Yop post # 21

This week has been pretty good to me :) Not only did I get some work done on the suprise H in the beginning of this week but I also got some work done on a few other things (school mwas out since Wed.) and I didn't have to cook dinner Twice! Yay!

Today is my day to cook. All Day. Then tomorrow we get to eat Turkey potpie (which I will call chicken potpie to make "Midget think it's not just Turkey again) and other variations till it's all gone :)

Here's what I've been working on.



I've started the decreases. Yay!

If she doesn't like it (unlikely) I'll wear it. I love this pattern. I did get quite jealous of the sweater and 2 hats someone else is knitting in this group. You know who you are :). But I got over that pretty quick. Especially when I saw that huge ball of ends she had to weave in. I probably wont ever be that fast but since it's the knitting I enjoy I can live with that.

I've gotten to the 3rd wedge of my sock heels. Lastly I've started a mystery/contest knit with my group. All I know so is that I need #2 DPN's and #9 straights and that Ethreal (?) is what we're going for. Plus beads. Can't show a pic till it's finished though :(.

Oh and I want to make something from this yarn I bought. It's a mesh but not like Katia with the thin and thick edges, just mesh. I don't really like the potato chip scarves, too dainty for me, but I would love to make some kind of shawl or wrap. Here's the yarn.


Brown, Beige, Cream, and Dusty Pink. though you can't tell from this pic

Next week...I'll detail the changes I've decided I have to make to my list. Till then...

Thanksgiving Crunch

Already beginning my Prep for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow my Gramdmother is having her T-Day lunch. Friday my Uncle, from the other side of the family, is having his dinner. Sunday My Family (in our household and Other Grandma) are having My dinner. That's a Lot of Turkey but it's also a lot of family time and that is never too bad :)

Here's the list of what I plan to make:
Devilel Eggs
Greenbeans and New Potatoes
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Maple Glazed Carrots
Yams and Marshmallows
Rolls
Corn on the Cob
2 Pecan Pies
1 Cherry Cheesecake
3 Pumpkin Pies
And Turkey (Huge)

There's alot of veggies in there but that is to combat all the Pie. No really it's because nobody likes just 1 veggie I have 2 no-carrot people, I'm a no-greenbean person, and well corn is just so delicious that I couldn't resist.

I will be taking a couple pies to each party. Just so you know I wont be home stuffing them all in my gullet :) Each Day till Sunday will be a cooking day. The Turkey will need 24 hours to Brine in the fridge and all day in the oven. Sounds exausting, sounds like a long week, sounds.....

Like I can't wait!

P.S.

Did I mention they have a ton of Christian Books . Can you san "Candy Store" I love to read. Each of those waiting moments ( car rider line, bank line, practices) can be spent in a book. I especially love to be able to read aloud to my kid. I have read to her since, well lets say years. Before bed, before school(if we have a few minutes), after school etc... except now she gets to read to me after school :). Wonderful moments together all snuggly and quiet. When she was little, 3/4, I would gloss over any parts I didn't like but now she can follow along so she can see all those things/words I changed before. Big Uh-Oh moment the first time that happened let me tell you. I was in "BIG trouble" (her words). I love not having to do that! I think you will too. Check it out. Weather at the site or in a Christian book store near you, doesn't really matter there should be something you and your kid/s can get into and enjoy together.

You can find out more by visiting Life In A Shoe. Which is one of the Blogs I enjoy following or at Generation Cedar which I just found because of this giveaway but am already enjoying quite a bit.

Christian Living

Have you ever wanted to let your kids go crazy and pick a toy/book all on their own? I know I would love to. If I could just let her choose! So many of today's toys and books have references to unmentionable subjects woven into them. They're so subtle! Sometimes even I have trouble. I'll be reading a book and she'll ask me about it and I'll have to clean it up in order to tell her. I just don't realize how "bad" it got until I have to say it out loud.

Don't even get me started on Tattoo Barbie!, and those ugly monster/barbie/dracula dolls in all the stores around here. NEVER! I asked all the family to find "clean" toys but It's so hard to find affordable quality things in todays' TV fueled market.

Right now Vision Forum is having a giveaway through another blog I read regularly called Raising Olives. This is an unbelievable opportunity folks.
The prize is not just great in itself but If I win I could let my kid fun free and choose her own adventure. Plus for the first time I will be able to just watch and see what she really loves without her wondering if what she picks will upset me and me worrying I'll have to say no and explain another "fact of life". Have you ever had to explain why girls "like" girls to a 5 yr. old or why that guy on TV hit the woman? It's hard, to say the least, especially when you don't want to teach a child to hate or be mean but you really want them to understand.

Go on and check it out. I'm so excited about this!

Yop Update # 20

Absloutely no progress on my suprise hat! Someone has been home most of the week, sick, so not only no time for secret knitting but also I may be able to claim Insanity soon. I have had a bit of good/bad sock knitting this week though. I had to start over because when I picked up these socks to get started with them again I found a gaping hole. *sigh* but now I'm almost to the heel turn so Yay! These will be for me this time (I hope). I love this colorway.


I've actually gotten a bit further than this now. I'm into the darker blue again.


We've begun oue holiday decorating early this year. We just couldn't resist what with all the holiday music already on the radio stations. This is my major Holiday craft. It will take me about 10 years to complete by my calculations because I only work on it during the Christmas season and even then it has to share me with the knitting and present wrapping.

On a sadder note we (the family) have hit a run of bad luck. My Grandma broke her wrist just after last weeks Sunday post went out and The day before yesterday my sisters house burned down because of something with the clothes dryer. Lucky for her her 2 boys were at school and all she had to worry about was getting her and her daughter out. Now we're all going through our possesions and loading up the car for a trip down there to help out. Thanks to the Freecycle group I'm a member of we have much more than we could have collected alone and I think everything will be alright.

Hope everyone is well and happy. See you all next week.

Yop post # 19

I'm still plugging along on the hat though with the Veterans' Day school's out Holiday I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I only got to put the border section on after the ponies and a tiny bit of the next chart, but not enough for anyone to figure out what it is so I didn't take a new pic.

I did start something new on the Holiday Vacation. Something I could work on with her watching (and drooling cause she wanted them to be for her). I think I love this pattern! So quick and easy. I only changed it a little bit to get rid of the big holes left when joining in the round.

And still working on the Leisel Scarf/Cowl. So close to finished now I almost can't stand it! I want to go ahead and put it on and prance around in it. The only thing that stops me is the thought of the needle falling out and all the tears that would follow.

Yop update # 18

Made it past the pony bit (^_^) There was some real doubt there too. I made it all the way to the ponies heads and tried it on. Almost complete disaster! It was too small. The black yarn I chose was too thin. The pattern calls for sport weight and the blue was perfect. The black said worsted weight and was too thin. Weird and soooo disappointing. It was so soft and snuggly and shimmery with little glittery highlights. I had to rip back to before all the color work. I'm telling you I nearly cried! I almost didn't pick it up again but I did and here it is.

To make the brim you have to knit 25 rows and then start the color work and at the top of the ponies you knit the row together with the cast on edge. Which I had already done when I found out it was too tight. *Sigh* 5 days to get that far and only 30 minutes to un ravel back to the picot edge.

The only other thing I had time to work on (if I wanted to stay on schedule) was my Leisel Scarf/cowl and I'm not going to post a pic of that as I only got about 8 more inches on it. I am down to slightly less than half a skein of this yarn left so I'm pretty sure it's gonna morf into a cute cowl just for me (^_^). About time I made something for just me and since I'm totally in love with it as a cowl it's perfect. Unless someone shows up as a suprise to our family Christmas party I'm keeping it.

Oh and a few revisements to my list but I'll detail them next week. I've been really trying not to revise because the whole point of this thing was to pick stuff you love and get it done, ya know, but I've found some things are just not going to happen. Like, well, anything with thread. I just can't seem to work with it without my hand and elbow acting up. Knitting with it is fine but not crochet so I'm gonna replace the thread crochet things with some of my newest favs. Besides I can't love it if I can't enjoy making it. I mean, that's why I decided to make Christmas presents in the first place. Some people enjoy going shopping for that perfect present (so do I sometimes especially for the men) and some people enjoy making the perfect present (lots easier for the girls and women in the family).

Have a lovely day everyone! I know I will because I won a giveaway from Underground Crafter. So excited! Still planning my giveaway. I believe I have decided to include everyone from the yop posters group if I can afford it because it just doesn't seem fair to not when they've been forced to read all my posts too. If you can will you tell me where your at (country) so I can inquire at my local post office how much it will cost.

Yop Post #17; Late!

Late! But with good reason I promise. I want to show you the start of "Midgets'" Christmas present so I had to wait till a school day :). It was so hard to wait too. This is my first real color work anything and I'm so excited about it! Only 2 colors but Eh, it's color WORK to me. I'm not very fast at any time but this is agonizingly slow going. I have been working on it during school hours and the first 25 rows were plain knitting (such a fan of that--Not!). Finally got to do some color rows and even though they take longer than the knitting rows (like 10min longer) it feels like I'm making so much more progress. Anyway here's a pic. I hope you love it as much as I do because till it's done it will be on this blog every week I think.

And then of course you've got the other present for the other person. Wen I decided to make these and put up that poll I had no idea my simply soft would look so gruesome in those patterns so I went back in and chose another pattern, a bit harder to understand so I might be asking an opinion on the meaning and method when I get to the base of thumb increases. Another Pic? Ok!

Finished another KAL. Pink thing all finished. Personally I hate it. Especially as a wrap/cape thing. Love it as a cute little scarf though.

I finished the Lavender scarf for my niece. It will go in the package with the Hat/Market bag and I think I have just enough yarn left for a pair of cute wristies.

I've also still been working on my Leisel Scarf. Gotten about a foot + longer. May turn it's self into my favorite ever cowl because it's looking like I may run out of yarn. But I Love cowls and I love not having those ends dangling and tangling in everything I have to get done outside. Most hated is the wet tipped scarf! :)

And this folks is my very first ever felted thing. I probably should have felted it farther but the pipe between the hot water spigot and the washing maching was leaking so I called it done. We usually only use cold water cycles so I just decided to be happy with it and move on. I did enjoy the felting process and the yarn (suprisingly) did not leak color everywhere, just on me during the knitting up. Next week--New KAL's YAY!