It's been awhile

Okay, it's been longer than awhile, it's been months. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I suck at blogging. I go great guns for a bit and then disappear. So here I am to give a little update.

Had a couple of days in court 3 weeks ago. Still trying to disentangle myself from the child molesting peice of crap who used to call himself my husband. He's still trying to take the house away from us. On the health front, I'm still leaking from three places and had a major bout of depression that hit me the end of October and didn't really let up until the end of January/early February. This week has been the week of the sinus infection. Not so much fun.

I retook the entrelac class at Twist last Tuesday. It went much better this time. 1) it wasn't on a S&B night and 2) the class was pretty small, just 4 of us and Laura. I managed to get through 2 rows and tried to get started on row 3. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up where I left off this afternoon at Twist.

So that's the long and short of it. Not really much to tell other than the slimeball has been indicted on Federal child porn charges and is facing another 40 yrs in prison. As usual, he thinks he's going to walk away from it even though they have more evidence than you can shake a stick at and the fact that he said some things at the divorce hearing that can be used against him. Idiot. I hope they tear his short ass up and spit him out.

Now that's really all there is for me to tell. Just keep us in your thoughts...

People Amaze Me!

I had been planning a weekend out of town for a couple of months now and thought I wasn't going to be able to go because I didn't have anyone to watch Spike for me. Then someone amazed me. Nana Pam offered to have her parents watch Spike, but I didn't want him driving her father crazy. Spike is kind of needy and that would have driven Bill nuts. Then Pam Bishop, who is going to run the retreat, asked her hubby, Dennis, if he would mind watching Spike at their house while we were gone. He said no problem at all. They have a basset hound named Winnie and I think Spike will get along with her just fine. She's got the run of their sun room and I think Spike will do just fine with her there.

I have really needed this retreat. I haven't been out of town for fun in over three years. The last trip out of town that was supposed to be fun was ruined by the rat and his "pet". The last two trips out of town were definitely not fun. One was when Gran was dying and the other was to go back to help clean out her house so it could be sold. Definitely not fun.

So now I need to get my knitting stuff together to take with me. I also need to wash some undies and pj's. I think I'll wash my hair in the sink Friday morning. That will be easier than trying to do it while I'm away. I am sooooo excited about this trip! I know that it's to McPherson, but still, it might as well be to New York! It's not Wichita and it's not a trip that is an obligation, so it's allllllllll good!

People amaze me with their acts of kindness. As much as I hate to admit it, I've come to expect the worst from people in general. That's not like me at all, but when you look at the last couple of years, I think you can understand why I feel like that most of the time. The friends that I have made up at Twist have just been incredible. Last year, when I was in the hospital so much, many of them came up to the hospital to knit with me. When I don't show up to just hang out and knit, someone will call me to make sure that I'm okay and see if I need anything. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of ladies to hang out with...even if I tried to find them, I probably couldn't. Good things find you when you aren't looking for them.

Tomorrow, Mom, Vanessa and I are going to clear out the crap in the dining room and on the stairs. It's step two in clearing what's left of Henry Nelson out of my life. If I can get the living room and the dining room cleaned up, the rest of the house should be a snap. I went through part of the bedroom the other day and threw away two bags of crap. I know that I'm going to come up with much more than that from the dining room and the rest of the bedroom. I would like to have it all done before my birthday. Hopefully, we'll have it done and be ready to move on to the upstairs. Now there's some scariness that I really don't want to face. I'm not sure which is going to be worse: the upstairs or the basement. The basement was his domain and you wouldn't believe all the garbage that is down there. Anything that is mine down there can be put in storage tubs or space bags and moved to the garage.

I'm going to go and try to decide which project to take with me on the retreat. I'm thinking socks, socks and maybe more socks. *grins*

I send you all love, light and peace-
Tammy

Holy Crap!

It seems that the weather gods are just not happy with us here in the Midwest. For a week solid, we had storms that started after midnight and would last until 4 or 5 in the morning. So sleep wasn't really an option when you are lying in bed listening for the tornado sirens to go off. Luckily, we didn't get the Oz treatment last week. We did have a couple of days where not much happened weatherwise. We got a little rain during the day a couple of days ago. But this morning...HOLY CRAP! It was one fast moving storm! The weather channel said it was moving at 38 mph. It just dumped a buttload of hail and rain on us and now all's quiet outside. It's the kind of weather that gives me a major case of the creeps. It's so much like the weather where a tornado just drops out of the sky when you least expect it...just like it was when I was a kid back in West Texas.

I've been up since right after midnight. I guess that's what I get for going to bed early last night. I think I woke up because I was hungry. Of course, by the time I got it together to go get something, just about everything but McDonald's and Burger King was closed. Apparently, half of Wichita decides that 1am is the perfect time to go get something to eat. There was quite a line at BK's drive through. I can tell you that their Steakhouse Burger is pretty tasty. I liked the crunchy little onion strings on the burger. It was better than most of the ones at Red Robin...and the onion strings were actually crunchy instead of soggy. I could do without their fries, though. I guess I'm kind of over fries for the time being. I'd rather have a good cheeseburger with plain old potato chips than fries.

I guess I should mention knitting at some point, since this is my knitting blog. I finished my first pair of socks last month. They washed up really well, too. I am glad that I spent the money for the sock blockers, though. I think I'm going to get the small set so I can block socks for Rhiannon. I got the Little Box of Socks the other day and I am in LOVE with some of the patterns! One of them is called Faceted Rib Socks. It's really a fairly simple pattern, if you can get passed the funky twisted German cast on. They did their model pair out of Lorna's Laces, so I know that just about any sock yarn that I already have is going to work with this one. I picked up a couple of balls of Panda Wool in a beautiful heathered purple the other day and started the cast on for the Faceted Rib socks. I figured this would make a great pair for Rhiannon. There's also a pattern for golf/athletic socks in the Box. Rhiannon loves those little short socks. The model was stitched with Fixation, so I picked up some fixation to see if I'm going to like the pattern or not.

I am halfway through the first sock of March's SotM. I'm having a hard time getting motivated to finish this one. I guess it's the yarn. It's knitting up nice enough, but it's just not something that I would normally go OOhhh-AAhhh over, you know? It's one of the Opal Zirrcus yarns and I swear it looks like something a Red Hat wearing cat hoarked up...all purple, red and cream coloured. It's knitting up better than it looked in the ball. Good thing or I would have tossed it day one!

I'm going to try to nap a bit before the nurse comes for dressing changes. Later today, it's off to Twist to see what's new and to pick up the issue of Simple Knitting that Shelly always holds back for me.

Hugs to everyone-
T

Let there be socks!

Finally! After working on them off and on for 2 months, I have finished my first pair of socks! Something I can wear and say, "Hey look at these! I made them!" They aren't perfect, but they're mine. I can't wait to cast on for my next pair. But first, I have a little obligation stitching to do for a dear friend.

After that, it's on to more socks! Socks, glorious socks!

Almost there!!!

For the last couple of months, I've felt like a little kid again. Constantly asking myself, "Am I there yet?" Have I been on some kind of strange trip? Well, not really. Not unless you count sock knitting as a strange trip, indeed. *grins*

I decided that I was going to learn how to knit socks since I had been collecting pretty sock yarns for several months. So when Twist started up their version of the Sock of the Month club, I couldn't help myself! So I paid for my club membership and then bought the yarn for February's SotM. I wrote down the pattern and put all my supplies in a cute little sock bag with little love monkey's all over it. It really didn't take me all that long to get sock number 1 finished, but then my health, or rather my bad health, reared its ugly head and set me back. I didn't knit much of anything. Anyway, back to the sock story at hand...or rather at foot. Last weekend, I took my second sock with me to Twist because I had a spot on the heel that I couldn't fix. Shelly, shop owner extraordinaire, was able to get the little ladder fixed and I sped right on through the heel flap. Of course, I boogered up the heel turn. The flap was great. The turn, not so much. That's where Connie, our official SockNut, came in. God bless her! She unknit my over-turned heel and got me back on track.

So Thursday, I picked up my sock again and got the heel turned and started working on the gussets. I zoomed through the gussets and now find myself in what I call the homestretch! I'm working on the actual foot part! I wrote down exactly how many rounds I needed to do of R1 and R2, and I am only48 rows away from the dreaded Kitchener Stitch! Wooohoooo! I should be finished with my first pair of socks later today (Sunday). I'm so excited that I can't sleep! I had to get up and let the dog out, so I figured that I might as well get some knitting in while I was wide awake and obviously not in dreamland.

I'll find a way to post a pic of the finished pair later on. Then it's off to March's SotM. I've got the pattern and the yarn just waiting. I even have April's pattern and yarn waiting most patiently for me to finally get to them. My mother, God love her, is waiting most patiently for the pair of socks that I promised her in January when she bought that yummy alpaca sock yarn and asked me to knit a pair for her.

Back to working on the last bit of Charade!

Socks!!!!

After 2 classes on how to knit socks two at a time on the same needle, I think I just might have the concept down. Granted, the only thing that can wear the itty bitty socks that I have on my needles is my daughter's My Twinn doll, but hey, I've figured out that I can actually knit two of the little buggers at the same time!

I've really come to enjoy knitting socks. They scared the hell outta me for the longest time. I'm still not sure why I was so intimidated by socks. I guess for the same reason that starting a sweater makes me nervous. I guess I'm worried that I'll screw it up so bad that it's not recoverable. I really would like to get started on Mom's sweater but I need those stitch markers that Shelly is making me first. I tried starting it without them and quickly got lost so the markers are definitely a must have for me.

I did finish the first sock of the February sock of the month. The second sock is now on the needles and the cuff is done. I think this one will go MUCH faster than the first one since I've gotten over the fear of socks on DPNs. I have to admit that I absolutely *LOVE* my Harmony DPNs! I tried working with the nickle plated DPNs that the idiot bought me last year, but they just don't feel as good in my hands as the wood needles do. I think I just might be on my way to becoming a socknut like my friend, Connie. Now there's a serious socknut! I've only seen her knit one other thing and that's a shawl. She's started spinning and is really making some beautiful yarn. She's one of the most talented people I have ever met...and she's a phenomenal friend.

It's Spring Break and I'm trying to come up with ideas for things to do with Rhiannon that aren't going to cost me an arm and a leg. We've already decided that we're going to go to the movies to see Horton Hears A Who. We'll probably go to Cheddar's afterward for dinner. She seems to really like going there and I like their chicken strips. They're more like monster chicken chunks. I've never been able to finish them and always have at least half of the order to bring home. And their cole slaw is incredibly tasty. So maybe that's what we'll do on Tuesday.

I'll let you know how things go for the week. As always, stay safe, be happy and knit on!

I have the World's Coolest Mom!

I have the most awesome mother on the face of the planet! She knows that right now my therapy is my knitting. She used some of her TradeBank bucks and spent $180 on classes, yarn and books for me and Rhiannon. Then Monday, she stops by the house and brings us each a Valentine. Inside Rhiannon's was a gift certificate for Twist for $50 and in mine was a certificate for $100! Needless to say, my momma ROCKS!

I now have the yarn for Wicked, Oblique and Bijoux Blouse for myself. I decided that I was going to change the yarn for Mom's Rusted Root. The cotton was just too splitty and was driving me crazy! So, it's now in the "maybe I'll use it someday" pile. Mom also picked up some yummy alpaca sock yarn for me to make her a pair of socks and she got me some Tofootsies yarn to make a pair for myself in the Learn to Knit Two at Once class. Jill, who's going to be teaching the class, told me that if for some reason I ended up back in the hospital that she would bring the class to me. Mom did buy me the book that inspired the class. I love the way the book is made. It's a hardback that is spiral bound...but the binding is covered.

My poor little knitted beaded bag. Somehow I managed to drop a stitch a row and a half before where my stopping place was! Could I pick up the danged dropped stitch? Not to save my rear end. I'm hoping that Tina can help me fix it. I don't mind frogging a few rows. I mean, it's just knitting and I'm good with that. I suck at frogging most knitting, though. I can unknit and unpurl but there are somethings that I just can't figure out how to unknit...like cables and beadwork. I really should email Tina and see what she says. I wasn't the only person this happened to. Connie told me that it happened to Mimi, too. Right about the exact same spot. I think Connie kind of got it fixed, but she was having a hard time getting the stitches picked back up. I should really try and get one of those teeny tiny crochet hooks. Maybe a visit to Hobby Lobby is in my near future. *grins*

For tonight, it's me and the dog and the tv. Okay, it's me and the dog and the tv AFTER Vanessa and I go have a girls night out early dinner. Then it's going to be me, the dog, the tv and probably my Charade sock. Now that's the life. *winks*

Arrrrgghhh!!! help???

No, it's not Talk Like A Pirate Day, it's Tammy's frustrated with her knitting day. Last night, I finally got to take the Entrelac class at Twist. Things were going along great guns until class was over. I thought I knew where I was at on my scarf and that I could just pick it right up once I got home and keep on knitting. Apparently, I have become knitting challenged.

Laura, the really nice instructor from last night, said that I was my own worst enemy and that I needed to stop talking myself out of doing the right thing on this project. I guess it's because the knitting just looks all wonky and jacked up. So I'm on Row 3. I had the first to "rows" done on that one when class ended. We went to dinner and had some fantastic Chinese food to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Rat and then came home. Some time between one and the other, everything I learned must have just leaked right outta my head. I sat down and picked up where I left off. Once I finished the last of the 8 repeats, I thought I had picked up stitches in the right place. But for some reason, it looks so wrong. I undid most of what I did and now, I couldn't even tell you what all I've got done! I think I'm going to have to head up to Twist this afternoon and beg for help. I feel like such an idiot.

And that's not all. My beautiful fair isle tam is no more a tam than I am the Queen of Sheba. It turned out to be a Rhiannon-sized beanie. I don't think I could get it to stretch over a dinner plate. I suppose I'll pick up one more skein of silk garden in #226 and maybe try a different base colour yarn instead of a Kureyon. I may even go up a needle size or two. Maybe that would make a difference. I would love to have a tam, scarf and matching mittens. They don't have to be all the same pattern (i.e. fair isle or entrelac) as long as they are all done in the same colourway. There's a great cabled mitten pattern in the newest One-Skein Wonder book.

I haven't had much luck in trying to knit a hat for myself. Every single one that I've tried for me has turned out to be itty bitty. Maybe I should just knit a Rasta hat for myself and call it good, but I really wanted something different. sigh...

And don't even get me started on the fiasco that my Lucy Bag has become. Between all of the binding off and putting stitches on a million different stitch holders, I am so confused! The pattern just isn't making sense to me. I know it has to be me, as there are so many on Ravelry who have finished their Lucy Bags and they look great. I got all 100 rounds knit up and them started the strap set up. I did the K19, BO 22. I K16 and put the 17 stitches on stitch holder A. The I did the next BO of 4, K16 and placed those 17 stitches on stitch holder B. Onto the next BO of 22, K16 and then those 17 went onto stitch holder C. I BO the next 4 but I am 7 stitches away from the BOR marker that it says to remove then K 16. According to the pattern, there should be 17 stitches left on the needle at this point. I have 27 stitches left at this point. I have ended up having nearly 30 stitches too many. How in the H did this happen? I stopped increasing when I hit 120, I even used stitch markers to make sure that I was on track.

Please tell me that I am not losing my knitting mojo. This is what happened a year and a half ago when I lost my cross stitching mojo. It just disappeared and everything I touched turned to crap on linen. I need some major help!

Holy Cow!

Do I ever suck at keeping up with my blogging! I have sorely neglected my blogs in the last month and a half. I'm going to blame it on stress and the holidays and life in general just getting in the way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

On the upside of things, I have now completed 5 Rasta hats that have all found happy homes and are currently keeping heads warm. I've started a new scarf if that yummy Love It! yarn from Twist and I've started the small Lucy Bag by Two Old Bags in the brightest, happiest yarn I could find: Kureyon's #209. I still need to do the finishing on my first pair of felted clogs and I need to get that darned Year of the Pig bag finished...especially since the Year of the Pig is going to be over next week!

Tonight I am going to attempt to wrap my brain around the elusive skill of Entrelac. For some reason, this particular knitting option has just got me so intimidated that it is pretty ridiculous! But what the heck! It's just another technique to learn and if I hate it, then I just won't do it any more. How's that for some resolve?

I am so thrilled that Twist is going to be open today and on Super Bowl Sunday! I had been a bit worried that they would close today due to Wichita schools closing for bad weather and that would leave me here at the house with an antsy 10 yr old who pretty much lives for her Thursday night Stitch'n Bitch. As for Super Bowl Sunday, I had been contemplating going up to Junction City to PTP for their Super Bowl sale...but had pretty much nixed that idea since I haven't been cross stitching for over a year now. Someone told me the other day that when I was ready to go back to it, a piece would speak to me so powerfully that I could not ignore it. I hope they're right.

I *FINALLY* chased down a bottle of Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper a couple of days ago. The verdict on this new drink is that if it disappeared off the shelves tomorrow, I wouldn't be overly disappointed. It's okay, but it's not what I was hoping for. And odd as this may sound, it's actually better at room temp than it is cold. You can actually taste the chocolate and the cherry that way and not just the "diety" flavour. It's definitely not one of those sodas that I can drink really fast and want more of like a good diet cream soda. Now that's something that I really would be disappointed if it was to disappear off the shelves!

I went on a bit of a Lexie Barnes buying binge when they discontinued my favourite print, Baja. I ended up with a backpack, a Gem and several Sweetpea's. All total, I think I now own 13 or 14 LB bags. I'd have more of them if I had more money and could find more places that still had some Baja pieces in stock! My quest for now is to find some of Mega's in the small and medium sizes. Those make great accessory kit bags when a Sweetpea is to long for the project bag that you are working with at the time.

Yeah, I know...having an accessory kit for each project bag is just a little AR but it definitely saves my bacon when I find myself snatching up a bag to take with me to keep busy. Of course, while I'm working on whatver project is in the bag at hand, I will need stitch markers or a pen and paper or a tapestry needle and scissors. So I just decided that it wasn't that expensive to put together little accessory bags to go in all of my projects bags. I can divide up stitch markers and tapestry needles and those cute little scissors that I like so much are on sale at Hobby Lobby for 40% off right now and so that makes them $2.99 a pair.

I think I'm going to go curl back up under the warm blankets and watch some frivolous home improvement shows on tv.

Hugs all the way around-
Tammy

Sigh...

I've been back in the hospital since last Friday. I was smart enough to bring a knitting project with me. I started the Rasta Hat while I was waiting to be seen. I had most of the ribbing done by the time they got me moved into a room. I'm almost ready to start the decrease rows. I should have had it finished by now, but I have just been so tired. Did I mention that I had surgery on Saturday?

If the Knitting Gods are with me, I should have this one finished tomorrow and that should give me enough time to get the Orca Tails scarf finished by Christmas. I absolutely *LOVE* the Noro Silk Gardens yarn that I'm using for this project. I wish I could afford to use this for several projects. I think I might go ahead and use it for the Entrelac class. I want that scarf to be the yummiest thing ever!

Ever had really crappy customer service? Well, I had the best customer service ever this afternoon. A couple of weeks ago, while working on the Orca Tails scarf, one of my Harmony Options needles broke! I was so disappointed and sad. One of my pretty multicolour wood needles was now in pieces. I had been meaning to call Knit Picks to see about returning a cable that had a rough join and just hadn't gotten around to it. So today, when I got Knit Picks weekly email, I was reminded that I needed to call them. The woman that I spoke with was so incredibly nice! She's sending out replacements for both items and said that I didn't have to send the defective items back! Now that is fantatical customer service. It's service like the Old Viking used to give when Irwin Helford was still the boss. It's what all customer service should be, no matter what the company.

I've always recommended Knit Picks needles when someone would ask about interchangable needles. Now I can not only recommend them, but I will sing their praises from the highest mountain. Not often do you find a superior product with excellent customer service. Does my little heart good to know that it's still out there somewhere.

Finally! Snow!

It's not really sticking, but it's actually snowing. Good sized, fluffy flakes. You know the kind that makes you want to stand there with your face tilted up towards the sky. I always looked forward to that first tasty bit of winter falling on my tongue.

I've got another rasta hat almost halfway done. I really am loving the way that this yarn knits up. Who would have known that Paton's made such a wonderful fiber? Such beautiful colours! So far I've worked with three different colours: Natural Plum, Natural Earth and Natural Geranium. I think I may have some Natural Violet, too.

Time for some knitting and snuggling down to watch tv, maybe flip through the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue.

Stay safe, warm and happy!
Tammy

Let it snow!

They said we'd have snow today, so I want some snow! Anything to entertain me while I sit here and look out of this hospital room window. I should have been at the Embellishment class last night at Twist, but nope, I was in this darned hospital room. At least it's one of the new rooms and ironically, it's the same room I was in for one day during my last stay in November.

They are talking about doing an actual surgery to connect a couple of wounds and hopefully that will get them to heal faster. And they're also talking about putting a wound vac back on me.

So start thinking of something fairly quick and simple that I can work on while I'm here.

Come on, Snow! I need a little Christmas, right this very minute!

Wooohooo!

I finished the first of a pair of clogs that will be felted. I really feel like I have accomplished something. The pattern for these definitely leaves something to be desired. There should probably be a bulletin board or a Yahoo group for people to compare notes on this one. It's a good thing that Jackie and Becca had already done one of them. At least they knew where the bugs in the pattern were and how to get around them. I'll try to get a picture of these once I get both knitted up and then one after they've been felted.

I've really been enjoying my knitting lately. If the weather hadn't been so cruddy tonight, I would have gone up to Twist and hung out. Rhiannon went with me to class today. Connie's daughter, Mimi, was there. She and Rhiannon really get along well. Rhiannon had her laptop with her and they goofed around playing the Sims. Mimi hadn't really played the Sims before and she was really starting to like it when she had to go home. Rhiannon had a chance to show off her artwork, too. She pulled up the Artsonia website and showed her stuff to Mimi and to Jackie. Jackie is thinking about sending her kids to Monart's Winter Drawing Camp which starts the day after Christmas and goes for three days. Rhiannon's thinking she might want to go to it. It would give her something to do for the time between Christmas and New Years Eve. I told her that we would go out for a special dinner on New Years Eve. For the last 4 years, I've gone to Kwan Court for their sushi buffet on New Years Eve. Even though it's a tradition that was started with my ex, I would like to keep it up with my daughter. The food is good and it's fairly close to home. Did I mention that the food was good? *grins*

Yes, I did say my ex. The divorce was final this last Monday. Property will be settled at a later date...most likely after the dirtbag is sentenced and in jail. But that's enough about that unpleasant bit of mess. Have I mentioned how much I'm loving my knitting lately?

I've finished a three hats (okay, two of them ended up being so small that my cocker Spike can wear them) and a clog. And that's just in the last two weeks. I'm on a roll! I have a decent yarn stash and there is a plethora of free patterns to be tromped through on the 'net. The hat that I finished was the Rasta Hat from Knitty Gritty. It was really a fun knit and I'd like to knit it again. I did this one out of Paton's SWS in Natural Plum. Wow! I love the way this knits up! It took almost two balls, but it was really worth it. I think I might make another one for Becky for Christmas. I have a scarf to finish for Chuck. It's a really neat pattern from Orcawinds. Kind of a fishtail thing, but really cool.

I'll try to update with pictures later on. So for now, I send you happiness and love and the hopes for a wonderful holiday.

Sore Thumbs

Who knew that speed knitting through a hat with HiyaHiya circs would make my thumbs sore? They're almost as sharp as my KnitPicks Options. I sure wish that KnitPicks would put out a shorter cord so I could make 16" circs with the 2 sets that I have.

I spent this afternoon up at Twist hanging out with friends and knitting on a new project, Asminah's Hat from Kody May Knits. If you haven't checked out Kody May's blog and you knit, you really should pop over there and see what all she has to offer for free. She's a really talented designer and she likes to share, just make sure that you give her credit for the designs. I bought some incredible Berroco Jasper merino wool to use on this one. The colours are beautiful and the fibers are soft and pliable to the touch. And it isn't splitty! Wooohooo!

Becky bought some gorgeous Noro wool for me to make Chuck a scarf. I just have to find the right pattern for it. They only had 2 skeins at Twist, so I have to make sure that whatever pattern I choose won't take more than that. I also offered to make another Bowl of Spaghetti hat for Tamara's daughter's friend. I just need to get yarn amounts to her. She has a friend who collects Jester hats and she thought that this would be a great addition to his collection. I did go online to joann's and I ordered an I-Cord maker. They're having free shipping all weekend, no matter what size your order is, so I took advantage. I also ordered me a Mighty Bright LED clip on light. I've been wanting one and they never seem to have them at Hobby Lobby when I think about getting one. It was on sale, so I don't feel too bad there.

I also ordered a couple of Hannah Montana goodies for Rhiannon from Walmart. Did you know that you can have your order shipped to your local store free? That means I don't have to really fight the crowds for more than picking up my order. Anything that will keep me from fighting the crowds shopping, I'm all over!

I've had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year, in spite of the mess that is going on with he who shall not be named. We have court next week and hopefully, that will spur the divorce on. At least I hope it will. I'm ready to be free and clear. Not like I'm going to just jump back into the dating pool or anything silly like that, but I just want him out of our lives for good.

I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and safe-
Tammy

I suck at blogging

Okay, I don't totally suck at it, but I seem to have a hard time remembering to get on here and write a little.

I started the Bowl of Spaghetti hat from Knitty Gritty while I was in the hospital a week ago. I swear that thing has never-ending I-Cord! It took me twice as long to knit the I-Cord as it did to knit the hat itself. I would *LOVE* to find something else to use some Misti Baby Alpaca on, but something that only takes a skein or two. It's so incredibly soft! I think I'm going to try the Suri Alpaca from KnitPicks. It's more affordable and looks so incredibly soft. If it's half as soft as I think it's going to be, it will make a great hat or even a sweater...should I come into a boatload of money.

I've found some really awesome hat patterns. They should knit up really quick so that I can give a new hat to each family member. One of the patterns is from Knitty. I saw Shelly, who owns http://www.twistyarnshop.com/, knit this one up and it turned out so cool! I think it's called Shedir. I've never knit from a chart before, so this is going to be a new one for me. The other pattern that I would love to do is from Kody May. If you haven't checked out her blog, you really should. She designs some really awesome stuff and she shares with others as long as you give her credit where credit is due. http://kodymayknits.blogspot.com/2006_11_15_archive.html It's called Asminah's Hat and it's just beautiful!

Well, that's me catching up on my knitting stuff. Next on the list of things to conquer is a crochet embellishment class and a class for those nifty knitted/felted clogs. I've already got the Cascade 220 for the clogs but I haven't found a sweater to embellish yet for Rhiannon. Hopefully I can find one asap.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Tammy

Ravelry!!!

I *FINALLY* got an invitation to join Ravelry! I've been waiting for months. This morning I pop online to check email and lo and behold! There it was...an invitation from frecklegirl to join Ravelry! I am so jazzed!

I have been an exceptionally poor blogger the last several months. But, in my defense, since my last post I found out that my husband is lower than pond scum and actually belongs in jail (where he has been for the last couple of months) and I've been trying to get a divorce. Coming out as unscathed as possible is my primary goal right now.

On the upside, I have a nephew, Jackson, who was born July 7th, and a neice, Kylie, who was born October 18th. I now have two more little people who need handmade pretties! It's given me a reason to want to learn to crochet (gotta make those cute little booties!) and to start knitting like a fiend again. I do need to finish the Year of the Pig bag. I have the main body and it's little piggledy backside done. Now I'm at a part that I hate doing...picking up stitches to make this little pig's face. I still need to find a lining fabric and get the zipper and metal feet. I can get the feet from Shelly at Twist (the GREATEST LYS that I have ever been to) but I had to get the pink sparklie plastic bamboo handles from Angelika's.

I promise to be back soon-
T

How Funny Is This?

I just found out that my birthday, July 25, is Threading The Needle Day. Now just how appropriate is that with all of my hobbies? *grins*

Somebody needs to take away my clicky finger. I have become entirely too friendly lately with Knitpicks and Jimmy Beans Wool. I better learn how to knit socks or I'm going to up to my well rounded rear-end in sock yarn! I picked up a few skeins of a discontinued colour from KnitPicks. They call it Meadow Multi, I call it Monster Mash. It's black, purple and green. Not very meadowish is you ask me, but hey...it made for a great discount on really nice yarn. I bought enough to make me and Vanessa each a pair. It's nice to have someone other than your family who appreciates the work and time that goes into making something from scratch.

I also got the first round of the books that I ordered on KnitPicks book sale. The Big Girl Knits hardback ROCKS! There are some incredible sweater coats and wrap arounds in this one. I cannot wait to take that sweater knitting class so I can get my sweater knitting feet wet.

I just realized that I have a couple more classes at Twist that I need to sign up for ASAP. Maybe Shelly will start something where you buy so many classes and you get one free. We are really looking forward to the learn to crochet class on Thursday. Then there's Final Friday Knitting...and of course, Saturday evening Prairie Home Companion. It's a darned good thing that I'm feeling better and managing to keep food down now. I'll just make me a big honkin' travel cup of iced tea or crystal light and bring a Kashi bar or two with me to nibble on to keep my blood sugar on an even keel.

Have I mentioned just how much I'm loving life right now? Good news works better than Lexapro!

Wow!

The last few months have been something else! Not quite a month after my last post, I landed in the hospital for 9 weeks. No, that wasn't a typo, it was 9 weeks. Eight of the 9 weeks were spent taking IV antibiotics and recovering from surgery to remove the bone growth stimulator that Dr Mills left in my back.

So I've been home for a little over a month and I'm healing slowly but surely. I also found out that I am diabetic. Sigh. But hey, I'm learning to deal with that just like I'm learning to deal with everything else.

I've started knitting again and I'm really enjoying it. A new yarn shop opened up here in town and I just love it! Twist is the kind of shop that makes you feel so welcome. It just feels good when you walk in. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Cheers...you know like when Norm would walk in and everyone would turn around and say, "Norm!" You get greeted by your friends when you walk into Twist.

Tomorrow evening from 5-7, Twist has a listening "party" for Prairie Home Companion. They do it every Saturday. I missed their Thursday night SnB from 6-8. I've had the tummy ick and Henry had the car. I can't wait for Leather Camp to be over so I don't have to sit at home. I really am ready to get out of the house, even if it's just for a run to the grocery store or something. I just hate being stuck here with no vehicle.

So I'm working on a new handbag called The Lexi
It should really turn out cute. I'm having a heck of a time getting the links thing to do its thing without making everything a link.

I promise to get in here and blog more often.

WooooooHooooooo!

I just got an email from my sister-in-law, Lauren. She and Richard are expecting baby #2 about the end of October! I finally have a good reason to knit a baby blanket! I didn't find out about their first baby, Thomas, until he was a month or two old. And of course I wasn't knitting then.

My neice, Taylor Grace, has informed her Aunt Lauren that this baby is going to be a girl. No if's, and's or but's. I hope that she's right. Lauren says she's been really sick this time around. I hope that she doesn't have as hard a time as I did. Rehydration by way of IV in the ER is no fun...and neither is not being able to eat much more than McDonald's cheeseburgers with no pickles. That gets really boring.

This is just the kind of news that I needed after last week at Gran's house.

I'm off to find the perfect baby blanket pattern!
Tammy

*puzzled look*

I think I've got some of the tricks of that darned Rainbow Denise Bag figured out, but there are still some things that just have me puzzled as all get out. I figured out the Worked/Attached I-Cord on the top of the bag, but trying to get it round the handles is a whole other story. I'll bring it to Friday Night Knitting and see if someone can help me figure it out.

So while I'm waiting, I guess that I'll get started on something else. I do have my "emergency" scarf that I can work on, but I hate to finish it so soon. It's not like I don't have 40 skeins of yarn that I can pick from to start something new. *grins*

I need to get something together to take with me to Midland. Yep, I have to go again so I can get the things I want from Gran's house. I am really dreading that 12 hour each way trip. The only good things about going to Midland are Bob's Better Burger and Taco Villa....and the Rexall drugstore soda fountain. I don't think there's anything better than a fountain Coke with a shot or two of vanilla syrup.

I'm thinking about trying to knit a sweater. I may be getting in over my head with that one.