I Dream of Knitting

Vending Machine Dress

2009-11-15T17:27:00.001-08:00

for anyone not listening to Wait wait, it does exsist!!

But what to do if one is really thirsty and tries to get something out of the vending machine???
I really want one of those manhole cover bags!!

Weekend, where did it go??

2009-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

I know it was weekend, two days of from work, payed for work that is. Saturdays are usually for cleaning and laundry etc. etc. The boys took care of the garden yesterday and today, while I did load after load of laundry, changed the beds and did my exercise cleaning the bathrooms and gave DS tub a good scrub.
After this was all done we deserved some coffee/hot chocolate and drove over to the "bucks".

Did I mention I love Peppermint Mocha, and it is in season again??

After the gardening frenzy was over, I screwed on my Macro lens on the camera and headed outside, trying to find a nice size spider that would hold still long enough for me to take a close-up of it's smiling face. But of course no luck. I did find a little fly on the wall and some Roley poly's running around.

Amazing little critters those Roley poly's.

On Friday my Vine Yoke cardigan was finished, it was blocked that night and today it was dry and ready for it first outing. Of course I cast on for another sweater right away!!

What??? three pair of socks on the needles and one pair of mittens is not enough?? There is this theory that if you don't listen to your inner voice to cast on for yet another project one might explode!!

The Fuplers: It's ORGANIC!

2009-11-07T23:08:00.001-08:00

yum!!

shineeeh

2009-11-04T21:26:00.001-08:00

More sock knitting is on the needles, and these are nice and shiny needles. Green metal needles with a nice sharp point.
2.25 mm, and wonderful to knit with, although I have to say the knitting with DPN's takes a bit of practice again. Before I moved here I had never heard of the "magic loop" method my knitting was only done on 5 needles.
But these little sticks are awesome!! now I can't wait until they make the circular needles. Also on the needles and almost done is my Vine Yoke Cardigan, almost there only a few more pattern repeats and the button band. Right now it looks like a weird blob but when it is all stitched up and buttons attached it is going to be a nice warm cardigan to wear to school.

We went to DS school for the parent teacher conference, waited for his Math/Science teacher, talked to her, and DH discussed the "Problem Of the Week" homework with her. I just sat in my chair and smiled, they went into a discussion about the different solutions for some of the problems and the credit DS does not get for it, while his answer is correct. Math is DH passion and he is the designated math helper at home.

We waited and waited and waited for the ELA/social Science teacher, I regretted that I did not bring my knitting. After half an hour wait and with DH and DS spending time and money in the book fair we gave up waiting.

His report card is very good and we are two happy and proud parents.

All Decked out

2009-11-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Halloween, and our neighbors went all out with the decoration. Gotta love a good grave site complete with werewolf and skull window decals, smoke and orange lights. Not to mention the bell ringing slash scary sounds playing in the back ground.

DS went out with DH while I kept guard at the front door and the trick or treaters, and of course chatting with all the people coming by. We ran out of candy and after a quick look in the pantry DH's humongous bag of pretzels was soon divided into little baggies.

When the boys came back there again was enough candy to last us a year. We are not that big on candy, chocolate goes first and the rest usually sits until it has to be thrown out.

At work today there was again plenty sweets to eat, and smart cookie as I am (ha) I avoided the teachers lounge, there was a big platter of cookies smiling at me every time I turned the corner in the hallway. I am proud to say that only one made it into my stomach!!

Piano stairs - TheFunTheory.com

2009-10-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

excercise people, can be fun!!!

Wildlife and more

2009-10-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures from my weekend away,
The little girl fountain in front of our house An interior shot, hmmm do I see yarn???? and pattern books hauled in a suitcase fitted to hold enough clothing for a three week vacation.

Wild life

And lots of nature shots

And the dining room, in the wonderful building all build out of "green" materials.

It's Monday and in a few days it is Halloween, can't wait to get the tricksters to the door. So funny if there are kids from my school coming to our door, I open it and they are so surprised that I don't live at school but actually in a home!!

Weekend Getaway

2009-10-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of being very, very busy at work it was finally time for our knitting retreat!! I had been looking forward to this for a very long time! Before I could go, it was our annual "Dress up like a book character day" at school. This day sneaked up on me and panic set in what book character to choose?? Of course there are many, many to choose from, but it has to be something or some one the kids would know.

Fancy Nancy to the rescue. I donned my Tiara and pink/silver hair like a real Fancy Nancy, complete with shoes and bright pink knee highs and skirt. Only thing is I had to leave a bit early in order to make it to our retreat. While on the freeway I did have one car slow down and look into the car. What??? a grown woman with a plastic glitter tiara, and jewels in her hair?? Once at the center there was time to chance into "normal" clothes and was the crunchy glitter/paint out of my hair.

This is where we went, and had a very, very good time!! Saturday morning a Banana slug showed up on our porch, and we happily shared our space with him/her.
We even had our own reserved table in the dining room, a wonderful bright space with (very important) lots of coffee.

Knitting on the porch was lovely, even more lovely with company, the evenings we spend inside watching Ice Age movies and knitting and chatting (and some drinking was involved, cough, cough)

The side view of our cottage, a lovely Craftsman style house with lots of charm and a nice front porch.

There was also some "huffing and puffing" on Saturday also known as a nice walk in the woods.

We walked on the trail and found this sign at the end of the trail, guess we walked it finish to start. I just love the way they did the word "snakes".

We did not see any of the dangerous animals listed, only some wild boar tracks, we did however see some "unlisted" wildlife if you count the squirrels who played catch on our roof and in the trees and the deer in front of the house.

Tomorrow, back to work and I will post some pictures of the actual knitting that was done over the weekend!!

Mark Gungor - Men's Brain Women's Brain - EXTENDED

2009-10-15T21:32:00.001-07:00

Mr Bean - Meeting Royalty

2009-10-11T22:01:00.001-07:00

Meeting the Queen, so funny

Fall weather

2009-10-10T21:39:00.001-07:00

Finally we have some nice fall weather, nice and cool in the morning and sunny and warm in the afternoon. And the weatherman (or woman) promises us some rain in the next week. We really could use some rain.
Work is crazy as usual, but I did find time to knit four more cupcakes during the week. Sorry, there are only three in this picture, one made its way to a teacher from my school. I started giving them instead of birthday cards, and they are a BIG hit.

And with those sunny nice days, we went out for some coffee and DS loves a good bagel with cream cheese.

after the coffee we took the long way home, it is such a nice view from the hills into the valley.

We also tackled DS bedroom today, old toys out for goodwill, bagging up some clothes that don't fit anymore and doing some vacuuming and cleaning. Now he has a sparkling, no toys, almost grown up room.

Mom happy, he happy. Now if I only could make him wash his own clothes and clean his own bathroom.

October

2009-10-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

With another busy week behind us, and a whole day of cleaning. Well almost a whole day, this afternoon was spend by me making some more cards for Halloween. The weather finally cooled down to a very nice temperature, not to cold and not to hot, DH does not agree and already thinks it is way to cold.
I had to take a picture of the moon this evening, we need the hour change to go in sooner instead of three weeks later. I for one love the winter months and the darker afternoons.

DS spend his afternoon playing games, and went out for an ice cream run with DH, when they came home they treated me to a Starbucks (gotta love the boys)

And look, Chickwithsticks brought us some white chocolate milk that turned a purple/blue color and had a berry flavor.

The picture does not show the color of the milk really well, but believe me it was ppppurple!!

School Answering Machine

2009-10-02T17:28:00.001-07:00

Now this is funny!! No need to say what I think about this one!

Sick

2009-09-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

My little (ahum) boy was sick last week, and with the fever coming and going a visit to the doctor was in order. To our surprise DS had an ear infection and he never complained about his ears, at all. I so feel for him, being sick is no fun and he felt really tired the last week. But at the end of the week he got his energy back.

Although officially it is Fall, the weather here tells us otherwise and with this hot weather I only want it to be winter more. Please Mr. Weather man let it cool down, a lot!

Of course I had to start a new pair of knee highs, this time with beads, they are called "Afternoon Delight", the pattern wants me to put beads on my feet also, but who wants to wear socks with beads on the feet in their shoes?? So I opted to put beads only on the legs.

A few weeks ago I cast on for the Vine yoke cardigan, lovely pattern, the whole thing is knit in one piece with short rows on the neckline. Love it, and it is half way done, but again, it is to hot to knit a garment that is growing and covers my lap. (another plea goes out to the weather man)

Saturday Knitterlines and I went on a field trip to Green planet yarns, a wonderful store in Campbell.

Of course my stash grew on Saturday, and because it is known that people will explode if they don't cast on a new project when they want to, this girl had to start the pair I had in mind when I bought the yarn.

Did not turn out so well, see for a pair of socks they have to fit fairly snug around your legs in order to keep them up. These where going to be knee highs so I kept knitting.

Yeah, just don't start laughing but these will fit an Elephant going on a skiing trip in the Alps.

Back to the drawing board, because this yarn is going to be a pair of knee highs (that fit)

Spirit week

2009-09-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

It was Spirit week at DS school, starting off with "not matching clothing day". For once I did not have to tell him what to wear and let him pick his own clothes, success guaranteed!
The next day was named "Steve Urkel day" and look, an instant "geek" was born. We could not find the suspenders, but I have to say with his dads favorite tie he looks smashing.
Next day was Pyjama day, when he came home my little boy had a fever and was not feeling well at all.
He had to stay home for the last day of spirit week, and spend the day on the couch watching TV.
Today he felt a bit better, thanks to the Tylenol. Hopefully tomorrow he will be fever free.

But why does this always happen when one is really, really busy at work, dead lines to meet and work to finish up?

To top it off this morning I had to do some groceries and the first thing on the list: Toilet paper, only one roll left in the whole house on Friday night.

I did manage to finish one fingerless mitten I was working on, love the result, the colors look much better in real life, the second one goes on the needles this week. Not that the weather is already cold enough to wear them. Nope, it is still way to hot outside (when does it stop?) with another heatwave starting tomorrow.

Only thing I want is to have rain and cold weather, please, please Mr. Weatherman let it be colder.

HUH??

2009-09-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Now how on earth does this stay in place while driving???
Just thought I would share this, it made me laugh.

Ylio the Alien

2009-09-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

DS had two birthday parties to go to this weekend. Starting Friday afternoon with the dance at school with afterwards a b-day party from one of his friends. The fingerless mittens were a hit, and finished by the skin of my teeth on Thursday night.
After a whole afternoon and night of partying, it was time for the other party on Saturday afternoon this time followed by a sleepover.
No need to say that this morning when we picked DS up, he was a "little" tired (his words) and he agreed with no complains or discussion to a bedtime of 8.30 pm.

The men in the household spend the afternoon reading and watching TV, while I made this cute little alien, who I named Ylio. It is a free pattern in the new Knitty.
Our new house guest likes to hang out by the bedside reading of DH, and there is were I found him late in the afternoon.

He looks really happy there, trying to find a book to read

And after a while he fell asleep while reading, can't blame the little fellow.

Time flies

2009-09-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are really busy. Work turned out to be crazy, with testing going on and me going around to different sites. Not to mention it was (again) hot last week, by the time I come home all the joints in my body hurt.

We went to the Back to School nigh at DS school, and of course there are the dreaded groceries to do. Did I ever mention I do not like doing groceries (think I did). Lucky for me DS came along and he is a big help.

There was a tiny tragedy over the weekend, one of our beta fish died. Poor little fella, we like our beta's they watch our every move when we are in the kitchen. And where very happy flaring at each other whenever one saw the other one swim by in their own glass bowls. After two days of "Curt" (or was it "Keith"?) being all alone, DS and I headed over to the pet store to get another one. DS choose two little goldfish, who are now living with us on the kitchen Island. Meet "Portabella" and "Mushroom".
Don't ask, if it was up to me it would be "Petunia" and "Dorothea".

There is some B-day knitting going on, DS is invited to a party and what to give a girl??? Panic, he never gets girls presents that is his mom's department. But this girl likes something knitted. If I could make something? the party is this Friday. I did not knit one single stitch during the last week, and with another heatwave coming next week there is no time to loose. One fingerless mitten done, cast on for the other one this afternoon, lucky we did have today off. The pattern is called "Sourwood Mountain" and can be found here

Sock knitting continues too, a pair out of the STR heavyweight Rare gem that I scored at Stitched West last February.

And finally, here is a picture of our super cute little niece Kinley, just wish I could hold her and feed her a little bottle and cuddle with her. I have to count on her big brother to do that for me!!

The Fuplers

2009-09-01T18:56:00.001-07:00

Don't do what the internet people do!!

Warm

2009-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been very, very warm. Not just warm, hot! A hundred plus, "no-one-wants-to-go-outside-voluntary" hot. And of course our AC decided to have a mind of his own and not work.
Today it was a bit, just a tiny bit better and this morning we headed out for some coffee, and a little ride through the country side before the heat came back.

There was also other big news this week, on Tuesday our little cousin/niece was born. Her name is Kinley and she is a healthy little girl with a very proud big brother!

Not to mention very happy parents and grandparents, no need to say this little girl is going to be spoiled!!

This week a box with knitted goodies is going to be mailed with many more to come (I just can not resist knitting little things)

about signs and mustaches and medals

2009-08-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Weekend is almost over, got some great knitting done. Last week after a doctors visit because of his cough and sore throat, DS really wanted a hat with the bio hazard sign. His swab for strep throat started all this.
The doc. put it in a baggie with this sign on it, and he could drop it off at the lab himself. He loved it. Lucky for him it turned out not to be strep, and he got medicine for his cough.

Of after some research we found a chart for a bio hazard sign with the right colors and this mother started knitting. It is going to take a while, because I decided to double knit this one, so he can wear it at two sides.

DS loves it so far, and lucky for me it is not cold enough outside yet to wear it. And while knitting in the garden my regular visitor came to hang out with me. She also loves the wool, only the 100 percent wool that is. I think it is the smell, she does not want to play with it, but only sniff it.

Talking about sniffing, yesterday evening I really needed something funny to knit, the boys were watching "War of the Worlds", lets just say it is not my kind of movie. While I almost peed my pants laughing they really could not see the humor for my little mustache

Almost forgot, on Friday night I also made a little medal, for a certain little boy in the Netherlands who is almost a big brother.

Jason Mraz - I'm Yours Lyrics

2009-08-22T20:12:00.001-07:00

This song makes me totally happy, only singing out loud makes my DS want to "crawl to the neighbors"

Back to school

2009-08-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

We are back in school, for me it was a whole week, for DS it started Thursday. We all got up very early on Thursday, mainly because I wanted to be at school before the "parents-bring-their-kids-and-park-anywhere" mad dash began.
One has to believe and see how bad traffic gets the first few days of school. There is absolutely no where to park, even not in the designated areas for personnel.
It is a crazy thing, and a miracle nothing happened so far. Only thing worth mentioning was the parent who tried to drive their child to school over the FOOT bridge. yeah, enough said.
Pick up can be a challenge too, take for example the person who parked their car in front of the driveway for the pickup, as a result the pick up lane was blocked. What to do, well HONK your horn of course, not once, not twice (lost honking count quickly) but repeatedly.

Of course I had to take a pic of a "reluctant" child on his first school day, he is a middle schooler now, and they do not volunteer for pictures anymore. When I picked them up on Friday he was "hanging with his friends". Can you imagine that two months ago he was worried that there was no playground at his new school??

The week came and went very quickly and finally today I finished the Ulmus shawl. it reminds of Sunflowers and Fall, now I can't wait until it is cold enough to wear it.

A new Tiger in the backyard.

2009-08-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

We have a new Tiger in the back yard, no kiddin' .
DS has named this (cutie) kitty "Tiger", here he is hanging out on the fence keeping an eye out for the birds.
But he is too nice to eat them, he warns them if the Black and white Tiger is on the prowl.

It was a slow day today, the only thing accomplished was the cleaning of the green car, it got new breaks on Sunday and was hard overdue for a big cleaning, inside and out. DS and I started very early, while it was still cool outside. He is a good help, and after about an hour the car was clean.

After lunch while DS was playing his x-box, I started a new project.
Just simply could not resist any longer, I have been looking at all the different Ulmus shawls for a long time now.

And this combination has been talking to me for a while too. Perfect for the Fall.

It is a very easy slip stitch pattern, so easy I had to Tink back a few times. Clearly counting to four is very difficult.

How to......

2009-08-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Picture this, a pair of socks is finished, and one needs to show them of on Ravelry (and blog) BEFORE DH gets a hold of them.
Nobody around willing to put said socks on in order for me to take the photographs. Son is doing his daily reading, and is all of a sudden very interested in the book.
You are stuck to doing it yourself.

Of course I could wait, or ask a neighbor. But no, I have to do it NOW.
Here is the result, no comment on how the picture was taken or what position I had to be in to show of the nice stranded sides and soles.

I really liked doing these socks (proof that they were finished within a week) and am thinking of doing another pair. DS is requesting a pair with skulls or computer gaming symbols, have to think about that for a while and get out pencils and graph paper.

DS is getting excited to start school again, and so am I.

And I am really looking forward to the fall, and Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas.....