Bad Blogger

Or, Most of June in One Post.

All the way back on the 8th or so, we went to see a Pirates game... and the Pirates actually beat the Diamondbacks! It was warm and my guys are so handsome and it was a great afternoon.

And then Eldest turned 8.

And this is what we saw for the next week or so.
It was a quiet ride to the beach!

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. LONG drive from the 'burgh. Plenty of cousins... and critters...

games...

castles...

and buried treasure.

I didn't mean to catch this welcome on the aquarium sign... but does it leave anyone else scratching their head?

Because, I don't think you would want to touch this...

Despite the unnecessarily gloomy music, the Ripley's Aquarium did have a fabulous walk thru tank.

On the way home, we visited Virginia Tech so that Daddy could show off his alma mater.

And a trip for the engineer is not complete without taking an opportunity to visit a modern marvel like the New River Gorge Bridge. 800+ feet above the river. At one time the world's largest arch bridge. Yeah, I live with an engineer and probably one, if not two in training.

That little bridge down there was how one used to have to get across the river.

And while I was gone... Vesper Summer Sock Club wound its way thru the South Hills and landed at my door. The green thing is a tape measure. Woot!!

Is that gorgeous or what?

And then, just this Friday... Ms. A was caught red handed kool-aid dying on my back porch.

Isn't it cute how organized she is? We never lost track of which bottle was which.

Oh, and it is the perfect time of year to get dye bottles. I picked up the condiment bottles at the dollar store- 3pk for a buck!! And they are bigger than the ones in the candy making aisle at the craft store.

Here's one fine example of our handi-work... Each kid did a skein of worsted weight. Yes, Ms. A and I are kids, too :) Now the challenge is to think of something fun to make out of each.

That gets us up to date, I think... I can't believe that July is only hours away. The boys are doing a morning camp through the township, some library programs and we have a couple of weekend plans and then it is going to be August! Slow down, Summer!!

Vacations

Well, we made it back safely from the Family Vacation in South Carolina. Update shall follow.
And, I did find a babysitter for tonight. The Mister and I will enjoy his last birthday concert... Chris Botti at Heinz Hall.
Until then, I received this in an email and I thought you might enjoy it, too.

Look Out, World!

The Kindergarteners are on their way to First Grade!Eldest and INBA

Me and the Mister with INBA and our Niece Ms. V.

Ms. V finished up her kindergarten year 2 weeks ago. Who said these babes could grow up? Do notice that INBA is persisting in his refusal to take a nice picture. Whatever.

Later than Late

Oh, you know I couldn't go to bed as it headed into the 3rd overtime. Quite thrilling.

Anyway, now I am tired. go figure.

My sister is on her way here from Indianapolis. Honk if you see her on I-70. Man, Ohio is wide. She is coming for INBA's kindergarten graduation tomorrow. It will be good to see her and my niece.

I better go clean the hall bathroom and make sure the guest room has clean sheets, too. (that is code for the boys need to clean up the play room so that we can see that there is a bed in there for our guests to sleep on!)

Up Late

I am telling myself that I need to go to bed... but the RedWings and the Penguins just went into the 2nd overtime.

So, I may as well get some blogging in so that I am not just sitting here watching hockey. :)

I am a happy girl, I just put together a photobook of 2005-2007. I hardly took any pictures (an embarassing amount of knits, not many kids) since moving to the 'burgh. But the boys love to look at the albums. I finally got it done and should be here, soon.

I am resolving to be better and take more pictures.

I bought a new camera. I know, I know. But the novelty will probably help get me back in the swing of things.

How do you like my rhododendrons? Don't they bloom nice when the Mister doesn't prune all of the set buds off? He commented how nice they look, too.There are lots of iris in the yard, too. Does anyone know how to go about thinning them? Some are so clumped that they have a hard time blooming. Do you do it like bulbs or do you need to be more careful?
I really like the BFF Sock. Hence, version 3. This is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Bosco. Rani is making a pair of socks out of this yarn, too. Great minds, I tell ya.

And that brings us to my Must Have Cardigan.

Nice sleeve, eh? Mmm-hmmm.

Except that I misunderstood what they meant by "Irish seed stitch." See, I have seed stitch on the sleeve and double seed on the back. This just means that the other sleeve will match the first and we pretend that all is as it should be. Because I can.

I still wish it was right, but I am NOT going to rip a whole sleeve over it.

It is after midnight, I may have to see the score in tomorrow's paper.

Go Wings!!

There's always next year, Pens!

And I wonder how I get into so much trouble around here...

Just Because You Never Know...

Who reads your blog?

Uncle Charley!! *WAVE*

He is on the mend after what turned into a quadruple bypass and a lung operation.

Whew! Hope you are feeling better and heal quickly.

Otherwise, the weeks have slipped away here. I am wondering if I should just get used to that? It seems to be the norm anymore.

Hmm, what have we been doing?

Umm, the usual.

Not too terribly much on the knitting front. I have been spinning. I did a big basketful of carding this weekend. I am in process of washing some more. I cannot tell you how glad I am that I did not buy that 11 pound fleece! 4 pounds really is going to take all summer!

I am in process of dreaming about the cardigan I am going to make out of my romney. I found a beautiful scroll cable in a back issue (1999) of knitter's magazine. I think I want a shawl collar, too. I guess this sweater, should it materialize, will be all mine from start to finish! A little overwhelming to think about.

Oh, and also overwhelming, the school secretary's sister has two llamas. They were just shorn on Sunday. Guess who is going to have llama... um, hair? Yep, I am the (how did she describe me?) "neat" lady at school that spins and so she asked if I wanted the shearing. I said yes, of course!! I may be a durn fool, but I am going to have plenty to keep me occupied this summer :)

I told the Mister that she describes me as "neat" and he said that is as bad as being called "interesting." Heh. I still can think of worse things to be called. And I am ok, I think, with being *this far* from called eccentric.

The only weirdness in my basement is fiber, I swear!

Oh, and because weird loves company... I have friends that are total enablers. We all know about Laurie and CQ. But, then there is Annette. She has loaned me her drum carder. And she gave me an almost complete collection of SpinOff that goes back to 1986! Oh, yes, total enabler. Love it. Spoiled with friends.

Ok, here is a picture of the boys in the pool at Healthtrax.

We missed swim lesson yesterday because I forgot to pick up Eldest after school.

Yes, proud Mom Moment. Nothing like getting the phone call from the school... "Mrs. Mayhem? Eldest is waiting for you..."

Doh! In my defense, INBA threw up in the church during practice for Kindergarten Graduation. Just a little puke, he is fine. But I had to go get him. He ate a good lunch and ran my errands with me. So I was all out of sync with it being Tuesday and swim lesson day and... so we were late. The boys still had a good time in the pool. That is Eldest there in the middle. That splash is him swimming!! He forgot this spring that his entire life he has refused to let go of the instructor or side of the pool!! And you should see him. Wow. Little fish.

INBA is getting stronger, too. He is getting more comfortable putting his head under water and really blowing bubbles.

The only thing is... neither of them can tread water... not that they can't tread water, they can't keep their heads above water. Eldest is really good at treading and keeping the crown of his head out. Craziest thing you would ever see. Any hints?

Is that too many words without pictures? Did you even get this far? Thanks!

Something About Wednesday

It seems to be my day. So, Hello!

I hope your Mother's Day was nice. It stormed like nobody's business, here. Which is A-OK, because the Mister didn't try to make me go do something 'fun' outside and bug my allergies :)

That and it was easy to get a table when we took the MIL out to dinner without reservations. The Mister likes to live dangerously. (I think he is hoping that we decide to go home for hamsammiches instead of making him pay for dinner. He's tricky, but we are on to him.)

Saturday, however, was gorgeous. Not too hot, not too cold, a really nice day to explore Old Economy. The boys really enjoyed it. And since there were all of 10 people there the whole day, we did whatever we pleased without any hassle.

Eldest pumped some water. He wasn't so interested in doing laundry in the tub near by. They tried to figure out how to roll the hoops.
Daddy even got into the game.
The best part was dinner on the way home. We accidentally found this place in Ambridge. OMG. They seriously make the best Hot Beef I have ever had. And their Rice Pudding is homemade and quite possibly better than mine! The Mister says not quite, but I think he was being nice on Mother's Day weekend.

So, do you want to see my fleecy progress? Oh, good.

Here are some rolags. So fluffy and cloud-like.

This is one lock that I used a dog comb on. I have a basket of these that I am going to spin up next. I spun the rolags first. I am doing my own experiments with what is easier to spin or if I see any difference in the yarn. Just 'cuz I can.

This is my ultra fabulous stool that I bought at MSW.

I love it.

Here is my single from the rolags...

Here it is plied. I am very proud of it.

I even finished it and have been carrying it around looking for people to show it off to... funny, not too many care about my yarn. *pout* I will take it to knitting on Friday. I should find some yarny luff there.

And that is pretty much it... for now.

Wednesday Already?

Wow, where to begin?

How about with some red socks? Finished and immediately worn. Exactly why I knit for the kid.And then I went off to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
Ooooh, so cute!
I absolutely, positively had a fabulous time!
I bought my fleece, some accessories for my wheel, some yarn for a bag for a birthday present, and a skein of sock yarn from Tess. Tess works some kind of color magic, Eldest immediately claimed the green yarn for himself and asked for SOCKS!!! What?!? After so much rejection, I don't know if I can stand it. Of course, I will knit him socks.
I also bought a stool. The best stool ever. I will take a picture, I promise, the next time I am not sitting on it. I bought it with the intention of using it for spinning, but it is so much more useful than that. More on that later.
I keep trying to type, 'I love my stool,' but then I think it sounds too inappropriate and easily taken out of context.

Then, I got to meet Heather and that was fun. Kinda weird to meet for real. And then, I am quite bad at the getting to know you small talk. I am a gibbering idiot. Sorry, Heather. I did really like meeting you!
I also saw Laurie, CQ, dputiger, and Michelle and Darka, not to mention a bus full of knitters from Pittsburgh and beyond.
Here is Ms. A and I on the bus ride home. Ms. A. knows that I am a blathering fool and still goes on bus trips with me. Thanks, Ms. A.

So what then? Laurie came over on Monday to do some spinning and encourage me with my fleece. See? We laid out my 4.25 lbs of Romney on my patio table. That is a big table, seats 6 very comfortably. Wow, thank goodness I didn't buy that 11 lb bag that was tempting me!

Isn't it lovely? I washed a basket full (barely made a dent, oh, did I mention that I bought a basket, too? I guess I need to take a picture of that, too.) I carded a couple of rolags and spun the first single, about half a bobbin. I carded a bit more of what I washed today, but haven't sat at the wheel this evening. Hopefully, tomorrow. Pictures of the process to come... until you can't stand it anymore! Seriously, I have a really hard time concentrating on anything else at the moment. The only knitting that has been done is on the current travelling sock that I started on the way to Maryland. Otherwise, Romney, Romney, Romney.

8:24pm

I need to get to bed. I am being picked up at 5:10 am! What?!?! The bus to Maryland leaves at 6am and we have a good 25 minute drive to get there. YIPPEE. I hope I am not so excited that I will be disappointed.

Here's a little more excitement.

My Nephew's father became a Naturalized American Citizen this morning. How cool is that? Nephew turned 12 in February.

Congratulations!!!

Then, for a little not-so-exciting. My Uncle turned 54 yesterday and today had a triple bypass. Yikes. Please keep Uncle Charley in your good thoughts or vibes or prayers or whatever you do. Eldest would have been named after this Uncle if The Mister's sister hadn't named her son Charles 18 months before Eldest was born. Eldest would have been a good Charley. But he is a good Eldest, too.

Wednesday

Wow, has it really been a week already? The weather did indeed turn a bit chilly, there was a frost overnight, and it has been in the mid forties all week. brrr. When is it going to be 70 again? Spring is in full bloom and the mild weather has allowed all the trees and bulbs to show off their full glory. This does nothing for the allergies, of course, but it sure is pretty.

This is what we did with our weekend. Eldest made his First Holy Communion on Sunday.

We are very proud of him. He was very excited.

Grandma took the family picture.

So much for digital.

And this weekend is Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I am so super excited that I don't even know what to do with myself. I am on the Knit One bus along with my friend Ms.A, whom I taught to knit and is now on fire!! I don't know who else is on the bus for sure, I know some who were thinking of it. I will try to remember and bring the camera. :)

Oh, and I finished the Cherry Calfuti BFF Socks last night. FINALLY! But thanks to Ravelry (love that site) I see that I only started them March 30. I guess because I have been working a pair of socks in the same pattern for INBA it feels like an eternity. Note to Self- don't work on two pairs of the same pattern at the same time. That and I was distracted for about a week by... you know. His second is turning a heel, I will finish them by the weekend, I think. Then I will be done with BFF and distracted by MSW goodies. *squeeee*

I Hate to Do this to You

But seriously... I am obsessed. And just so you know, the total is 8 of the original obsession and now I have moved on to another pattern. That's ravelry, again. *sigh* And it isn't like I am done with the first. I might be close, though. I want to see how many I can get out of one ball of Sugar n'Cream. 2 for sure, maybe 3.

If you cannot go to ravelry, click over to my flickr (link in sidebar) and it will be obvious what I have been doing with my time. This may defeat the secret project thing, but I suck with secrets anyway.



The boys are doing swim lessons once a week in preparation for summer. Eldest has forgotten that he has for the last 6 years or so, stubbornly refused to let go of the instructor and swim. He is going to be a little fish if he can keep from remembering. INBA is reminding me of my sister. He doesn't like to get his face wet. The only way that could possibly be overcome is by the "anything you can do, I can too," sibling inspiration. Time will tell.

The Mister got the summer clothes out of the attic last night. This usually means that there will be a definate chill in the air for the next week or two. I am good at predicting such things. I hope not, though. I sure do like 70 degrees.

Secret Project

I am pretty sure that certain people don't read this blog. But one can never be too sure. People lurk.

So, if you want to see what I am (compulsively) working on, look here (ravelry.) Then, look in the projects to see more. Ok, so I got (am still) a little carried away. It is so unlike me!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yes, Darlings... I have survived another year in Chez Mayhem. What a dazzling, beautiful, blue-skied, sunny day was gifted to me, too. Yes, it was all for me and not for you. Sure, you were able to celebrate with me. But trust me, today was all about me.

To sum up. I have great friends. I had a fabulous birthday. I look forward to another great year. I hope the same for you, too.

Cupcake, anyone?

Quick Pics

I was reading Rani, and I thought,

"ugh, we are supposed to get snow this weekend. I better take some pictures of the yellow in the yard before it gets frozen."Of course, it is raining at the moment, so all shots are from inside the front door...
and out the dining room window in the back.

Can you tell what the boys did with the first whisps of spring?

200 lbs already added to the box, 150 more still in the bag, compliments of Daddy.

I think there will be another 200 lbs to come.

The blessing and curse of a big, handmade sand box.

The boys play for HOURS, and man, that is a LOT of sand.

I Am Sensitive

Hello

I hate Oak Trees.

That is a bit strong. Not all Oak Trees, just the ones in and around Western Pennsylvania that I am allergic to. Thank goodness that Zyrtec is over the counter now. I tried it in desperation... and it works! A little, at least. My allergies are pretty monsterous, so it would be a grand dream that one medication would fix me. boo-hoo. I am accustomed to being hyper-sensitve to other things, but I am still going to whine about my intense discomfort at the moment and my inability to go outside without making it worse. boo-hoo. June cannot come quickly enough.

Let's look at my sweater instead.I like it bunches. It is going to be around for a while, so, I will try not to bore you with too many in progress shots... but I do really, really, like it and I cannot make too many promises.
Here is a modified BFF sock by Cookie A. I did a different heel and didn't carry the pattern onto the foot. It is Jitterbug Fruit Coulis. YUMMY!! The color is off in the picture, the yarn is really much more hot pink.

That is all I know for now.

Regular programing will resume shortly

The Extravaganza was Friday. Much success, if I do say so myself.
Heeding Heather's fabulous advice, I donated 3 hours of knitting lessons to the silent auction. Would you believe that it sold for $150!! Makes a girl feel special, I tell you. Oh, and it is a good cause.
Hopefully, we made a ton of money. That will be figured out as the week goes on. Either way, it was more than they had last Thursday!

And you guess correctly if you assume that hardly a stitch was knit this whole week. I am working to reverse that trend... but laundry didn't get done this week, either...

A Good Week

The boys took advantage of a "warm" day and, along with the neighbor boy, played with their Easter gift from Grandma.

Chez Mayhem entered the Digital Age!

Well, as well as we can.

The Mister used his coupon to pick up a Digital Converter for our poor little analog TV.

And guess what? The active antenna that we had for the tv, boosts the digital signal, too! Woot! Saves us another 40-70 bucks! And we get twice as many channels as we did before. (Funny, still nothing on worth watching.) And the reception is crazy good. As in, looks like we have cable hooked up. Wow. Except when an airplane goes over or the clouds are real low. Then it is a little buggy. Nothin's perfect. LOL.

Productivity!

I finished the Cobblestone. This is the crappy picture that I took of it. Funny, I was upset with the Mister when I started it and upset when I finished, too. Poor Mister, so maligned.

This was done in Tatamy Tweed Worsted in the walnut color. I added 2 (TWO!!) inches to the sleeves (both of them!!) and to the torso(!!). It fits him fabulously.

I have decided, however, that it is most flattering to have a saddle shoulder for my Mister's sweaters. From now on, (unless I change my mind) that is what I am going to make.

Moving on...

What was the real motivation to finish Cobblestone so quickly (Feb 26-March 28)?

I needed the needles to make my sweater.

This, which will be my 'February Sweater'.

I ordered the yarn (Patons Classic Wool Tweed, paprika) in February, and I swear it seemed so much brighter than it does now.

Either way, I love it.

And I ordered it here, the nicest lady and good prices to boot.

Isn't that a pretty picture of the sleeve that I frogged. Yes, frogged. I made several errors. The least of which involves me not being able to read. la-la-la. Ribbit. Ribbit.

But I started over and am much happier and reading the pattern, this time.

I don't know if I will post again this week. The Extravaganza is on Friday and there are bound to be loose ends and such to occupy my time.

Hope your week is sunny!

Speaking of Birthdays

So, my SIL was making me feel old.
Well, she is certainly older than me. She brought her gift from the Easter Bunny with her when she came to dinner. This was her gift.
This was huge when I was a kid. HUGE! In fact, with my birthday money when I turned 11 (eleven!!) I bought this album. Yes, I said ALBUM! ack. How cool is it that it is remastered and put onto cd 25 years later. (24 years from when I bought it.) OMG. It is bad enough that the "oldies" station plays 80's music, to actually say out loud that 1983 was 25 years ago is just cruel.
All that said. I cannot help but turn it up loud and sing along and dance, dance, dance. Much to the chagrin of my 7 (almost 8) year old son. OMG! How did I get a 7 year old son?!?!? He is practically asking for the keys to the car!!
Oh, funny, Celtic Queen and I saw a coffee mug today that said, "I refuse to admit that I am over 30, even though that makes my kids illegitimate!"
Ok, I am feeling it today. Only the shock and awe part, really. I still feel 25 inside. Oh, there is that 25 again! Make it stop!

All I Want

For my Birthday

The Mister is about ready to cancel my subscription to Budget Travel.

This is what I want for my Birthday. Bad. Really Bad.

Sure, I am not denying that the relentlessly dreary months of February and March have taken their toll. But in all ways, on any day, Italy would be a welcome relief.

I promise, I have been really good this year. Or, at least, not as bad as I could have been.

I promise I will be really, really good for the next year.

Where's my passport?

I think I have another year before it expires.

Where's my phrase book?

I... know... it... is here.... somewhere... under all that... yarn...

Oh, come on... pleeeeeease?

Red Roving, Red Roving

INBA talked me into some red roving. He was looking to steal more of my Northern Lights, so I let him talk me into some Kraemer red roving. It is a little weird, I wonder if it is meant for needle felting or if there is even a difference in preparations... do you know?

All I know is that it is really tough for him to use with his drop spindle. And I know that I don't want to share my other bag of Northern Lights- Toffee!

The plan (at the moment) is to buy a fleece at Maryland Sheep and Wool (I paid for my bus ticket on Wednesday!!) that he and I can prepare and spin over the summer. He wants to dye some... Red! How did you guess? Which is fine, I think it will be a great project for us.
And some progress on the cobblestone. I have almost 2 sleeves done and another inch or two of the body to go. And, if the Mister didn't have such long arms and a long torso, I would have joined everything up by now! The joy and curse of custom creations.
I am really pleased with the pattern and with the yarn. The pictures don't do the color justice. It is a really warm and tweedy brown.

I finished the Fire On The Mountain socks.
I am frogging the gull wings in the crocus yarn.
I am itching to start another project, I am just not sure which one gets to go next!
Who feels lucky?

Perfect

Did you know that March 20th is Sweater Day? So good for so many reasons.

Know Who Your Friends Are

Wow, this weekend I sure found out who mine are. Big thanks to Laurie for helping me this weekend. I am sorry that she over did her limits in doing so. I am hurting still, too. I need a couple of more friends!
I organized a bake-sale breakfast for my church after the Sunday morning masses. Saturday I spent the day with Laurie (not even a member of our parish!!) and a few other ladies baking cinnamon rolls and bread and sticky buns for the event. We raised some money for the building fund and encouraged some fellowship, so it was a success.
Not much in the way of knitting going on. The Cobblestone has another inch on it, working a heel flap on the Fire on the Mountain socks, still debating how I feel about the gull wing pattern, wanting to cast on a shawl, but haven't finished MS3 yet.

Bits of sunshine are appearing, maybe I will become more inspired soon.

Optomists

Well, can you hear me laughing?

It takes a man to write an article like this about a man doing a study about that.

If I can sum up for you... Women have been saying for years (decades, centuries, I would venture) that there is nothing sexier than a man doing the dishes. And a man does a study that links the amount of housework a man does to getting more sex and it makes the national news wire. I am rolling on the floor laughing. DUH!!

On to Optomism

The remnants of a snow man.I told you that I saw robins!
The painful optomism of the Daffodils.
It was 30 degrees this morning.

But spring is indeed coming. It shows up every year. And the groundhog said that we have 2 more weeks, at least, until it does, again.

Until then... I am going to go show the Mister this article and how much nicer his life could be if he cleaned the bathroom.

Some Sun

Here is my travel sock. Fire on the Mountain, STR lightweight.

I am a good bit further on the leg of the second sock. I think the patterning is going to be different on the second sock, but I haven't pulled them out to compare, yet. hmm.

This is Cobblestone. The Tatamy Tweed Worsted is Walnut color. A nice rich, warm brown. I guess a little too much sun isn't a good thing... only for my pictures.

And my February Bag. So named because I needed some color and this will be my go-to bag for February... and March, seeing that the sunshine was a big tease and it is just as dark as ever, today.

The bag is a Lazy Girl Designs Towne Purse.

It has a ton of pockets and their construction techniques get all the raw edges encased and leaves it neat and tidy.

Spring?

There are 10 robins, 2 cardinals (one male- the brightest red you ever saw, one female) and a woodpecker in my back yard at this very moment.
I don't think the robins ever left this year. I saw a whole bunch of them over by the post office a couple of weeks ago after a big bout of snow. And they are fat, they haven't starved for hanging around.
It was more than 60 degrees and sunny all day today. Good-bye February! Hello, March!
I took some pictures this morning in the gorgeous sunlight... but will have to post later, I am going out to dinner with another mom! Can you stand it? Of course, I am making dinner for the brood before I go. One cannot ask too much. :)