Yippee!

Hot dog! They are done!!! I finished the bamboo socks in the wee hours of the night last night. I did get done before it started to snow, though. And here they are. Aren't they beautiful! I now have two pairs of hand-knit socks to wear in the winter. All of my first socks were little shorty socks. It felt like this day would never come. I guess that is just because I am excited about starting the next pair of socks.
The next pairs of socks will be my ramble sock, that I swatched a few days ago, and then my On Your Toes, February sock, Charade. I finished my swatching on the Jawoll, and now I just have to wait until February (probably Saturday at Movie night) to buy the yarn. I have also been swatching my new Cascade Eco wool for my Oblique sweater. Boy, I did a lot of swatching yesterday and today, but I need to know what needles to buy. It sure is a good thing that we had a snow day today. Unfortunately, I may still have to go to practice, but that decision has not been made yet.

I also finished my soldier hat! It is headed out to the army plattoon with this new care package on Friday. It turned out great! It is fairly simple with a 3x3 rib, but should also be nice and warm and easy to care for being a superwash wool.

Now, I can finish the second baby hat for the big one's teacher, and I can start my new rambler sock!

Lions and Lace

My 2 yo roars. She always has. She growls and roars and talks in a "monster voice" all the time, and loves it. She thinks leopard print things are the very best. So when I saw this fabric with the lions on it, I knew I needed to make something for her out of it. Originally I was going to make footie pj's with a zipper, but I asked her what she wanted, and she wanted a nightgown like her big sister. So this is what I did for her.

Now, she is not all bark, and has a little princess in her as well, so she needed a ruffle and some lace! But she definitely needs the unexpected as well, so she got bright orange lace.

She absolutely loved it. The lace comes down and tickles her toes. She twirled and twirled and said that she was a princess! My little lion princess. That pretty much sums her up!

2 yo blues

Boy, have I got the blues! Life must be really tough to be a 2 yo, because that must be why you want to take it out on everyone else! My 2 yo is having a particularly rough day! Daddy wants to take her to a Women's Shocker game and have some special time with her, and she wants nothing of it. In fact she was screaming and crying for 1.5 - 2 hours this morning. Needless to say, I am a heartless mother, and the big one gets to go to the game with Daddy while the little one gets to spend the day in her room. Lots of fun for Mommy!

I did get her purple socks done yesterday morning. I would have a picture of them on her feet, but she is in her room, and I don't want to give them to her, or talk to her for that matter. But they did turn out pretty cute!
Last night we did get to have girls' night, and once the little girls were off to bed, Deb and I got to do some knitting. I was teaching her Judy's Magic Cast On to make great circular swatches. So I got to swatch the yarn I got from Mom for my birthday. It is the most beautiful yarn.

While I was swatching, I decided to try the pattern I think I will use on the socks. It mimics the rotating rib on the hat Mom made me for Christmas out of the same yarn. I think it turned out beautiful, and I can't wait to start them. However, I do need to get my bamboo socks finished first, so that I can use my own needles to make them, instead of Deb's! The yarn does the coolest thing where it goes back and forth between purple and green!


In the mean time, I am also trying to get a hat done for the Army platoon from Ft. Riley that Twist adopted. I have already taken over some soap, shampoo, and shaving cream, and I want to get this had done in time for this next package as well. It is just a simple 3 x 3 rib done in a brown superwash wool. I am making progress, and almost half way through the hat to get to the crown shaping. So, maybe I can knit and my little one will decide she is done throwing a fit and want to join the rest of us. We can only hope, but I'm not holding my breath!

Little things :)

I love little things! They are just so much faster - nothing like instant gratification for all your hard work! Yesterday, I did get a few things accomplished.

I got this nightgown made for the big one. She picked out the fabric, said she wanted a little lace, and in about an hour - voila! Nightgown. Extra easy since I made it off of a basic t-shirt pattern with just a slight modification.

Then, I got to sit down with the little one's other purple sock. I had gotten about 1 1/2 inches of ribbing done, and in just a bit of time yesterday, and about 2 hours today I am two stripes away from the toe - more or less.

Now if only my socks and the big black socks for the hubby would go so fast. I don't know what I would do with myself!

Also, a big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my mom who just this week finished knitting her first pair of socks! I am so excited for her! I can't wait to see them :)

Bras, Blogs, and Breathing treatments

That title pretty much sums up the day!

I finished a bra for one of the girls that I sew them for. Yeah! It turned out pretty cute too, if I get the picture, I will add it into this post later. (It is of the bra and not the girl). Now, I have finished all of my current custom orders, and maybe I can do some sewing for me and my family - now I just need to figure out what to start with!



You can all thank my lovely friend Debbie for finally getting me a decent picture to put on the blog and my Ravelry site instead of the picture of my sock. THANK YOU! :) She took that picture, oddly enough, while I was working on the Needle Nook blog, so it was rather appropriate!

And then, I got to cap off the day with my girls coming to work while the hubby went to the Shocker game. It is a school night after all, and the big one just needs more sleep than she gets on game nights. We went out to dinner of their choice - McDonalds. It is so nice that right now at least they have cheap tastes in going out to eat! We finished off with two breathing treatments back to back and reading all kinds of stories while we did them. I do enjoy getting to read with them, however, I am getting a little tired of the Clifford puppy days "Christmas Angel" that I have had to read twice a day, everyday!

Now I hear my wool calling me. It is cold out tonight - supposed to get down to 5 degrees - brrr. Curling up with my knitting seems like just the answer!

Progress Made

Low and behold! Progress continues! I was not sure that I was getting anywhere, especially with a crazy day off of school. After errands, and having to go to three different places to get Chinese food (one place is remodeling and one has closed sometime since I was last there 4 years ago - guess I should have gone more often), I got home and sat down to knit while doing laundry before heading out for basketball practice and games. I looked at the hat for the 6yo's teacher and realized that I only had about 7 rows to go. So I got the baby hat done.



The floor did not do it justice though. Which is a shame because it is so cute! So I found the next best small model I could. Somehow it just did not fit the Cabbage Patch doll very well.

So I thought I would try one more model - the 2yo, and it looks pretty cute. However, it would probably fit better if she did not have pony tails in, but at least you get the picture!

Otherwise, my bamboo sock is making progress. It has a heel flap, heel turn and the gusset decreases are over half way done.

And on another note. I was supposed to be working basketball games tonight, but because of the icy road conditions, they were cancelled. So, you know what that means - more knitting time tonight. :)

Sick Day

Well, the 2yo was home sick yesterday, so I got to spend some time at home too. We did breathing treatments, read books, watched PBS sprout, and in between, I got some knitting time!!!!!

I got to do another 30 min on Hubby's basic black sock - got to do that in the morning with good natural light. Poor thing, he asked me about it, because he hadn't seen it yet, and I had to tell him it was only 3/4" long.

I started the little one's second purple sock :) and have gotten a good inch or so done on it. I also finished my heel flap on my bamboo sock - I didn't do the heel turn, because I prefer to do that when I can be uninterrupted in my counting!

I also started a baby hat for the 6yo's teacher. It is kind of fun to know a lot of people having babies right now, because baby hats seem to not take so long - that is as long as your not trying to knit on 4 different things in one day. But, that was how the day was going, so that is what I did!

Now I think I need a sick day all by myself - I don't see that happening any time soon. Especially when I want it so that I can sit and knit all day and not be interrupted!

Knitterly Note

Okay, now on a happier note - one that involves more knitting, I did get the little one's first purple sock done!

And it fits her beautifully!

But now, I have to do the second one. My mind just has not been all there to cast-on, join in the round, and hope that I don't twist the stitches. So, I have been working on my bamboo sock. Boy did that last inch of ribbing take FOREVER! At least I have gotten it done and am working on the heel flap! Progress - definitely, perfection -who needs it anyway!

The Gift

• Maybe some people aren't meant to be in our lives forever.
• Maybe some people are just passing through.
• Maybe they got it all done faster than the rest of us.
• They don't need to stick around for a hundred years to get it all done right.
• They get it done real quick --- It's like some people just come through our lives to bring us something, A Gift, a lesson or a blessing.
• That is why they are here.
• The give the gift and then are free to move on -- and you have the Gift forever.

Hard Day

I am having one of the hardest days ever at work today. I have been the athletic trainer at a local Wichita High School for the past 9 years, and I have definitely gotten very close with my coaches. This morning my soccer coach (the only coach East has ever had), passed away. It is with a very heavy heart that I post this. I know he is in a better place, but my heart goes out to his son, his family, and all the kids he has coached over the past 30 years. God bless you Coach! You will be missed.

Special Time

I got the distinct priviledge to spend some special time with my little one! My husband and big daughter were off to the Shocker basketball game which left us to fend for ourselves. I think we did quite well! We had chinese for dinner, green Jello for dessert, and as the little one says it was "elicious" (delicious in toddler speak). And we capped off the night with Dora the Explorer movies - her favorite!



I was having a grand time too! I did her heel flap, turned the heel and picked up my gusset stitches on her purple birthday socks! Now if I could only get motivated to finish the second sock of my bamboo socks! I only have about 1/2 inch left of the leg - maybe after bedtime!

Well, I very well can't just leave the gusset the way it is now, so purple socks onward!

Shockers lost! :( Hubby and the big one are sad, but they still had a lot of fun!

Hi, I'm Jennifer and I love to knit and sew and be a mom. Welcome to my crazy world as I juggle work, family, and my wonderful hobbies.

Lately, knitting has definitely become my passion as can be seen on my ravelry page. I have been reading the Yarn Harlot faithfully and have truly been intrigued by the whole idea of a blog.

I have also been helping a wonderful friend with her blog for her business and I decided if I can help make hers work, why shouldn't I have my own. So here I go!