Still Not Buying It..........

That's right, I am still not buying that stuff about Snape and Harry's mother. Sounds a little too contrived and convenient to me.
Anywho, I got my stuff i ordered from Biggs and Featherbelle today, I bought my own B-day present. I got their little kit of 3 for 16.99. You get a soap, a body butter, and a lip balm. I got all lavender, of course. And I love it! It is amazing, i can see my self ordering quite a bit from them.
One of my retro rib socks is finished, Yea! can't wait to start my Slytherin Socks. Wool Girl says Yarntini on the 1st. Woo Hoo, then I can use my gift certificate!

Who needs a hug?

I Am Back!

I am so stupid! I just realized that only my pictures posted! Ugh!!! So, here is some interesting words to go along with my thrilling pictures!!! I will try to answer all the questions that my Blog Buddy, Anna sent me.
I had a pretty good weekend! We went and took the oldest girl to her knitting lesson, which she liked. I got her some nice Lamb's Pride bulky to practice with. The teacher said she was doing great, but now she refuses to practice. Everyone wants to knit but no one wants to practice.
After the knitting lesson, we went to the Protea Cottage and had afternoon tea. It was alot of fun, but there was no AC and it was 105 outside so we dying. They even gave me a birthday cake in a tea cup. Lots of fun! I wish I had taken a picture of it.
Then, we went back to the hotel, I took a nap and the kids went swimming. I needed my rest for the HP book party that night. Well, we got the HP party around 10, me sweatily clutching my little orange wrist band/ The line was around the block and no one was getting in. I was really disappointed! The kids all wanted to stay but I figured I would come back first thing in the morning and get it. So, that it what I did. Just walked right in, no lines, no people, grabbed the thing off the shelf and sauntered over to the cash register. Yeehaw!
This is my daughter refusing to get up the next day. Our hotel had a free breakfast so we were being all cheap and trying to make it in time. That is a nice shot of my husband's army. He liked to remind me all weekend that he was only 28 to my 34. sigh
And there it is! I got 2 copies, one for me and one for the kids to fight over. I finished it in 2 days. It was pretty good, I only say pretty good because I do not believe any of that silly mess about Snape and Harry's mother. I won't say anymore because I do not want to ruin it for anyone. the ending is a bit predictable and leaves alot out concerning the other characters.
My new haul!! Above is the yarn that snuck into my basket while my daughter was having her lesson. One is Louets Gems and the other is Reynolds Sea Wool. I have never used any of them but they were pretty and I thought they would look good in some of those great patterns in my Interweave Sock Book, even though next I will be knitting my Slytherin House Socks, in honor of Professor Snape, and I must add, the first pair I have ever knit for myself.

Below are some great finds too. On Saturday, on the way home I had to stop by the Unraveled Sheep (they had sent me a birthday coupon). There I found this great sock yarn by Sleeping Dragon, who is actually a local dyer. The one on the right is hers, it is called Winter Thaw. I love it, I do believe that Simply Sock Yarn carries it as well. They just opened back up by the way. The other is By Mountain Bearfoot and I bought it for a swap that is starting next month! Knitters Tea swap, sign ups August 3rd!
And my husband, he got me a gift certificate for Wool Girl! Yea!!! I haven't used it yet because I am waiting for her to get in her Yarntini! So, everyone write back and tell me what you think of the new HP.

New Needle Wednesday

We survived the hotel hell ! It wasn't too bad, the kids got a little testy towards the end. We got home to a house full of power, apparently it had been on for hours but no one told us. There was also two more surprises waiting for me on my doorstep. New needles from Knit Picks and letter telling us we would not have power tomorrow either (did I mention how much I hate it here?). I guess since they knocked off early, they get to come back tomorrow and do it all over again!
I digress, back to the needle story; I have needles in the coveted "off sizes" for socks, sz 1 at 2.25 mm and sz. 2 at 2.75 mm. How cool is that? I have been looking for these everywhere. They are almost half sizes really. Everyone go get some before they run out.
Almost my birthday and the HP book party!! I am hoping my husband just gives it up and gets me a gift certificate from some place cool like Wool Girl or yarn 4 Socks. Unfortunately for me, I can't leave the house tomorrow because Boeing is sending another package that I have to sign for, so it will be my in the dark and hot ( I guess I don't need to mention how much I hate this place). But, I got a lot of knitting done today and probably tomorrow too.
These are just gratuitous shots of Glynis the Menace after being in a hotel room with her all day.
My pet rats!!!!Yes I have pet rats and I love them very much.

Hotel Blues

So,
Here I am sitting in a hotel room. Can't complain too much, well, I can, but I won't. The Army Lodge let us have the room for a day for only 15 bucks. I thought that was pretty generous of them. They could have told us to piss off. We even have internet.
The details of the Boeing package back and I must say I am surprised. They are offering about 5 grand less then we expected but here is what they are offering and I think it makes up for it:

Relocation costs plus travel money and a rental car until our cars arrive

They will pay our closing costs on a house and a Boeing mortgage guy

Job assistance placement for me

So.......opinions please!!

VENT VENT VENT

Isn't it amazing how fast things can go from ok to complete crap? Our illustrious housing office (we live in base housing, part of the package they used to get my husband to come up here to this dump ) decided that even though it is supposed to top over 100 tomorrow, they needed to do some maintenance that they said they fixed in March and we will not have power from 9-5. They tell my husband this at 4 Monday afternoon. And this house is built crappy, it is like a tomb. I hate that housing office with a passion anyways, they have done nothing but screw us since we got here. Which is anohter story. So, we will be without power all day in the middle of a heat wave. So, since we have to pay them for our electricity, we submitted a claim to have our rent prorated and our lost food costs reimbursed and the money we have to pay to the hotel I have to take the kids to reimbursed. Our renters insurance doesnt cover planned outages for some reason. Oh, and then I call the Protea Cottage in Salt Lake City where I have my birthday Afternoon Tea reservations and we are told that they redid the menu and do not allow children in during the day anymore so they canceled our reservations! Two weeks ago! And never told us and charged our CC! I am so pissed and have no idea what to do now. I guess I can figure it out while I am sitting in a crappy hotel room with three antsy kids for 8 hours. Oh, and pray my animals make it through the heat and my fish don't suffocate because their filters dont work.
F%$K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rain and a Vacuum Cleaner

The heat is finally starting to break! It is even raining, complete with thunder and occasional lightning. It is such a nice break, but as soon as this storm passes, it will go back to being hellishly hot, now with humidity. So I am enjoying it while I can. So is crazy Lucifer. He has been working himself up watching the birds play in the rain. It is early morning and all the kids, including the baby are still asleep. I have a late sleeping baby. That gives me about an hour in the morning to drink coffee and try to wake up. The two older ones sleep until noon or so. How nice is that?
My bearded dragon, Rupert. I have no idea why I stuck that picture there. I just did. So, there he is, waiting for his crickets. I received in the mail yesterday and read completely ( I am an insomniac) a book called Peony In Love by Lisa See.
It was very good,which surprised me. It is about a girl in China in the 17th Century waiting on her arranged marriage. She dies and spends years following the man she was meant to marry around. So, much of it is told from the point of view of a ghost, which was really interesting. What it is really about is love and its many forms. Such a different book! Very refreshing. In the end, the author explains how there was a rash of deaths of young girls that were called the lovesick maidens. What they really were doing was starving themselves. Ugh, so there you go. That is how one dies of lovesicknesses. Not at all romantic.
Ah, my latest sock. Pay no attention to the dirty chair it is on. Hey, I have a teenager and a toddler. Nothing in my house is clean and if it is, not for long. That is the Retro Rib Sock from Favorite Socks (the sock knitting tome). I really love the green stripe the yarn is creating. This yarn is Northern Nights from Cherry Tree Hill. It is great yarn, my mother in law sent it to me for Xmas. I have never knit with such a dark yarn before, it is a little challenging, but I am getting the hang of it
And lastly, a gratuitous shot of my latest purchase. Yes, it is a Dyson, the Dyson of vacuuming fame. Does it live up to the hype? A resounding YES! This is greatest vacuum ever created EVER. This thing can suck out souls. I got mine at HSN, home of the flex-pay. I will need it to clean this house when we move, Yea , we are moving. We have already started looking for a house online. We are finally going to break down and buy our own house, I can't wait. I am getting a sunroom to knit in and a huge back yard and my very own chicken, for the eggs. See, I am so excited. Hopefully, nothing falls through.
PS. In other socky-goodness news, Sock Pixie has two new yarns just out today. I am resisting because we are supposed to saving money now, but they are as beautiful as the others. Sock-a-licious. But my birthday is on Friday and maybe I will just treat myself.

YEA!!!!

WE ARE MOVING TO HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA!
(insert Lynyrd Skynyrd song here)

Harry Potter Yarns Are Here

My order from Wool Girl arrived today. I was so shocked to see it, I was expecting Monday. And I must say that it was the best looking wrapped yarn I have ever seen. can you see it above? Each set of skeins was wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. She even sent me two free skeins of Liisu yarn, which is a mohair/merino blend and absolutely beautiful. I order a set of Slytherin yarns, Gryffindor yarns, a Moonlight Knitter row counter bracelet, some Lavender hand balm, and she sent ,me a sample of Soak and a cute little sheep row marker, which looks like the sheep on her logo. It was like opening a birthday present, which is next week! Ugh.
Here is the bracelet and the row marker, cute! The bracelet went into immediate quarantine because of the curious year and a half year old.
Aren't they gorgeous? I can't wait to start. I have my needles and my copy of Charmed Knits ready. I told my husband I wanted a gift certificate to Wool Girl for my birthday!
There is that cute stitch marker!! Everyone run out now and buy tons and tons of things from Wool Girl!

Getting Better All The Time

The Harry Potter yarns are here, can you see the happy children? They are very excited! Jennifer from Wool Girl just emailed me to let me know and the kids are so happy. I ordered our tickets for HP and the Order of the Phoenix today. Ordered them online and printed them out myself. Isn't technology grand? We are going Sunday morning. I never really got into the movies, just the books, but the kids are excited.
It has been hellishly hot here. But today is a little overcast and not quite as hot so everyone has been outside playing in the sprinklers and just having a ball. Including my husband's ridiculous basset hound, Nero. It is his solemn duty to attack any and all working sprinklers.
My latest CO, a chemo hat in Knit Pick's Ambrosia (cashmere and alpaca, softest yarn ever made) for a sick friend. And my old dog, Hodges, the cairn terrier. he is almost 12 and retired. Poor baby. My husband is still thinking on the Boeing job. They salary is smaller than we hoped, but still very very respectable and more than he makes now. And the benefits are amazing. They pay for us to move, live in a hotel for 30 days, and the closing costs on a house. How awesome is that? But, I told him to think on it through the weekend. Really hard! And if he decided no, then something else would come along. But, I would love to go to Alabama. And live near a yarn store and take classes and go to a Knit night or a Stitch and Bitch. Jeez, just to have a damn friend would be great!

Let's Look At It From Another Angle

BOEING=
Alabama
God's Country
and the South!

Woo-Hoo and a New Sock

Well, I must admit after countless do-overs and frogging, I gave up on the SWTC Tofutusies yarn. Sorry, I am grumpy and it was hard for me to follow. Probably because I am surrounded by screaming kids all day and I was losing count in the pattern. So, I gave up and CO these easy guys. This is the infamous Panda Cotton in Baby Blues. I actually like this yarn. It is a little splitty, but what cotton yarn isn't? And it is so soft..........I couldn't believe it. I really like the colors, too. The blues are so subtle and I love the way they blend into each other. All in all, I really like it. I am using the Cross Hatch Lace pattern from More Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch. What a great sock knitting book. That woman is a genius, enough said.



This is what a job offer from Boeing looks like!!! Yea! I am still in shock. So, hopefully.............

Sloooooowly but Surely

Another gratuitous tortoise picture: Pablo, Biko, Mandela, and George eating some breakfast salad in the morning sunshine.
So, I started the Tofutsies Sock Club sock that I got from The Yarn Grove. I really like the Yarn Grove, they ship fast and cheap!, they have nice organic yarns, and they always pack everything up so nice and pretty and throw in little gifts. So, I say Yea Yarn Grove.
Not good pictures but you get the idea. The pattern is a little different too, but I like it. And the yarn is very strange. I hope my HP yarn gets here soon so I can sport some Slytherin socks to the book party. Wool Girl says they are on the way so I am really excited! So Yea Wool Girl! Her store is cute too, they just got in the cutest stitch marker and row counter bracelets. My poor credit card.
As you can see, there are only 8 tiny little rows there, which took me all day !!! yes, all day. It is unbelievably hard to knit with this stupid brace on. But I must, don't know why, just must.

Two Socks and a Sulcata

This is our African Sulcata, Pablo, who has snuck into the house again!!! he loves to come inside and eat dog food, sleep on the cat's bed, and bang his head on the refrigerator door to remind me to give him his romaine! He was hanging out under the computer desk nipping at my toes to give him his breakfast!
The finished socks! I am terribly proud of myself for these and my daughter is very happy. I think you can actually see my dirty little secret in this picture: I have no idea how to do the Kitchener stitch! Not a clue, I use the three needle bind off. I have tried to do that kitchener stitch over and over, but it always looks awful. If we lived closer to actual civilization I could take a class. i am really praying that the Boeing job comes through.
I cannot start any new projects! My wrist did one of its swelly numbers today. Sometimes I forget I have Lupus and then sometimes I am reminded ten fold. So I am just going to sit here and listen to Air America and try not be grumpy because I cannot knit anything!

Help Me Decide!!!

Help me decide what socks to knit next!

a. Embossed Leaves Socks from My Favorite Socks book

b. Harry Potter House Socks from Charmed Knits

c. Sock Pixie Groovy Socks

d. Tofutsies June Sock Club Socks, Wild Kat pattern

Help! i am suffering from a block, please post your comments below!

New yarn Monday

Yea! The mail came and brought some goodies with it! i finally got my order from Patternworks!! I got an order from Webs, they are always so fast! And my long awaited My Vie In Rose from Sock Pixie. It is absolutely gorgeous! There it is, above and below!! Very pretty! I can't wait to get started on it, which is soon, I think because I am almost done with the Online Sock. I have been beating myself up on which start to start next. Should I do the Tofutsies Sock Club yarn, the Sock Pixie, some panda cotton with a design from My Favorite Socks? It is too much,and I still have all those HP hats to knit, ugh!
The little one has gotten into my stash again and turned a skein of Panda Cotton in to a pet!

Here is my find from this weekend: Panda Cotton in Fall Herbs. I just thought this color way was gorgeous! And so different from what you usually see. I hear some conflicting reports about this yarn, but I figure the only way to form an accurate opinion is to knit it up myself.
My complete haul from this weekend at Three Wishes Yarn Store. Four skiens of Panda Cotton in Fall Herbs and Rosewater and another skein of the Online sock yarn in this cool orange color. No way I could pass that up!

Second Sock......OTN

My second sock is on the needles!!! hard as it was not to just go ahead and knit up something with my Sock Pixie yarn, I gritted my teeth and fought hard against SSS, and won. Yea me. I think I should be done alot sooner with this one, than the first one, though I still have Harry Potter hats calling me all over the place. Luckily, or unluckily, I am still (yes, still) waiting for my Patternworks order. I have pretty much given up. I imagine it will get here three weeks after the new book comes out or some such nonsense. I did order more Encore, I just went to Webs. Their shipping is a little scary, almost 8 bucks to get 4 skeins of Encore, but I have it in 2 days. So no complaining, here, take the money!!!
Still no HP sock yarn, but Jennifer at Wool Girl is so nice, it is impossible to be angry or annoyed, so just pleasantly waiting for the opportunity to throw money at her, too. Sock Pixie yarn shipped today, I hope it is here on Monday so I can flaunt it all over this blog.
I booked the hotel yesterday in SLC. I can't wait......we are staying the night there because it is my birthday, which, happily enough coincides with the midnight release parties for the new HP book. I can't wait, I need a vacation and a break. I am going to the Black Sheep and buying all the Panda Cotton I can stand. I really need this vacation, all my husband does is work overtime and sleep, so I am stuck in this horribly hot place with three bored kids in the middle of nowhere, Utah.
So I am really praying that the Boeing job that they keep dangling in front of my husband comes through. How nice to be back among civilization. All I want it to buy my own house, somewhere quiet in the South, with a porch and a sun room, and a couple of trees of my very own. And maybe a chicken. Somewhere where there is no wrong religion and political affiliation, like we seem to be Somewhere I don't have to hide in the house all summer because it is too hot and all it does is cause flareups and swollen joints. It is topping over 100 here everyday. Well, enough feeling sorry for myself, back to my happy sock.

July 4th Extravaganzas and Broken Wings

For the 4th, we decided to keep it excruciatingly simple. After the "Broken Glass" incident, I was not ready for anything that contained screaming children, bright lights, or loud noises. The Broken Glass incident being: Glynis found a glass, proceeded to smash it to chunks, then obligingly sliced her finger deep enough for me to hyperventilate and warrant a mad dash (all 45 minutes of it) to the pediatrician to get steri- stripped and pink bandaged). Then we came home exhausted with post panic jitters and gave the child every item of junk food in the house.





So, after this Joy of Parenthood moment, we thought that a nice walk would do everyone some good. It meant I had to put away my sock, (yes, the SECOND sock, which I actually started and I am halfway through the leg). So, we went on a walk............and saw lots of snakes and lots of baby deer. i swear those deer breed like rabbits. There were baby deer everywhere! In little sets of two. Very cute, though it did make the walk a bit poopy.




On a yarn note: I finally broke down and order "My Vie In Rose" from Sock Pixie. I cannot wait for that to get here! And, I am really hoping that today is the day that Wool Girl
gets in her Harry Potter sock yarns. i am very excited about that, plus, she carries lavender hand balm, and I cannot resist anything lavender. So, hope is springing eternal around here!

FO: Gryffindor Hat

I finished my first Gryffindor hat! Yea me. It is being modeled by a head too small for it, but that is ok because soon it will be thrown in the mail for my husband's nieces. These hats are so easy to make and I think they will be great this winter. Think of all the money I will save on Winter hats. I still haven't cast on that stupid second sock..................

One sock down, one to go...

I finally finished one sock today, in spite of my finger. I grabbed a bottle of peroxide and a band-aid and soldiered on for Queen and country or whatever reason one soldiers on. I thought it looked pretty good, though i will not use such large needles again. Now I have to force myself to cast one the other one because I feel am impending case of second sock syndrome coming on, with a vengeance.