picked up the leather soles at the LYS years ago.  They are really cozy!  I have another sweater in mind to make another pair and I promise that I'll do a step by step tutorial when I make them.

Oh yeah, I finished these socks about a month ago.  Ready for when the weather turns cold and I need some wool socks.

The pattern is from http://sailingknitter.blogspot.com/
Nice easy pattern to take on a trip.  Hmmmm maybe I will.

Nah, I've got more pink baby booties to make.  Seems like everyone around is having little girls.  I'm also working on a sweater that I've had in mind for quiet some time.  It will be plenty to work on while on the road.

So, Wednesday I'll be off on a road trip with a good friend and former co-worker.  We're off to Branson, Mo. for a few days.  More to come.

Have a great week!

Who's going to do this?

When I'm gone back to work tomorrow, who will stoke the fire to keep the house warm?

Who will keep the cat off the table? I was supposed to post this finished object weeks ago and I'm just now doing it.

Here's another finished object that missed FO Friday.  I just can't get this knitting blog stuff in order. Oh well.

Who's going to use this little pitcher to put water in the humidifier that sits on the fireplace so we don't have static electricity in the house?  I fill this pitcher 3-4 times a day.  Who will do that?

Who will use the leftovers to live off of every morning? 

Who will make juice out of whatever fruit and veg that's in the fridge? Never-mind I do that all the time.

Who will think of using all the left over Panetone to make and freeze french toast for future breakfasts?

Who will sit on the couch in front of the cozy fireplace watching talk shows and knitting from a huge bag of yarn? 





Who will do this when I go back to work tomorrow?  The house is going to miss me.

Double wammy WIP

What's the oldest thing in your pantry?  Food wise... I'm not talking about cake platters that were your Grandma's.  I'm talking about tortilla flour that your daughter packed into a hinge top jar back in 2005.  It had to be chiseled out into the trash.   It's a good thing that today is trash day because I'm on a roll.

Got rid of everything with an expiration date from 2002 to 2012.  I blew through the spice cabinet, pantry and medicine cabinet... including the vitamins.

When I think about how many vitamin supplements I used to take on a daily basis, no wonder I only weighed 110 lbs back then.  I had no room left in my belly for food.

On to the real work in progress, the knitting.  Not that culling expired stuff isn't work in progress.

After I finished the boot toppers that didn't turn out to be boot toppers (that's for Finished Friday.)  I pulled out some bright Springy colored sock yarn and was about to find a sock pattern.  My feet were cold and I have no idea where all my hand knit socks have gone. 

Jody immediately asked me if the socks were for him.  He's NEVER asked me to knit something for him, or taken me up when I've offered.   So.... back to the stash closet for something a bit more his style.  Blue, like denim and the only color that he can clearly identify, he's SO colorblind.  They look huge, because they are!  He's got BIG feet.

I still have these on the back burner/coffee table.  Gracie has become interested in these extra long needles I'm using to knit in the magic loop method.

She's also very demanding here of late.  If I spend too much time knitting and not playing with her she will find a nice length in my yarn and chew it in half.  Such a B----ig headed woman!*   It's always a good 2 to 3 yards down from the project where I don't see it until I'm in high speed and then all of a sudden I run out of yarn and have to make a splice.  Grrrrrr.  I'm not the only one she demands time from, she climbs in the middle of Jody's plans and projects too. 

And of course there's the Aran Hoodie.  I'm finally at the point where I can bind off for the shoulder seams.  I haven't worked on this since October!  I'm ready to get these piddly projects out of the way and get back to work on it.

Before we know it I'll have to start knitting on Spring and Summer stuff. 

Jody asked me the other night if I had any New Year resolutions.  I resolved not to waste my breath or thoughts on creating resolutions.  When I turned the question around to him, he said "to get the garage cleaned out" HALLELUIAH   And, he is planning on getting my BIG loom up and running.

Back to the cleaning and culling!  Do you have any resolutions? How about big plans?

*B----ig Headed Woman, back when Jolea was in the 7th or 8th grade and knew she'd get grounded for calling someone a Bitc%, she start to say "Bi....." and quickly change it to Big Headed Woman.   It's probably been 15 years since she's used that phrase. 

Merry and Happy and WIP

Hope you all had a merry Christmas.  We started it with severe thunderstorms and ended it like this.  Yeah, this is Texas and we like to have all the weather in one week. (It was in the high 70's just last week...)


The WIPs are a pair of boot toppers.  Just making it up as I go.  I did write the pattern down so that I can make more if needed.

And I'm also working on some fingerless mitts. I ran across this unfinished sock top in my stash and I think they were never finished because I hadn't been using sock yarn, so I decided to make them in to fingerless mitts. One down and one to go.  I wrote a pattern down for this one too.  I haven't even taken care of the yarn tails.

 Jeff got a cat, one for his house.  He has one here, but Gracie still thinks of him as the evil guy who plucked her from a tree 3 years ago and forced her to live with us.  He hasn't named her yet.  She was rescued by a friend's family and when she went out to Lubbock last weekend she brought the cat back for Jeff.  Does that make her a double rescue?  I'm sure they were not cruel or anything, but it's good to know your limits and if you can't keep a pet, then find a good home for it.  Notice she doesn't have a right back leg.  Pobracita!  She'll have a good home at Jeff's.

No huge plans for New Year's Eve.  Mike and Dawn want to have a Bourbon Tasting.  I'M IN!  I have yet to try out my Chocolate Martini Mix that I picked up at a friend's Chocolate Party.  Hope it doesn't taste like Chocolate Milk of Magnesia.  I made a batch of Coquito... Dawn and I can just sit around sipping on that and we'll be happy.

 

Our gifts from Jolea!

What ever you do, keep it safe!

Happy Sunday to ya!

Just chillin' out here on the deck.  Can you believe this weather?  It was around 80 here yesterday and supposed to be the same today.  I would love to live where it stayed warm all winter.  I don't care for the cold.

I finished some knitting this week.  Nita asked me to knit a scarf for one of her co-workers for Christmas.  She likes pink.  My instructions were "not hot pink... something soft."  Hope this isn't too soft.  The yarn is Yarn Bee, Andes Alpaca I'll never use it again because it sheds worse than the cat.  I hope she likes it.  This picture was taken as I began I really should take a FO picture. 

I finished this scarf for my Secret Pal last night.  It's the least I can do for her after all the fantastic things she's been giving me this semester.

I'd forgotten to show you the scarf I worked on and finished while in Sedona.  This is the one I toted all over town and knitted on every time we stopped somewhere.  I'm giving it to MY Secret Pal.  It's not her favorite color, but I didn't have any yellow yarn and hoped this Angora blend would be nice. It's a mobius scarf and will probably go around her neck 3-4 times.

Now that I'm done with those I can get back to work on the Aran Hoodie. I also have a couple of things I want to rip out and re-fashion.  Christmas Break is going to be pretty busy.  I think my niece wants me to knit something for her too.

I was able to visit with Michael and Di this past week.  They were in town for Di's re-con surgery!  She's doing great and isn't listing to port anymore. 

They brought some lemons from Nita's.  Her tree was overloaded this year so she was giving them away right and left.  I think Michael carried 200 or so back to the ranch and then brought a box and a reusable grocery bag (1/2 full) to me.  I gave the box to a co-worker, the 1/2 bag was plenty.

Yesterday I began processing them for the freezer.  I zest them...

Then I bagged and froze the zest....

Ready to juice....

Juice frozen in ice cube trays.

The house smelled lemony fresh! Just a little less than a cup to keep in the fridge.  Look at all that pulp!  3 ice cube trays holds 4 cups.  I think I juiced 2 dozen lemons of various sizes and froze about a dozen whole (I didn't zest them.) I kept a few to give to Dawn and a few that still had a little green on the skins to ripen.  I probably ended up with 5 dozen lemons!   I bet there were close to that many more in the box that I gave away.

I feel like a Prepper.  That reminds me, I need to make more laundry detergent.

Y'all have a great week!

I'm still here, if you were wondering.

Lots of stuff going on as time drags by.  Jeff came home from Costa Rica last week.  He came in late Monday night and went to work Tuesday morning.  Talk about making your vacay last as long as possible.  He's planning on going back in a couple of months.  Hmmm, maybe I can talk him into waiting until the middle of June and I'll go with him. He left the bike with a friend and has to get all that settled as to where to keep it or sell it.

Let's see....  I'm still working on the baby blanket. 

I don't like knitting baby blankets, they are SO boring. They take me as long as a gestation period to make.  I tell someone "oh, I can make that in a couple of weeks."  Then I've jinxed myself and I have to start completely over twice.  So I'm not going to say how much longer it will take, or the child will be getting it for her 7th birthday.  No pressure from Jody on finishing.

Because I'm having to make a baby blanket my other projects have to go by the way-side.  The hoodie is on hold and now I have this beautiful Noro yarn to drool over, and 8 skeins of another colorway in the stash closet, it's Noro too.  Jody said he'd pay me to make the baby blanket and is he ever!!!!

Last weekend we decided to do some re-arranging around the house.  I gave up my tiny sewing/yarn stash room aka, the walk-in linen closet in the hall to have the entire small bedroom as a craft room.  I know some of you are swooning right now especially Duder.  First thing we did was to get all the stuff out of the hall closet and into the re-designed bedroom closet.   I still don't have it all organized like I want, but it's getting there.  We have a few pieces of furniture on Craig's List to get rid of, then we'll move the looms in and it will be official.

In the mean-time, Jody is using the hall closet as "The String Store"!  He has become a distributor of guitar, mandolin and ukulele strings, picks and accessories.  So he moved all his stuff in there.  Check out his web-site www.cruzanstrings.com 
If you need anything let him know, and mention that you know me and I'll get paid in YARN!!!!

Also while all this was going on, Michael and Di made a trip to Florida to talk to another doctor and to do a little fishing.  Jolea and her friend Bobby Ming, took Uncle Michael out on Bobby's boat, and Uncle Doyle was there in spirit too! :)

I will talk to Di today to hear all about the trip and what they found out from the doctor in Florida.

Other than that, I've been taking off just about every Friday if not a Monday, for the past 5 or 6 weeks.  I had tons of comp time to use, and I think I've got it whittled down to a manageable amount, that way if I can't use it before the end of the year, they will pay me for those few hours.  Hate to have so much that I loose it all.  I think I can make it these next 5 days to Spring Break.  Then it will be a zooming 12.5 weeks till Summer!  Oh yeah, I will have that 5 day weekend in the middle of May for the Girls Day out trip to South Texas.  Yeah, I can make it till Summer. 

I guess I better start planning!  It will be here before we know it.

All is well...

... in Costa Rica.  Jeff has been calling in pretty regular... when he can get wifi service.

He bought a bike to ride around and to get to Panama on.  I guess he decided against public transportation.

When he told us that he bought a small motorcycle we were thinking it was like the last small bike he purchased. 

He said that he had to work on it a little bit to get it road worthy.  Staying in a bike friendly hostel helps. 

Back at home we were going about our lives as usual.

I made a hat for my boss' baby.  He's a HUGE Star Wars fan, his 3yr old twins are named Luke and Leah. This is Owen.

Me and a few of my co-workers decided to have a desert buffet for Valentines Day.  Other co-workers brought goodies and everyone stuffed their faces... it was a good day.

I completed my guitar class (6 lessons), I still don't get it.  My fingers are retarded, and I keep saying over and over "is it supposed to sound like that?"  But I'm getting there and I'll keep trying, as long as my finger tips don't snag my yarn.

I tried this wine, $2.99 at Whole Foods.  It's called Three Guesses.  When I showed it to Jody and told him how much I had paid for it, he said "the first two guesses don't count and the third is unimportant, kind of like this wine."  It's not bad, kool-aid with a twang, come to think of it, I don't even think I got a buzz.

Finished this a couple of weeks ago...

... yeah, I'm on the ball.  I made this cap for Jeff for his birthday.  It's the yarn left over from Di's hat.

His birthday was on Nov. 26th.  He forgot it here and didn't get it until he came back last weekend.  It'll come in handy when he goes to Big Sky, Montana for a good friend's wedding.  He's going to be the best man.

I stayed home today, used up a little comp time.  Decorated the house.... there's a wreath on the door.

Is it boring here or is it just me?

I was catching up on some blogs Friday evening, Jody was working late.  As I was reading the Barefoot Kitchen Witch's post for that day. After reading what they were up to I thought that it would be so fun to do something like that.

The witch family is so cool.  They do the neatest things with the kids. They have the greenest thumbs too, HUGE garden, and Jayne is always cooking something, bread, cheese, 47 dozen cookies, cakes that are works of art.  I wish she could be my next door neighbor I'd be fat as a hog.

So I fired up the wood burning stove.

I knew I'd have to heat the little skillet for quiet awhile in order to cook something.  We keep the red pot on the stove top with water in it to add moisture to the house.

This was going to take a lot longer than my Rachel Ray record breaking 20 minute meal.

Actually, Jody called and said he was on his way home an hour and a half had already past so I zipped up to Dairy Queen and got us some burgers. 

 Oh well, I tried it again Saturday morning.  Jody was about to leave for work and he stoked the fire up for me and gave me the pirate look when I said that I was going to cook something on the stove. 

 Here we go!

 Not hot enough :(  That egg white should have turned the instant that it hit the pan.

Back to technology.  You have got to have plenty of time to cook on a fire or fire place.

 Within minutes... it's done!

Speaking of done... one sleeve done the second started today.  It's been a good knitting weekend.

I did toss a piece of bread with a slice of cheese on the stove to see what would happen.  I forgot about it....  started cleaning house and found it later in the day, cold and dry, the cheese had melted a bit but dried out after the fire died out.

Y'all go check out all the yummy stuff that Jayne and her family create.