babies, stuffed cats, and gin for my hemlock.

I am working on the Hemlock Ring Blanket for one of the babies-to-be (both Mari and S are due! July and September babies! with moms who love handknits!!).

Edited to Add: One of these babies will be a GIRL!!!!!

I'm stuck.

I am at just into the feather and fan section and I am off by 3 stitches (181 instead of 184). I have the errata (now) and am ready to rip.... anyone else had this problem??

Ripping: I am new to lace-y things and ripping back seems terrifying. It's going to snow tomorrow night... maybe I'll sit at the dining room table with a gin and tonic and rip, rip, rip.

Oh and since the moms-to-be read this blog, leave congratulations and warnings of the complete handknit overload they are about to encounter. :) I have yarn, I am ready to knit. Also, letting me know your favorite newborn-to-toddler pattern would be nice.

SPA: I was there. Next year I am sleeping over again. During the day, I guess most of y'all shopped, b/c the town hall was empty as were the Harakeesett knitting rooms. Hmm.... so, I shopped. :) I did fall down in Amy Boogie's booth--- two skeins of chunky big ball, two skeins of alpaca. I also fell down in Kim's booth--- one skein of Opulence in a midnight blue color for Oh Canada!, the scarf version. Oh and a skein of sock yarn ... and some soap.

Pictures tomorrow. I have two sweaters (for A, my favorite wee one to knit for... these are for growing-into), two kittys (one for A and one for M), a scarf (to keep my tennis buddy warm) and some swatches. Oh, and you may even see the Hemlock Ring blankie.

Hmm... this is probably true

You Belong in 1956

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

I am Susie Homemaker. Surprised? I am. While I bitch about housework (don't laugh PC, I do actually DO housework, you just do 1/2), I like a clean house (mine is not... in 1956, I wouldn't be working full time either) and a good meal on the table. And, I try to get a hot nutritious meal on the table by 6pm every night. Sometimes that meal is pizza, but more often than not it's meatloaf, roast beef (tell 'em honey, I make a knock out roast and meatloaf) or mac'n'cheese from scratch. I like to bake and have been known to bake muffins on a Sunday morning before PC gets up. I like setting my table and using cloth napkins and having friends over. My ultimate dream is to stay home and take care of my family. And I think I'd be really good at it.

I really should write these things down

So, the other day I was blog-hopping (y'know how this goes) and I saw something on a very familiar blog (can't remember which one) about tying scarves. Like the fold in half and loop way, twice around your neck way and then... this one that looks like a celtic knot, but isn't and involves you folding in half, looping one dangly end through the loop and then....

I can't remember. I want to know how to do this. Anyone have this sound familiar???

Help. Alzheimer's is slowly kicking in.

SPA for you, SPA for me....

I will be here Saturday ---












for the annual NETA Spin, Knit, SPA weekend.
My friend Andi and I will be starting our adventure at ass o'clock in the morning (I am to supply coffee and awakeness) expecting to arrive around 10am. If you know me, feel free to grab me, hug me, shower me with "hi! how are you's" and so on. I will be knitting, spa-ing, not spinning (does anyone remember the sight of both Cheryl and Mel trying to teach me to spin? It was like watching a frog in a blender.

I have reason to believe that all of this:














will be gone from the state of Maine by the time I arrive. Well, at least there is one saving grace: the Maine highway department is the only highway department that knows how to plow. Seriously, they could make back all their snow-budget by offering classes to nearby states on "how to plow" and "when to plow". (For all of you non-snow living people, "snow budget" is what your town/county/state puts aside for snow removal. It's usually about 70% less than what your town/county/state actually needs. I think people from Florida are in charge of all the budgets in New England. My city ran out of money in December. It wasn't even winter yet.)

Tomorrow, a photo of knitting. Today, a preview of Saturday:













I plan on falling down and losing my wallet in the following locations:
1) The Woolen Rabbit. if only just to give Kim a hug. Oh, that's a lie...I'll probably pick up more sock yarn and some laceweight.
2) Ball and Skein. Um, b/c she shares space with Kim? Once again, a lie. I will be there commandeering more laceweight and potentially a Gust kit.....
3) Spunky Eclectic--- hmm. I would say I am stopping by to see what color Amy's hair is, but once again, a lie. I will be there to spend money (and possibly buy a sheepy mug, if there are any left.)

Happy Valentine's Day

From our love shack to yours!


















A note: our house truly is a love shack. PC and I are very much in love and we have been accused by a friend of "lying about not fighting". I always wondered that about other people's relationships. PC and I seem to have little drama in ours. The bad kind, I mean. We've never broken up, given ultimatums (except this week where PC has threatened to steal my car to go to work if I DON"T GET UP ALREADY), or left hurtful things be said.

So, officially, Saturday is our 5.5 year anniversary. I know... what a thing to remember, huh? We're having dinner at Ariadne and maybe seeing a movie. Or coming home and kickin' the cat off the bed. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day to you... I hope you get whatever snuggles you are looking for.

:) Mini, PC and Pumpkin.

Demo-Cat vs. Knots.

Hi. Pumpkin here. Mom wanted to blog today, but we had "company" over. I don't why they need to vacuum for Grampa and Granma, but anyways....

Mom's feeling better. So much better that she cooked Sunday dinner. Sunday dinner means that other people come over and pet me and give me cookies when no one's looking. I like Sunday dinner. When Dad cooks, it means I get ham. Lots of glorious ham.

I have spent a lot of time looking at Mom when she plays with sticks. I finally got Dad to take a picture. Can you see what she's doing? She's taking perfectly good string and tying it in KNOTS. She says she makes sweaters (that little blonde girl named A is getting a new sweater. Mom made it and said not to sit on it. I like that little girl. She doesn't bite).

Here's mom with sticks. She laughs a lot. She smiles a lot. She smiles most when she sees my dad.

( Mini here... this is my annual--- this is me if you are looking for me at SPA on Saturday photo)

Back to the knots. Fig! Fig! (Hey, Sandy--- get Fig please). Fig, does your mom turn perfectly good string into knots? Do they not know we cannot play with it once it is in KNOTS.

Anyway... someone tell my mom to stop turning string into knots. Or sweaters or whatever.
Later. Pumpkin.
Oh, I'm a self declared Demo-cat... and I am voting FLUFFY IN '08...
Psst... Fluff... wanna run on Fluffy/Pumpkin ticket?

As predicted....

I woke up this morning feeling MUCH better. 10+ hours of sleep probably helped. And bland food (yes, PC... you were right). I am very excited to announce: I drank tea! Real Irish tea with milk and sugar....ooohh....I have at least 3 cups per day and I was without for 6 days. 6.



And here... an early Valentine from Pumpkin:





















(Love mean always having someone to rub your butt)

Carolina on my mind....

But not in my future this weekend. Bummer. I was heading down to NC to visit a girlfriend who is getting married this May. But, the little bug that has been keeping me down? Apparently, that bug doesn't like it when I try to eat real food. You know, non-chicken broth food. I am so tired of this bug already! And on top of it all, it's a real pain in the hips! No, really. I have the worst pain in my extreme lower back and hips. Where is this coming from? I am not sleeping differently. Same pillows. Same amount of time on my ass as normal. No working out, but still... working out makes me hurt, not vice versa.

Anywho, the blog is hard up for photos. And proof I have been knitting. So here ya' go:

Yarn: Dorchester Farms yarn (given to me by Mrs. Bookish)
Pattern: Westport Waves... Jeanne Townsend (via her yahoo group)
Needles: US 1, magic loop method
Notes: Knitting with this yarn was horrible. It left a sticky residue on my hands, my needles... it just felt weird. It also tangled like crazy. But, 3 washes with SOAK later, it's soft and manageable and not one iota of felting to be seen.

Yarn: Lucy Neatby's Celestial Sock Yarn: blue
Pattern: toe-up socks
Needles: US1, Susan bates dpns
Notes: LOVE these socks. Making more stockinette socks. Love the yarn. Love the socks.

Yarn: Fearless Fibers, alpaca/wool dk blend, Bountiful harvest colorway, 500yds.
Pattern: Clapotis
Needles: US 8
Notes: yes, I fell onto the bandwagon (2 years later??) and LOVE this pattern. Very cute wrap.

Yarn: Classic Elite Beatrice, 3 skeins
Pattern: Unoriginal Hat (a la yarnharlot) and my own fingerless mitts
Needles: US 9
Notes: added one full repeat to the hat to make up for the slightly thinner yarn. Love the hat and mitts.... I got this yarn in a swap at my guild and knit it up in front of the swapper! She was very happy to see it made into something!!

The hat, mitts, and socks were knit at a weekend retreat that my guild hosts each year. It was amazing. I will totally go back. I am, regrettably, only going to be at SPA one day this year: Saturday. I will be hanging out in the vendor area, trying to fight off people for Woollen Rabbit Sock yarn (love love love Kim) and I think I will try crowd surfing in Amy Boogie's Spunky Eclectic booth (have you seen this booth: pure mayhem).

I got a present from Norma in the mail and I need to photograph it this weekend. :)


thanks for sticking around--- regular blogging will be back:)

:) Mini

Why did the computer go to the ER?

Because it had a virus.

Oh, it wasn't the computer. It was Mini. PC and I gave a small dinner party on Saturday night that ended with me on my hands and knees, puking. Panicked, I thought we had given food poisoning to our friends (including a very pregnant Mari). Sunday, PC took me to the NWH ER (wonderful doctor, wonderful nurses) for some rehydration via IV and some anti-puking drugs. Poor PC, up all night with a very sick Mini and then in the ER and back home with only 2 hours until game time?? Then the Pats lost. :(

So, I've been home from work--- eating clear fluids for 3 meals a day. Jello is a treat. A fortuitous phone call from work today confirmed my fear: everyone at work was out yesterday. Each employee that attended our Super Bowl potluck on Friday was sick by Saturday evening. Hmm... too long for food poisoning, but just enough time for norovirus. Ugh. No one else had to go to the ER, but I'm glad I did.... thanks to PC for making me go.

More posting tomorrow... I have knitting photos and all that for you.

:) Mini

Roses are Red.....

More blogging tonight... I promise (when your boyfriend starts bitchin' because you haven't blogged... you know you need to!).

A cause near and dear to my heart:

National Go Red Day

My mom has emphysema and this can cause things like CHF (congestive heart failure), which is a form of heart disease. I love my mom and I love me too. So, today, I'll do 5 extra minutes on the elliptical, check in with my trainer (see I told you I have a lot to tell you!) and very proudly: wear RED.