Monday, June 25, 2007

Sorry for the absence. My parents were here for a week and a half and there wasn't much time or privacy for blogging. I am very grateful for my parents generosity but they are some seriously nosy people. They have no concept of boundaries. I won't say anything else out of respect for them raising me.

I have decided that I am going to make a separate blog to talk about what we are doing with ds1. I don't want people to not read me because all I am talking about is RDI and other therapies but I would also like a place to be able to do an in-depth documentation of his progression. I have not decided if it will be a public blog or not yet but I am leaning towards not. I would like it to be somewhere where I feel free to be completely honest about my feelings without worrying about getting flamed.

In knitting news I am working on the Back to School U Neck Vest for me. It is from the book Fitted Knits. I am using Harrisville Designs Flax and Wool Blend in Spice. It is worked from the waist up and I am almost finished with the ribbing. I am also making my mom a pair of Jaywalkers in Steinbach Woole Aktiv Effekt. I picked both yarns up at a yarn store I visited in Knoxville recently. Next up I am making socks for dd and I have to re-knit my Sockapalooza socks. The other socks that I had knit the cuffs of vere just too messed up and I had to completely frog them.

There are lots of other things going on around here, some good some bad. I hope to get back in the swing of things this week and hopefully be back to blogging regularly.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

It is very hot in my house right now. About 2 weeks ago the central air was acting broken. We called the repairman, he came out and fixed it for $65. This morning we were going out for the day so I turned it up to 82 and left. When we got back I walked into a greenhouse. I checked the thermostat and it said 90. I went to check the unit outside. The fan was turning in the top, it was not when we called the guy last time. If you have a central air thing you can look at the bottom and see 2 pipes going in. One is covered in insulation. If you are using the central air it should be cold and sweaty. It was hot and dry. I turned off the ac, opened the windows and called dh and the ac guy. He just got here so hopefully he can fix it quickly and cheaply. Ugh.

ETA: Hooray, it's fixed and it only cost $32. He just charged us for the part since he was just here 2 weeks ago. Now I have to wait for it to cool down so I can clean up. My mommy is coming tomorrow!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Oh Jan!



I love this cute little dress pattern. So simple but so darling all at the same time. I have made this twice in a month's time. The first was a size 4 in tunic length, this is a size 2 in dress length. These pics are unblocked. I had to run to the post office to send some papers to my MIL so I sent this at the same time. The recipient is also a knitter so she can take care of the blocking. The specs:

Pattern: Jan by Wendy Bernard
Size: 2
Yarn: Popsical Blue (Turquoise) Cotton Ease
Needles: US 7 Knit Picks Options
Mods: I feel that this needs a ruffle instead of the garter stitch edging the pattern specified. I increased in every stitch, knit one round, did another increase round and then knit about 7 rounds before binding off 592 stitches! I also did single crochet around the armholes and neck instead of picking up the stitches knitting a round, then binding off as the pattern directed.

Monday, June 11, 2007


A few weeks ago I got a copy of Fitted Knits. It was a busy time so I didn't get to look through it like I wanted. Last night when I got into bed I read through the whole book. There were two patterns that I have a deep, burning desire to knit right this minute. The first is this U Neck Vest that you see pictured and being swatched for. The other is the Cozy V Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing. I didn't have the yarn for the pullover and I also can't wear it now since it is about 5,000 degrees here. I do have enough yarn (I think) for this vest. I am using Harrisville Designs Flax and Wool blend. The color is Spice, which is perfect for the yarn. I am a bit disappointed with the yarn so far. The vest is worked from the waist up. I cast on the waist stitches and in 2 rounds the yarn pulled apart 3 times. I have knit 4 more rounds since then with no pulling apart so I am hoping that it was just a bad spot. I look forward to getting this knit up. Hopefully quickly because I need to resume on my abandoned Sockapalooza socks.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

A little about me

I have been keeping a blog at Xanga for the past few years but I am fed up with the premium bullshit and the slow, almost nonexistent customer service. I'm going to leave my old blog up there and still check in for the people's blog I do read but for now on I will be posting here. You can go over there and check it out if you are interested at all.

First of all I am a stay at home mom and wife. I have 3 kids. My daughter is 11 lives with her father. We divorced when I was in the Navy and stationed on a ship. When I got out she was already in grade school and happy where she was. She comes to visit us on school breaks and we talk often. My eldest son will turn 6 in a month. He will be going to first grade next year. Last week he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Now I have to begin to navigate the maze of therapists, school services and government agencies. I am still taking it all in right now. My youngest and last child will be 3 in August. He thinks he is a kitty kat. I've been married to my hub for 6 years now. We live in a small town in Southeastern Kentucky.

I'm also a knitter. I learned to knit when my youngest was born because I had to sit an nurse for hours and hours. I needed something to do with my hands. I have recently found that I really don't like big projects and my favorite thing to knit is socks. I can also crochet a little and sew enough to make a pair of curtains, though I would love to get better. I used to cross stitch years ago and am sure I still can, I just can't leave my thread laying around with the kids running around the house.

Another thing that I am trying to get into is meal planning and grocery budgeting. I used to coupon a lot, and still do sometimes, but it seems like most of the deals have disappeared in the last few years. I am very guilty of running out to the store for one of two things and coming out with $40 in groceries at least once a week, but often 2 or 3 times. Because of all of this I am spending way too much money on groceries. I would like to start planning a week of meals in advance and then work up to two weeks. I want to make a shopping list of all that I will need for the week, buy what I need and not go back. I also want to start buying everything that I can from Aldi, Sav A Lot and local farm stands and only go to Kroger for things that only they carry, like organic milk and cooking wine.

Oh, I hate this template but I don't know how to snazzy it up myself. If one of my more blogger savvy friends wants to help me figure it out I would love you forever.