BOO!

Happy Halloween!

Admitedly, not my favorite holiday, but hard not to smile when the boys are so cut in their costumes. INBA was a shark- but he doesn't eat people, I asked. Eldest was a robot, made by him and the Mister. A little commentary follow-up...

Of course, I take my knitting with me to hockey!! But the chairs are really uncomfortable and it is really loud and the parents getting worked up about 5-7 year olds playing floor hockey annoy me.

I am, indeed, being a little shy with my xmas knitting. I know some people pop in unexpectedly. My own children often appear at my shoulder, too. Boy, you look forward to them learning how to read and then spend your time, once they know how, keeping them from reading things!

They are back!

So, I need to go claim the "MOMMY TAX"

Have a frightfully good night!

STR Spoilage for October

O000-La-la

Leave it to the Yarn Harlot to design the best sock, yet, in the best colorway, yet.

The colors are a little washed in this photo. It is a really deep and rich black and plum.

yum.

As far as anything else going on around here?

I finished another pair of blue socks for a Christmas present.

I am working on a red pair for INBA to get from Mrs. Clause.

Um, I forgot, again, to take a pic of the swatch for Leafy Heather. I am waiting on the needles to arrive to work on that.

Eldest and INBA started up into floor hockey, again today. (longest hour of my life, I don't know how you people spend all day at a soccer field)

We had brunch at Duke's Station on Baptist Road. It is an old train car as dining room. You know INBA loved it. I am considering having his birthday party there.

Crazy October

This is the tree in front of my house. Of course, all my maples look like this (except for the red one.) Just a touch of pale in the leaves, but overall, green.
This is the tree across the street from my house. And this picture doesn't do it justice. I would have tried another shot of it, but I got shy when I noticed a workman at the house next door watching me. I didn't really know how to shout, "Don't worry! I am just going to blog this!" and sound normal.It is supposed to be in the high 70's again today. This is really cramping my time with the now-finished cardigan. 5 bucks says that it is pleasant until the day before Halloween and then the kids are going to have to beg for candy in parkas. But then, growing up in Northern Michigan, that just seems normal.
What is with the obsession with "normal" today?
I best go do something unusual.
Have a fabulous week.

Sunday Stuff

To get a big pot of cubed apples... One needs a sink full of peels and cores.
Soon it turns into this...

And eventually this...

Man, that is a lot of work for 5 pints of applesauce.

I still have apples... so I suppose I will make another batch tomorrow. That or I will freeze some and see how they work for a winter pie.

Mayhem Men entertainment.

This is how the guys (Mister included) spent the early part of the afternoon. They built a model of Pittsburgh in the sandbox for Virginia Friend's Flat Stanley.

Can you see that there is water in the Monongehela and the Allegheny? All those sticks are bridges, Percy is the Duquesne Incline, the blue rocket is the fountain at the point, and the sand castles are the buildings "dahn-tahn". You cannot see here, but they dug the Liberty and the Fort Pitt Tunnels, too.

After that, the Mister took the boys (Stanley included) out to look for the photographic vantage point of the model. They did pretty well, but I will spare you more pictures of the 'burgh.

I have a few projects in the works. A couple might even be approaching finishing stage. Maybe if I go work on some, I might have something to show next week. It is a concept. I know.

FO

TA-DA!!

Yes, I finished the cardigan! What cardigan? The cardigan that I started, um, back when. And Apparently, I was having issues with blue then, too! Funny.So this is Chunky Cables from Feb '07 Knit 'N Style. I substituted RYC Soft Tweed and used size 11 needles. Stitch gauge was fine but row gauge was way wonky (don't you just love learning things in your projects?) so the shawl and button band are a little weird (I didn't have nearly enough stitches called for in the pattern. I had to do some math, I think it worked out OK.) I added buttons that I knit in. It didn't take long to do- when I actually worked on it. It languished all summer in a basket next to the red chair. I became motivated to finish by assuming that it would become cold soon (at some point?) and the general need to finish something, anything. Overall, I love it. Super soft and very warm (just in time for 79 degrees tomorrow) and a lovely soft tweedy green (with bits of blue and pink) that will go with just about everything I own. Don't be surprised if you run into me in the next 7 months and I am wearing this sweater!

Photo credit goes to INBA who got very excited when he snapped the picture and it showed up on the camera. Find Joy in the small things. I need to do that more.

Mommy of the Year

goes to someone else. Today was the Kindergarten field trip to Trax Farm and I didn't take the camera. No picture of INBA climbing on mountains of pumpkins. I suck.

But I did manage to take a picture of the silk thread from BlueMoon Fiber Arts that I ordered to make the Peace Shawl. I really suck.

Now, INBA and I are off to knit-nite. Laurie's OS lost a bet with her and she has offered him as babysitter so that I can stay late with my friends and he can then be even. (The Mister is camping with Eldest and the other cub scouts.) So, we will have hot chocolate and bring OS back to our house at bedtime. Sounds like a plan to me.

Ravelry

Well, I got my invitation. So I set up my profile and that is it so far. I am Pisellogirl, if you want to be my friend and share any tips and tricks.

And don't forget about the PartyLite candle party at my house tonight at 7pm. I hope we don't freak the candle lady out with -what will inevitably get pulled out- flamable knitting materials!! You must promise to be careful and keep away from open flame :) Even Mrs. H. - whom I taught to knit last week while in public at a swanky mall- will be bringing her project(s). Can you believe she has 3 scarves on needles already?!?! Nah, she isn't going to be a compulsive knitter... nah, never! *bwahahaha* converting at every opportunity, doing my part for the survival of the LYS!!

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

Oh, what 9 years can do for you.This is Notre Dame des Victoires in San Francisco.
Honest, I don't think we have gotten any older.
Ok, maybe a little.
9 more years and we will be wrestling Eldest for the car keys.
I think I will linger in this moment a bit longer.

How's this? Lady K and myself.
Quite a pair.
The Mister brought me flowers and I botched dinner. I am making it up to him tonight... with dinner done right. My Aunt sent me another huge box of apples, so at least one pie should be made this afternoon.
It was only 48 degrees at noon, so it is the perfect day to have Stew on the stovetop and Pie in the oven.

Useful Housework

Of course, I did the laundry.

I wouldn't have been able to do this, if I hadn't thrown in that load of towels!Wrecking knitting sure is empowering! I guess it really isn't wrecked, just felted on purpose. Still, it is a strange, guilty feeling that I get throwing fresh knits into the wash... on HOT. And how about that bag? One cycle in my front load washer was all it took! It is Paton's Classic Wool. Nice stuff.

While I am down there...

I cleaned off the Hockey Table, as I do when I want to do fun things with knitting, and brought in my pink foam board that the ever-fabulous Mister picked up for me at Home Depot. Then I set about blocking my sweater that has languished all summer. I need more T pins.

Unfortunately, my car is in the shop. I have been driving around for a week and a half in a car that was growling at me. Apparently, I am lucky that my alternator didn't give out on me because I would have been stranded. I guess they just don't make cars like they used to, one belt goes and you are toast. *shrug* I didn't argue with the guy when I start the car and he becomes very concerned and starts wondering where he can get an alternator this afternoon. He is an honest mechanic, so I took the ride home. Of course, I didn't realize at the time that I was going to need T pins!

I'll get my car back tomorrow afternoon- not an alternator in town for my car- hopefully, purring like a kitten.

I will steal the Mister's car tonight and make a run to JoAnn's.

Now, the paper is hoping that it will make it to 55 on Friday... very motivating to get a cardigan done!

A little weekend fun

Saturday, Laurie came over with an armload of videos. The Mister was out doing Mister-things, and we dipped spicy-sweet mustard with pita chips and gorged ourselves on Kaffe Fassett.
Check out this guy! I did not need to find this. When this is what I was looking for and is more than enough!
OHHH, I love color. I lamented to Laurie, "Could you imagine if we had time to do all the things that are in our head!?!" But I made a conscious choice to be married and have children, I made a commitment to raise my children as well as I can. That just means that I don't have time to do most of the things that are in my head. I think most of us are in the same boat. I think it also explains why we have so much stash, because when I do have time... but right now, I need to go clean the bathroom before Eldest gets home from school.

Edited to Add: I didn't go clean the bathroom. I am really a lousy wife/mother/housekeeper. Please don't tell on me, 'k? Anyway, I guess it was one of those group consciousness things this weekend, check out Panopticon's account of a real life encounter with Kaffe Fassett! Oh, I think I might be unbearable if I had a real-life workshop with those guys. Now, I guess I will go do my laundry. Hey, stop laughing. I just might.

Thank Goodness for the Weather

What else would we have to talk about? The weather man says that despite the fact that it is nearly 90 degrees today, by Friday we will be hoping for 60. Yikes. It is definately all or nothing around here.

Yes, this hat should look familiar. It is the mitts that I completed this weekend. I love 'em. But I am thinking that this set would really make a nice gift for someone. Now I just need to think of whom. They fit me and Laurie and the Mister, so size isn't an issue.

I did make up a rough pattern as I knit the mitts, so I am going to look into how one might put a pattern in the side bar. Any advice?

I Felt That!

Can you see the People?

They are supposed to be dancing.

They are a pattern from my Traditional Scandinavian Knitting book by Sheila McGregor.

And the rest of the pattern I made up by kinda mish-mashing a couple of things that I liked from a couple of other patterns.A hat plus some.

This is the simple cable hat from Cables Untangled.

I knit it isn the Highlander by Alpaca with a Twist.

LOVE this yarn.

I needed just a smidge more than one hank for the hat, so I am trying to make up a fingerless mitt to match from the left over.

Can you tell that I had to get away from the blue socks for a bit?

The Mister didn't think it was as funny as I did that, needing a break from blue, it sent me to the other side of the color wheel! Orange! Without even thinking!! Funny how the brain- and the eye- works.

I can't believe that it is Friday! Where did this week go?

My brother and his family came to visit last weekend, we took him to a Pirate game for his birthday- yes they lost- and I think he had a good enough time that he will come back.

Somehow, I managed to let the rest of the week wiz by me.

Hopefully, this weekend will be a bit more low key. Looking at the calendar, though, I am not too optomistic. Celtic Queen says that I need a bigger calendar. I say, "NO!! PLEASE, NO! If I have more space to write in more things I will be even more busy, and still not be able to tell you what I do with all my time!!"

So now, I will go watch INBA playing in the sandbox. It is 80+ and supposed to get hotter before it does anything else. Whew, some kind of October! Makes me worry about paybacks in the middle of winter... anyone seen a wooly catepillar this year? What is the forecast?

LOOK HERE. Everything is on the internet.
Have a great weekend... before the heavy rain comes.

It's That Time of Year

The boys made their own t-shirt decorations.

They started out with solar systems and it morphed into mountains and train yards. Still, they look very cute and the boys are very happy with the results.

Comfort Food

The weather dipped and I roasted a chicken last night for dinner.

Today, I made chicken soup.

Oh, I wish you could smell it.

I am going to run over to the Uncommon Market and grab a loaf of Mancini's Bread and spoil my brood to the hilt!!

I never make soup the same way twice, but it always starts with olive oil and sauteeing onion and carrot and celery. I had some red pepper today, too. Chicken broth and garlic and bay leaf go in, too. But today, I also put in Herbs de Provence. *sigh* So good. I will add some frozen peas just before dinner and it may very well be my best soup, yet.

Don't You Have Two Kids?

Uh, yeah.
Eldest is at school all day and then he comes storming into the house demanding and bossing. Honestly he hasn't done much that I would tell anyone about, lately.
But this morning, he was sitting out on the back porch listening to the radio on his little MP3 player that Aunt Melissa gave him for his birthday. He looked so grown up. Bopping to the tune in his head not knowing that I was watching and lamenting his advancement through time.
And really, it is ok. I know that this is what they are supposed to do.

Oh, and the Mister said NO *gasp* to acquiring a top-load wash machine from the pennysaver so that I can felt my bag. Good thing there is a voice of reason around here.

And lastly, we took the boys to Penn's Colony last weekend and watched the celtic group Highland Reign perform while we were there. So, the boys have been marching around the house singing, "I am Angus, the highway man! Trying to make a living any way I can." Imagine it with a marching beat and thick brogue. MMMmhmmm. Cute, but I am wondering if I will get a call home from school.

One more last thing. This weekend at Penn's Colony the are having a fleece to shawl event. They aren't shearing the sheep because it is all period. As you can imagine, it would take a good bit longer to shear the sheep with non-electric shears. It is a nice festival, you should go.

Bedtime Conversation

INBA has been full of interesting conversation and observation lately.

"Why is green so popular?" I guess no one told him that nobody likes green ;)
"Maybe because it is the color of all the plants and leaves of trees."
"No, not all. We have a red maple." pause, "And we have a sugar-free maple, so we can make our own sugar-free maple syrup!!"
"I don't think that is the way to get sugar-free syrup."
"I think so."

Good night.

Oh, Goodies!

Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Piefor some reason, this recipe isn't on their website. Since I picked it up at the grocery store, I am going to type it out for you.

Jell-o has a new flavor pudding... Pumpkin Spice. OMG, girls.

So here it is:

Ingredients:

2 Cups cold Milk

2pkg (4 serving size each) Jell-o Pumpkin Spice Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling

1/4 tsp. ground Cinnamon

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip, thawed

1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust (6oz)

1/2 c pecan halves

1Tbsp honey

Method:

Beat milk, dry pudding mixes and cinnamon with a wire whisk until well blended. Spread 1 1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.

Add 1 1/2 cups of whipped topping to remaining pudding mixture; stir gently. Spoon over layer in crust; top with remaining whipped topping.

Refrigerate 1 hour. meanwhile, cook pecans and honey in skillet on medium-low heat 2-4 minutes or until pecans are carmelized, stirring frequently. Spread onto sheet of wax paper separating larger clusters. cool. sprinkle over pie just before serving. store leftovers in refrigerator.

Makes 10 servings, one slice each.

I didn't bother carmelizing the pecans because I knew that it wasn't going to get eaten up right away and I find that carmelized nuts don't like to be kept in the fridge very long.

The Mister gave this pie very high marks.

"Better than pumpkin pie." I believe is what he said.

I should mention, he doesn't like Nutmeg. This is heavy on cinnamon. That contributes. I usually make pumpkin pie with Mace in place of the Nutmeg. It tastes the same to me, but it tastes better to him. Whatever.

Either way, this pie was ridiculously simple and super tasty.

knitting...

I finished my sister's blue socks. And I am working on another blue pair for a gift. These are of the yarn that I bought in Traverse City. It is an Opal Rainforest color. I haven't knit with Opal before (I don't think) but I like it a lot! The colors are awesome, I don't mind that it is blue (so much.) Part of the fun is that I am doing this pair on Magic Loop with Addi Turbos. Hard not to like the knitting with good tools and ingredients.

I am thinking of some more Holiday knitting. Um, don't mention the Mister's sweater, 'k? I know that I haven't touched it in weeks and could have been done by now. shhhhh.

The point is that I am getting ready to spread knitterly love and holiday cheer all around- not just in my house.

Oh, and I am getting close to finishing a bag (check out this gallery!)that needs to be felted... any volunteers for helping me with that? I am seriously contemplating asking the Mister to buy me a top loading wash machine out of the pennysaver just so I can felt. But that would be a smidge silly, don't you think?

I'm a Little Worried

INBA gets funny about his hair. Quite particular, actually. Today is school picture day. He had a lump at the crown that I was trying to flaten. Then, I brushed him a little to the side and he freaked out.

"NO, NO! Straight down and in!"

"To a point?"

"Yeah, that is how I always look."

"um, No."

I am afraid to think that they will let the kindergarteners arrange their own hair. Would a school picture person really think that I send him out with an Eddie Munster-esque coiffe?

I cannot think about it.

I guess we will find out in a few weeks...

In Praise of Tinking

Here is the current state of MS3. You cannot see very well because the short rows won't let me lay it out flat. About half of what I have done on the wing is folded under and obviously, it is suppose to be squared off up at the top. I did have to tink about 5 rows. I messed something up, although I still do not know what. Tinking actually gave me the opportunity to see what the stitches are really doing and how that double decrease is laying. I was confused and it probably led to the errors. So I am re-knitting, now and, hopefully, will have no further problems... oh, and I have sternly relegated this project to super-wide-awake status. That should help.
I was deeply concerned about my fancy toe socks walking off, again.
So I completed them.
Incredibly pleased with these girls. I started on these while the fancy toe socks were touring Pittsburgh.
These are Trekking XXL in blue multi. They are for the mother of the neice that wanted blue socks, 'cuz she wanted blue socks, too.

Busted.

Is that not classic?

The ultimate mud pie factory... a 6ft x 6ft sand box full of water.

And really, we get what we deserve for making the boys watch PBS.

We have been getting the series "Building Big" from Netflix and the boys are inspired. This is just the natural flow from building dams to flooding the sandbox.

It is good to be a kid.

It doesn't last long enough (for him, at least:)

The Weirdest Thing Happened...

I have been wandering through links lately. Just to see what's up out there and because, like me, my favorites have been posting less frequently. I wandered onto this blog and low and behold... I am in her links!
It weirds me out a little when I realize that other people lurk around my blog. I lurk most of the time, too. So, this is irrational, of course, because I toss (part of) my life out there into public, of course it is going to be seen... still. So, HI to all y'all that I don't know are there.

Wow, three people read my blog.

Oh, and if the Mister stops by, I put in a sudoku game for you to play with down the bottom, over there... you need to scroll down... below INBA'a dog.

Eldest just blew in... peace and quiet are over rated.

Can This Much Dust Settle?

Whew. Mayhem has kicked up some dust around here. I foolishly thought that with both boys off to school that the world would suddenly be smooth and peaceful. Oh, I guess I forgot to factor in volunteering, cub scouts, meetings, appointments, cleaning, grocery shopping... for some reason I think that I need to do an entire day's worth of work in 4 hours and then still have energy to be Mom and do family work all afternoon and evening.

I am waiting for the dust to settle, but I am afraid that we have kicked up too much.

So now, I am off to grab the mail on my way to pick up INBA from school so that we can have lunch and not be late for the appointment I have this afternoon because I couldn't fit it into my already spoken for mornings.

Breathe. yes. #7 on the to do list for today.