the last day to blog this year December 31, 2005

I thought I would get one more post in before the new year.  Both my mom and Granny have been asking…I guess I don’t feel like I have many knitterly things to say as the construction overwhelms life.  Of course, that has finally settled down but round 2 could begin mid-February but there are issues…another post.

Christmas was pretty low key.  We spent the Eve with Kevin’s family at his sister’s house.  Owen did really well this year and we were all able to enjoy ourselves.  Christmas morning was quiet with just the kids and the afternoon at my sister’s–a Christmas surprise as we have not been speaking with her husband for quite some time. There were very few knitterly gifts–Ann Budd’s book and a lovely Elizabeth Austen bag from Granny.  I had been eyeing it for a while but love my plastic bags!  Kevin and I also treated ourselves to new dishes and more utensils!  We have luxury room in the new cabinets.

Kevin has been home for nearly 2 weeks between vacation and the transit strike.  It has been nice having him around.  I think I could even get used to it but it is not to be so.  He leaves for San Diego on Monday for a week long business trip.  I have a couple of gifts to finish up and then I hope to get back to my knitting!  St. Brigid calls…

In fact–Jody has decided on a new yarn–a surprising but lovely choice!  Jody also gave a nice pictorial on the triple increase.  Felicia plans to show hers a little more attention this new year too.  Send me your updates and I will post them.  If you have decided to knit along–let me know and I will add you to the list.

I wish you all and bright, happy and wonderful New Year!

December 23, 2005

As it must be for most of us–life has been incredibly chaotic.  On top of all the holiday stuff, Kevin’s grandma passed away.  She was 90 and really a fraction of the woman I knew 10 years ago when her husband passed.  She was a spunky Sicilian who wore high heels every day and never drove.  Her homemade pasta was unbeatable.  And her cheesecake sat in the bottom of your stomach for days!  This holiday–Christmas Eve especially–Grandma Rose–or "Hose" as Gracie called her–will be celebrated and honored.

Where do you go after news like that?  Can I easily transition to other issues why not to blog.   Specifically, it’s the cat.  Scooby, it seems, has taken a liking to IM and chat.  We found him IMing Kevin the other day.  And then he opened a chat room.  Earlier this week, Kevin pulled him off of the laptop and Scooby took  off nearly a dozen keys.  We were able to get a few back on but Scooby dug into the keyboard as if his life depended on it.  A new one is on the way.  That darn cat!

I finished all of the teacher gifts in time.  I did, however, forget Cameron’s reading teacher.  And I forgot big!  No gift, no card and no cupcakes for the party.  Uhoh!

After the holidays, I feel like I am ready to get back to St. Brigid.  I am a little worried about figuring out where I am in the charts.  My dyslexia really makes it difficult to put all the patterns together.  We’ll see…

If I don’t blog again before the holiday–may yours be happy and bright. 

As it must be for most of us–life has been incredibly chaotic.  On top of all the holiday stuff, Kevin’s grandma passed away.  She was 90 and really a fraction of the woman I knew 10 years ago when her husband passed.  She was a spunky Sicilian who wore high heels every day and never drove.  Her homemade pasta was unbeatable.  And her cheesecake sat in the bottom of your stomach for days!  This holiday–Christmas Eve especially–Grandma Rose–or "Hose" as Gracie called her–will be celebrated and honored.

Where do you go after news like that?  Can I easily transition to other issues why not to blog.   Specifically, it’s the cat.  Scooby, it seems, has taken a liking to IM and chat.  We found him IMing Kevin the other day.  And then he opened a chat room.  Earlier this week, Kevin pulled him off of the laptop and Scooby took  off nearly a dozen keys.  We were able to get a few back on but Scooby dug into the keyboard as if his life depended on it.  A new one is on the way.  That darn cat!

I finished all of the teacher gifts in time.  I did, however, forget Cameron’s reading teacher.  And I forgot big!  No gift, no card and no cupcakes for the party.  Uhoh!

After the holidays, I feel like I am ready to get back to St. Brigid.  I am a little worried about figuring out where I am in the charts.  My dyslexia really makes it difficult to put all the patterns together.  We’ll see…

If I don’t blog again before the holiday–may yours be happy and bright. 

I feel like… December 15, 2005

I have hit the wall on hats.  I think I have two more to go…and all those leftovers would make such cute striped hats–after the holidays, right?  Today I am hoping to make some candy using a recipe I saw on SuSan’s blog (did I do the correct uppercase letters?).  They seem simple enough and I hope to get Owen and his teacher involved.  Owen doesn’t care for chocolate candy so this should be interesting.  Mind you, he won’t pass by an Oreo.

Speaking of Owen…his school has decided to put him on PECS.  I am a little frustrated as he came into the program well into Phase 1 and they took him off as he had some language.  Most studies say that PECS, paired with language, will facilitate verbal communication.  Sigh.  I let it go.  Three years later, we are starting again.  I was talking with another mom last night–whose son is on PECS–and I said to her I felt like I am not giving up, just kinda giving in a little bit.  This weekend I have to work on creating a PECS notebook.  My only wish is that his teachers continue to pair both written and spoken words with the pictures–Owen is capable.

Better get back to the soup I am making.  It is nice to have a stove again.  And a  sink!  And countertops! 

Blatherings on a tuesday December 13, 2005

There was a flurry of activity on the St. Brigid KAL group yesterday–all spurned by a spam email that started like this.

Damn, it has sure been a while… I just realized today that it’s been 12 months
since I last went out with a special lady, but I am pretty happy to be…

It’s been a while for me too…not quite 12 months with my special little lady…Very funny.  I got hit on the Lara KAL group too.  Stupidly, I clicked the link–thinking it was a blog.  So freaking gullible. 

Two steps forward and one step back on the house construction.  The counter tops arrived yesterday but one of the cabinets–next to the sink–doesn’t seem to be level with the rest of the cabinets so they didn’t fully set the counter.  It looks good though.  Really good.  And the bar counter isn’t set as the brackets weren’t in place.  I have to say, I am quite pleased with our cabinet maker.  Being a one man operation,  we speak directly to him and can get things resolved pretty quickly and correctly.  Ann laughed at me ’cause he offered to get here at 7am this morning but I said Thursday would be fine.  It’s enough for me that he offered to make me happy. 

Speaking of Ann, she and Peggy came to the shop on Saturday.  Ann surprised me with a very thoughtful Christmas gift.  My very own cake dome.  Especially kind of her given I smashed hers!  I can’t believe I am sending people back to those hideous pictures of me!  But look at that cake dome–lovely.  And that counter top.  Love it!

Knitting…I have been dreaming of the Lace Leaf Shawl I set aside over the summer due to felting in the heat issues.  I recently stumbled over that lovely yarn Margene gave me.  Sigh.  Instead, I am cranking out hats for teachers.  6 down and 2 to go.  My mom asked me why I knit these things for teachers.  I think they appreciate them and I certainly appreciate the time they spend with my kids–Owen especially.  They put so much time and effort into him–with not always the greatest return.  So if I can put some of the time I have towards them…I don’t know–it just makes me feel a little bit better.

Washing machine is broken AGAIN!  Second time in a month.  Thank goodness for extended warranties but I need to do wash–desperately.  Off to my mother’s house–beats the laundromat!

Be it ever so humble December 6, 2005

Are you tired of house pics yet?  No one is here today!  The painter was supposed to come but backed out due to the snow.  Yea.  It is nice to have a bit of peace and quiet.  And to sit on the couch, reading emails, knitting, blogging without anyone looking at me. 

Here is the latest on the kitchen.  I forget what color green we chose but it is a bit more yellow then I remembered but it is bright and cheerful.  The drawer fronts have been changed and we were able to get our cup pulls on.  The dishwasher panel arrived yesterday but we all realized we should have had a dummy drawer on top of the dummy cabinet.  I love saying dummy.  No problem says our kitchen guy.  I really like him a lot. 

This refrigerator fits properly.  Why didn’t we believe everyone when they said stainless steel was hard to keep clean?  Do you see Scooby getting in on the action?  He’s such a goober.

I think this is a better picture of the dining room color.  Owen’s artwork is on the opposing wall.  The color is called Quincy Tan and it is from Benjamin Moore’s Historical Colors.  All the colors we chose are from that group.  I love them.  I am saving my money for a new dining room set. 

Last we have the closet in the foyer.  Kevin and I worked on this organizer over the weekend.  Granted he did most of the work–I just read the directions and handed him the little pieces.  I know the shoe organizer takes up a good bit of room but it is worth it to me–the kids shoes (and ours) are everywhere!  Now we can each put 4 pairs in there.  Plus room for guests!  Can you tell it’s the smaller things that make me happy? 

I have been working on Kevin’s hat in the alpaca–uncertain 96 stitches on a US 7 is enough for his big head.  I have to whip up a scarf for Cameron’s holiday fair.  And I am considering 6 hats for Owen’s teachers and assistants.  Someone tell me I am nuts.  But the parents have decided to pool money for a gift and that’s just not personal enough for me.  I can’t do candles.  Or mugs.  Or picture frames.  I think I need an intervention!

December 5, 2005

I know it is difficult to see but this is the new dining room paint–Quincy Tan–with a bit of Owen’s handiwork!  Cameron and Owen were chasing each other around the house with a couple of little airplanes, I sat down to type out an email and Cameron starts shouting, "Owen is making circles on the new orange paint".  Sigh.  I did get quite angry and put Owen to bed early for a Friday night.  It can be repainted. 

I went to bed early that night.  Thus not much knitting this weekend.  Although  I started a wine bottle cozy for the shop in Berroco Crystal FX.  Yes, it’s kind of cheesy but what the heck–it’s quick.  Gracie likes the yarn and wants some fingerless gloves.  It’s got a bit of elasticity to it so it will work nicely.

Kevin is in need of a new hat–the last one got felted accidentally.  I am planning on a ribbed cap with some beautiful alpaca I bought at Rhinebeck last year.  Using stash yarn feels so good! 

I know these entries are boring lately.  Not that I was ever that exciting.  Electric is supposed to be here on Wednesday!  Yea!

I know it is difficult to see but this is the new dining room paint–Quincy Tan–with a bit of Owen’s handiwork!  Cameron and Owen were chasing each other around the house with a couple of little airplanes, I sat down to type out an email and Cameron starts shouting, "Owen is making circles on the new orange paint".  Sigh.  I did get quite angry and put Owen to bed early for a Friday night.  It can be repainted. 

I went to bed early that night.  Thus not much knitting this weekend.  Although  I started a wine bottle cozy for the shop in Berroco Crystal FX.  Yes, it’s kind of cheesy but what the heck–it’s quick.  Gracie likes the yarn and wants some fingerless gloves.  It’s got a bit of elasticity to it so it will work nicely.

Kevin is in need of a new hat–the last one got felted accidentally.  I am planning on a ribbed cap with some beautiful alpaca I bought at Rhinebeck last year.  Using stash yarn feels so good! 

I know these entries are boring lately.  Not that I was ever that exciting.  Electric is supposed to be here on Wednesday!  Yea!

Do unto others December 1, 2005

I love that idea.  I do try to live by it and teach my children to also.  Certainly, the holiday season is as good a reason as any to try to be a little nicer.  Point in case–I had to drop Gracie off at school early this morning.  Packing the boys in the car at 7:20am is not fun but the promise of a fresh bagel helps!  When it came time to pay the $5.84, I found I had just $3.00 in my wallet.  With the kitchen out of commission, we have been eating out a lot.  I scraped together some change, offered a priority mail stamp or Chuck E Cheese tokens.  They weren’t happy.  Not even smiley.  A very kind woman gave me a dollar.  With the couple of quarters in my jacket I was able to overpay!! 

With that thought in mind, I made just a couple of hats for Margene and Carole’s Knit Unto Other’s KAL.  I enjoy charity knitting.  Our local guild contributes to many charities near and far.  For me, they make perfect inbetween projects and are terrific for using up odds and ends.  Lamb’s Pride Bulky knits up pretty quickly and I used Manos, Serendipity and Soho bits I had left. 

Speaking of giving…my Better Pal package arrived.  It was wrapped so nicely.  It is unfortunate that the picture I took of the gifts isn’t as nice.  I am no Cara!  Inside was some lovely Noro–a skein of Kureyon and Silk Garden, a Lantern Moon Needle cozy and a Knit Lit book.  Thanks Better Pal.  Blossom from Whispering Pine was my Pal and she did a great job!  It was especially nice to try some yarns that are new to me!  The Artyarns and Drops are in the queue.  And Noro is always appreciated.  Thanks again Blossom!