Dish Rag Tag Update

This Dish Rag Tag is going VERY slowly for my team. Our box has been stalled out for 23 days at one spot. A new box has been sent out. Now we may have 2 boxes going. 7 more stops on it's way back to Emily (yarnmiracle.com).

I am getting excited all over again. I have a bunch of stuff ready to stuff in that little box. I'm not sure if I should get more to put in there. Once I have the box, I'll know.

School is going well for J. He hasn't had any behavioral problems at school so far. I am loving that! We've had a few minor things happen at home, but who doesn't. K. says she likes school, but I know she is not doing well (in spelling). She has already resigned herself to not being able to do the timed math tests, and won't study her spelling.

Tonight I have to come up with something fun to do. I think we will go to a pizza buffet, and then out to a movie. As soon as I can get my new contacts, that is.

I have been trying new contacts since August. Trying to fine-tune the fit and comfort. Right now my eyes are driving me crazy. But, I am very hopeful that this next (and final) pair will be the right combo. I love not wearing my glasses way too much to give up on finding the right ones.

Knitting is going on, just not really any specific projects. I am more or less just dinking around. I need to commit to a project and finish it. I have 2 pr. of socks that need the 2nd sock made. I have a shawl that needs the last 30 rows (or more) done. I have a scarf that needs to be finished. Can we say, "UFO's"? And that is just what I have easily within my grasp every evening.

On to more knitting!

Mummy and Dish Rag Tag Update

I have one 'Revenge of the Mummy' sock done! I am not casting on for the second one yet, though. The new pattern for the Super Sock Scarefest came out yesterday, and I have cast on that one instead. This one is toe-up, and I am knitting it in black Knit Picks Essential yarn.

This yarn is wonderfully soft, and easy on my pocketbook. (always a plus)

On the Dish Rag Tag front? well, that's not going so well for our team. We are DEAD LAST! Our group only has a couple people who frequent the forum, and then that seems pretty sporadic. I hope that the other teams will hit some snags along the way, so we don't have to trail the entire race. I am getting anxious for the box to arrive. I can't wait to see the pattern, and what goodies will be sent.

The person who has to send to me hasn't asked anything. I guess I will just post my answers to questions I would/have asked others.

So, here goes:

Favorite animal: Killer whale, dolphin
Favorite color: blues
Favorite yarn: sock yarn: Socks that Rock; everyday yarn: Brown Sheep's Lambs Pride
Favorite drink: sugar-free kool-aid, diet Squirt, coffee
Favorite needle: knit picks Options
Favorite knitting project: socks
Favorite car: anything newer than mine. (or in better condition) One of those little VW Bugs would be fun.
Favorite food: Pizza (so many different ways to make the same thing!)
Favorite treat/candy: milk chocolate, Ferrero Rocher (the gold ones), gummiworms
Favorite place to knit/crochet: Barnes & Noble with friends
Favorite mode of transportation: any I don't have to be actively doing
Do you knit, crochet, or both: Both
Do you have any dietary considerations (i.e. kosher, sugar/salt/fat limits, hate a flavor)? I can not eat fresh citrus fruit (no fresh oranges, grapefruits, etc. they trigger migraines. And of course I love these things). Other than that, no real limits.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Mummies

I have knit the first mummy sock down past the gusset. I am now to the mind-numbing stockinette foot.

A new pattern comes out tomorrow (Super Sock Scarefest on Ravelry), and should use black yarn. Yeah! I can go stash diving for this one. (Actually I am stash diving for all of these, I hope)

I will be going to knitting tonight where hopefully I can blast through some of the foot.

I still have my Mystic Light shawl in progress. I need to work on getting chart 3 done (5 more rows), then chart 4 and the border. I could so have this done in about a month or so, IF I would just work on it.

I still need to gather up more stuff for my Road Trip Swap partner. I need to get this done by the end of the weekend. I hate knowing that she is waiting on me to get off my lazy butt and send it. I made some of the items that will be in there, but need to round out the package a bit more.

Well, off to make a list of everything I need to buy.

Socks, Pentapi and kids

I am knitting up some "Revenge of the Mummy" socks. I am using some Hannibal Lecter sock yarn. Great color, it reminds me of the old bandages with some grey-ish and lighter brown spots/streaks.

I put those aside this weekend (only did about 10 rows) and made a crocheted Octopus (with only 5 arms - hence Pentapi). My kids found it before school this morning and were swimming it all over the living room. I can see that I will have to make some more of these (and quick). I think that they will have to be birthday presents for them.

I got an e-mail from my son's teacher yesterday. Progress report. I could not be more happy!!!! He has all his homework turned in, all correct, and has done great on the spelling and other quiz he took. I can't wait to let his counselor know about this. I have been a bit worried about how he would handle moving to middle school and the bigger workload.

Today is his first clarinet class. I hope that goes well. He practiced over the summer, but quit playing about a month before school started back. He broke a piece on his clarinet, and didn't tell anyone. He also couldn't fit his reed in under the new ligature (more of an excuse than a real problem). But he has been playing the last few days, and still sounds pretty good. Just a few more strangled geese around the house than usual (if you've ever heard someone playing a clarinet for the first time, you will know what I mean -- LOL). We joke about this so we don't get too discouraged about not making all the notes perfect.

I am as happy as can be. Well, off to knit more mummies.

Washrags, Dishrags

I have made my Road Trip Swap her washrag. I need to get some goodies together and send this off this weekend.

I have no clue what is going on with DishRagTag and our group. I hope to see a box any day now when I get home. I need to get some goodies together for this one too.

I love making these every once in a while. They are quick, easy and can be very pretty. I made my daughter one that is shaped like a flower. Not the round-edged flowers, but it has pointy leaves/petals. She doesn't know that I have made this for her yet. I am waiting until her birthday to give it to her. It is Pink variegated, so she should like it.

I am making socks right now, and have a bag that is almost ready to be felted.

The kids are loving school. But already my dd comes home and says she hasn't learned anything new. They are in the newly moved portable classrooms and what don't they have? bathrooms. Of all the bloomin' things not to have. So if anyone is sick or has to go "NOW" they have to walk to the main school building and use the bathroom there.

I need to get a shirt for my son for gym (since it needs his name on it). Will have to do that tonight, maybe after my eye appt. New contacts, here I come.

Back to school

Well, the kids are now back in school (day 4). They like their teachers (so far) and that seems to be half the battle.

I love that they are excited to be back (even though they don't show it at 6:30 in the morning -- that's just moans and groans and covers being flung over their heads to represent amorphous amoebic blobs)

There are some growing pains associated with the return of school. No, you can't sit on the toilet for 20 minutes (basically sleeping) and still get ready on time. And dribbling your drink (twice) on your clean (just washed yesterday) clothes requires you to change clothes before leaving. (and no, you can not wear what you had on yesterday. and another no, you can not take 20 minutes to do this task).

Are you getting the feeling that one of my kids likes to take FOREVER to get things done????

Yeah, I have one of the biggest procrastinators in the world for a kid. And the other kid? well, let's just say he is very opinionated and stubborn as a mule once his mind is set.

I love them both bunches and bunches, but good golly ... I really hate some of their habits/behaviors. We are working on curbing some of them, and others I just try to ignore. (I can't ignore the 20 minutes on the toilet though, because we 3 share one bathroom)

Knitting is slowing down. I had a great surge of knitting with the start of the Olympics, but it has really trailed off. It seems I was able to knit fast and a lot while the swimming and gymnastics was going on, but once the swimming was over? well, my get-up-and-go got up and went.

I did get 2 pair of socks and a bunch of washcloths made, plus 1/2 of another pair of socks nearly done. I didn't get to the mini-hedgehog. I will, but not for a while.

I want to make for things to send off for charity. I also want to design a top for myself. I need to customize it so that I would actually wear it. Hmmm. Maybe those Barbara Walker books will come in handy.

Wednesday blahs

I have the Wednesday blahs. I don't want to work, I don't want to do much at all.

I want to play games, knit and listen to music. How's that for ambition? oh well. I have an hour more to go before I can go home. Tonight is also Knitting at Barnes. That usually isn't very productive, but I am trying to get a pair of socks knit before Sunday night. (This is a self-imposed deadline.)

I am plugging along for the Ravelympics. Woo Hoo! I basically have one sock left and a hedgehog to go before the end of the real Olympics.

Tomorrow night is a "Sip 'n Knit" at the Yarn Shop. This should be fun. At least it will be more fun than sitting at home knitting.

I think I will finish posting the news story we sent out today, then get ready to go home.

Ravelympic Progress

I finished the WIP Wrestling and the Gifts.

I finished the Sock-ease socks for my son yesterday (Sunday) and also finished the dishcloths. I actually made 4 instead of 3. They ended up being crocheted, but hey, they are done!

I also have half of the first sock for the Sock Put event done. I should be able to finish it up by Wednesday (I hope!) My goal is to have the pair done by the end of this weekend. That will let me spend some time making the hedgehog for the finish!

On another front, we all had our eyes checked this weekend. Of course things have changed. But just a hair. My son now has a new pair of glasses. They are lime green and black. He fell in love with them the minute he saw them. Then the lady helping us told him that they didn't have any in his size. So he started looking for a different pair. All of a sudden, she found the lime ones in his size. All the sunshine came back into my son's face.

I, on the other hand, am waiting for my trial contacts to come in!!! I have waited my entire glasses-wearing life (since 7th grade) to be able to try contacts. I can't tell you how much I HATE wearing glasses. As soon as they come in, I will make my appt. to have my fitting/teaching.

I just want to try them. I may not like them, but at least I will have tried. You never know until you try something new.

Well, have a great day!

The Olympics and the Ravelympics

And the race is on!

True athletes are competing in Beijing and knitters/crocheters are competing in their own events.

I am entered into 4 events. Someone I know didn't think that 2 events were enough. So ... I entered into 2 more. I am entered into the WIP Wrestling (sock), Sock Put (pr. of socks), Amingurumi and Toy Toss (mini hedgehog) and Gift Knits Pentathalon (set of 3 dishcloths).

I have the WIP almost done. I have to finish the gusset and rib the foot then finish the toe. I should have this done sometime tomorrow. (Yeah, me and my big dreams!)

I want to cast on a dishcloth next. That way I don't get too bored just making socks. I think these are going to be the flower shaped ones or round ones.

My hedgehog will be deep purple with light purple feet, and Sapphire fur. These usually take me about 5 evenings to finish knitting. So hopefully I can have it done for next weekend's laundry.

That will just leave me to knit another pair of socks.

I am excited to start watching some of the Olympics. It amazes me at the feats some people can accomplish with the human body. I often wish that I had the mental capabilities of a top-notch athlete. Not so much the physical ability, but the mental one. I have a hard time just keeping up with the must-do things, let alone the drive to keep at a task for more than a week or 2.

Yup! I have no endurance. I am one of those people that needs someone to force me to do things. I tried to get my kids to put some pressure on me, but they aren't much better. I thought it would be easy to get them to make me go swimming, but they forget 15 minutes after I tell them something.

Oh, well. I am on my way to start planning some Olympic T.V. for the weekend so that I can compete in my Ravelympic events.

A Day in Hades

Saturday and Sunday was too dang hot to be running around town, but when else are you going to get all those things bought?

I spent nearly all day Saturday running from one place to another. We start most Saturdays getting up early and heading to swimming lessons. (45+ minutes of knitting - Yeah!) then we usually head to the library or the park. This time it was the park. Then we went to Shopko to start the wonderful bank account drain of school shopping. Thought I'd check to see if I made sure I had my credit/debit card. Nope. So had to run home real quick, grab the card, then run back to the store. Grab a bite to eat at the McD's across the road, run home to get K ready to go with her Big.

Once she went with her Big, I dropped J off at a friend's house, ran to Dietze Music to pick up a broken part for J's clarinet. I had already been here earlier last week to get him some new music, and he "forgot" to tell me he needed this broken piece replaced.

Ran home, sat in the A/C for a few minutes to cool down and get ready for knitting at Braeda's.
I had all my stuff ready to go, swung by to pick up J, and he said he had to run home to get his stuff to take to knitting. OMG!

So ran back home, he ran in and got his stuff, ran back out, then drove over to knit/drink/chat.

Right before leaving to go home, got a call from K's Big. Could I pick her up? No problem. Could I also do a favor and drop K's Big off to pick up her car from the shop? sure. (Frantic bagging of trash from the car, so someone else can sit in the front passenger seat -- in 102F)

Drove to pick them up and drop K's Big at the repair shop, only to find out that her car had no brakes when she picked up my DD.

Ran to the closest Popeye's to grab some supper, then ran home for the final time. Needless to say, I still didn't get everything done that I had wanted or needed to.

Woof!

After that, Sunday seemed to drag on forever (I refused to go anywhere until about 4 p.m. while the kids begged to go swimming, and a stop at the humane society to drop off the shoe boxes and dream about getting a pet.).

I thought that the day would never end.

Pictures

I completely planned to post pictures of my hedgehog, monkey socks and lacy trellis socks (in progress). I have the photos taken, but my card reader isn't liking the SD card.

This is the same card reader that I have used plenty of times in the past.

I WANT TO POST MY PICTURES!

oh, well.

PinkLemonTwist announced today that Mystery Shawl #4 is now open for people to join. So, of course, I joined.

Dishrag Tag is also open today for people to sign up. (Thanks Christy)

Can't wait for tomorrow. Knitting at the local Braeda's (is it ea or ae?) I love getting out and just having fun chatting, drinking and having fun! (OK, so my life is pretty basic)

Ravelympics

I have joined the throng that will participate in the Ravelympics. I am entering the Sock Put and the Gifts categories. I may also enter the Toy Toss, maybe. Maybe I should enter the WIP event too. (then I could just finish some of the projects I have left to do)

I have 8 rows left on the socks I am knitting. Then will switch to the other pair that I have going.

I am trying to get done with some of the projects that I have on the needles right now. I don't want to have them just sitting around ... waiting.

I will have to think about this over the weekend. Maybe I should go through my WIPs, and just see what will be able to be finished with only minimal fuss.

On the kid front, things have been going fairly well this summer. J only had one major meltdown, and that was on the 4th of July. We were playing the Wii, and he was losing. He got mad, and let's just say that I still have a sore eye. (yes, a month later and it still hurts. makes me wonder if I have a small fracture in my cheekbone.)


This sweater has driven me to stuff it into a bag and hide it away. I have the back done, and supposedly have the front done, if you follow the directions. But, looking at the photo and comparing that to my actual product? They are completely different. I think I will have to just wing it to get it done. That, or I will have to frog this project, yet again.

(I can't get my photo to load, so I will just put a link in instead. That's why I keep on trying to edit this post.)

Donuts! Mmmmmm!

OK, this is supposed to be a link to get a free sample of Dunkin' Donuts Coffee. (Hopefully it will work. I am a very blog button/link dummy)



Well, that seems to work. Let me know if it doesn't.

Things are definitely going in the right direction with J. He is back in school (as of last week) and had been a model student. His being able to go to a different classroom to work has completely ended homework, missing assignments, and a lot less headaches all around. We are giving this 5 stars for last week, and on our way to 5 more stars for this week.

J wanted to do band camp this summer, but I just can't swing it. It's from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Now, my question is ... how is a single working mom supposed to be at work at 8 a.m. able to make this happen? Answer: you can't. Even with flex scheduling, there are some things that just are not possible.

I need to send both kids away this summer to camp. I hope I didn't wait too long though. I hope there are still spots open for them. (We'll just add more to the credit card bill. :0) ) They both need some time away from the family, and the family REALLY needs some time away from them.

On the Knitting Side:
I need to get some materials together this week on working Toe-up socks. I forgot that I am supposed to give a small spiel at our guild meeting this Saturday. Crud. Knitty.com, here I come. <>

I am working on a couple of blankets (baby/lapghan sized) to donate still. I am working on a pair of slipper socks, finished the baby hedgehogs (gifted one to Mom for Mother's Day), and am back to working the Mystic Light shawl.

Slow Bee Mystery Shawl started on Mother's Day. I have not cast on yet, but this one looks so pretty, from what I have seen so far.

I also need to get back to the kids vest (donation) that I stopped working (due to lack of enough yarn and a pattern cut off right where I had stopped) . I really want to complete 25 items to be donated to the Warm Woolies group. I have 1 1/2 items done. I think that this is a great use of my wool/mohair Lamb's Pride yarn. We'll just have to see what I can get done.

Back to work time!

Life's Getting Better

Well, things have gone a bit better since last time. Not great by any estimate, but better.

J got a 5 day suspension from school for throwing a pencil at his teacher. Not the best at coping with stress/frustration.

We upped his ADHD meds. and this has helped some, but not all that much. He is still very animated, and not too focused. I may suggest that a split dose of his mood stabilizer might be helpful, if it doesn't make him too tired/sleepy.

We are in the countdown mode for the end of the school year. Today is 16 more days to go. Some days this sounds like an overwhelmingly LARGE number. J did get back in school just in time to still be able to participate in his Band concert. He plays the clarinet, and he does it quite well. He hates to practice, but once he gets going, he plays like a champ.

I have to admit that this year's 5th grade band was quite good as well. This can not be said for previous years.

Well, on to knitting. I have stalled out on the 2 lace shawls I am in KAL's for. But that's OK, because I have a 3rd starting this Sunday! LOL. I know, I know, too many projects and not nearly enough time.

Right this instant I have a baby blanket in the works (crocheted), a pair of socks (take along knitting), and the 2 shawls. Oh forgot about the vest I had to stop on while I waited for more yarn.

I just got done knitting 2 hedgehogs (miniaturized), they need to be felted and stuffed. My mom actually requested one of these. I let her pick out the colors from what I had on hand, and I finished it 3 days later. I think I like the mini's better than the full sized ones. They are just too cute. I also knit a pair of socks to donate to WarmWoolies. I also made 2 hats that Jen sent to Afghans for Afghans for me.

I think I will try to finish the Mystic Light shawl first (less left to do). Then finish the other one next. I don't want to start any more until I get these 2 finished. (I have 3 more KAL's that start this Sunday, next month and the following month.)

I like to do some small and simple projects (like the mini hedgehogs) in between the larger projects. It helps to break up the frustration/repetitiveness of some of these projects.

OK, enough rambling for me today. :-) See, I told you it was going a bit better.

Life stinks right now

Life is crummy right now. Ever since we decided that we needed to change J's meds. (out of necessity, to protect his heart) Things have been completely off kilter.

We were doing GREAT, no behavior problems, easy going at home and school. And now? A child welfare case under investigation. Need I say more? I am on edge every moment, waiting, worrying, wondering what is going to come of all of this.

I just want to go back to what we had. Things are getting better, but they just aren't the same. J wishes that he could go back to the meds like they were before too. Each 2 weeks, we adjust things, and see how they go. Then back to to Dr. for more adjustment. And each week I pray that things go smoothly and get back to a resemblance of calm.

This has even cost me someone I thought of as a friend from a local group I am in. She won't even acknowledge me, or anything. I suggested that we talk about what happened, but to no avail.

OK, enough of that.

Knitting is keeping me sane, but I am getting to the point that I don't even want to knit. I'm in a slump, not good since I have 2 large lace projects going right now. I guess that I will go back to making some more squares, no thinking involved, or some other small projects (baby stuff?).

Other than that? life is just fine and dandy. :-)

What more can I say? Tomorrow is another day.

Squares, squares and more squares

Well, I have made 4 squares since our Guild meeting this month.

I particularly don't like garter stitch squares. Yes, they are easy. Yes, they are fairly quick. But man! they are so BORING!

I made a mitered square (garter stitch) to help break up the monotony, but even that didn't help much.

I love making the squares, but I have to have something to give me a bit of stimulation/excitement, otherwise I just want to fall asleep.

Science Saturdays are over. My son is sad. He really enjoyed going and doing this. He really wants an activity to go to like his sister.

She has a Big Sister through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters group. So every Saturday, she and her Big go out and do fun activities. And, J. has to stay home.

It's been almost a year since we signed up to make a match for my son. No match yet. I wish there were more male volunteers for this program. So many young boys would benefit by having a match.

I will keep my eyes open for a new opportunity for him. Maybe something else will come along.

Cheers!

Very Bad Blogger -- Continued!

OK, yes I told you I was a bad blogger.

But, what else it new? Right?

Well, what has been going on since October? Tons.

There was Halloween. There was K's birthday, Great Grandma's birthday, J's birthday. There was Thanksgiving. There was Christmas/Holiday break, New Year's celebrating. There was my birthday, and last but not least, there was Valentine's day.

Ok, see, I need someone to kick me in the pants and get me in the habit of doing this bloggety thing. :-)

I still have not finished my Mystery Shawl #5, or the Secret of the Stole. I didn't even start the Mystery Halloween Shawl.

But that has not stopped my infatuation with these KALs. I am in Secret of the Stole ii (SotSii), the Mystic Light, and another one or two from Germany.

I also joined 3 yarn clubs to boot! One is only 3 months, and one is all year long, but I can't remember the 3rd. None have started yet, so I keep getting excited about the mail.

Another big change is that we switched my son's meds. Oh boy! what a wonderful difference. Let's just say that it was like someone gave me a different boy. The only problem is that he was sent home with chest pain and a fast heart rate. We saw the doc., and stopped one med. to see if that helped. It seems to have helped. There have been no more chest pain problems, but his heart rate are still really high. I suppose that since the meds are working great on his behavior/mood, that they will have to be stopped because of side effects.

That would be about my luck. >:-(

We see the doctor tomorrow. Now, the other side of this coin is that who knows if his heart rate were high before we started any meds 5 years ago. I seriously doubt that anyone even bothered to check.

I am still knitting up a storm. (Just not shawls) Socks, slippers, hedgehogs. Short, quick projects. I even have a couple of squares done for our Knitting Guild charity project.

Very Bad Blogger!!!!

OK, yes I told you I was a bad blogger.

I will have to write more tomorrow. Things are busy at work and home.

But, what else it new? Right?