Bye, Ty :(

I watch Rock Star INXS faithfully every week. I always mean to post about it, but I always seem to forget. Ty Taylor was voted off tonight. I know he'll never read my blog, but I did vote for him! I really like all of the singers who are left. I can't really see INXS with a female singer (although Suzie and Jordis kick ass, mind you, just can't see replacing the late Michael Hutchence with a woman). That's just my personal view on it. Mig is great - fellow Aussie for the band, Marty doesn't seem quite suited for INXS in my eyes, although he is awesome at his genre of music, and yes, I have voted for him as well. Thought he did great when they made him sing Brittney Spears! And I have voted for fellow Nova Scotian JD, but he has a huge ego and attitude, so I don't know just how well he'd fit in with the band. I think when it comes right down to it now with those who are left I would have to go with Mig.

I also watch American Idol when it's on, although I never did til the season when Fantasia won. I watch Canadian Idol, too, and usually vote for that as well. Tonight Coronation Street was on, and it was really good, so I only flicked to CI when it was going off. I think Suzi got the boot. She is the one I have been voting for. Think now out of the three that's left I'd go for the big guy, Aaron. He has a great voice. Of all the winners of CI and AI, though, the only one I ever hear on a regular basis is Kelly Clarkson. The rest seem to have fallen off the face of the earth.

Anyways, that's my take on those shows. These are just my personal views, so anyone who reads this and feels otherwise about who should win or anything else, please don't take offense! I really hate seeing someone go each week, but I guess it has to be.

Got most of a sleeve done tonight on a size 6 months baby cardigan. All cables. Already have the back and two front pieces done. Found this pattern the other day that I will buy some Emu Superwash wool to do Christmas socks. http://knitting.about.com/library/blthreesock.htm Been buying a lot on eBay, too. Not yarn but Christmas gifts and a couple of Star Wars faceplates for my cell phone and a Boston Red Sox one for hubby's.

This is sorta nice, too: http://knitting.about.com/library/weekly/aa082905.htm

Kiddies are asleep, hubby is working away tonight, so it's tub time pour moi!

Happy Knitting!

Christmas Shopping

I have started doing some Christmas shopping. Not much yet, but it's a start. I like to have everything bought by the first of December except for stocking stuffers and such. There's a guy who comes around to the store every couple of weeks and leaves books and such for us to look at. So far I have gotten a few things for people from him. He was in yesterday and left some new stuff. There is a neat Scooby-Doo phone book/toy thing I want to get for Logan. I also have some stuff on eBay that I am tracking. That is where I get Darren's PS2 games. Mostly I think I should get off my duff and start knitting some of the gifts I have planned or Christmas will be here and gone!

Will be an interesting day today at work. They took the dryer fan out of the film developing mini lab yesterday. Needs a new bearing. Hopefully will have it back tomorrow or the next day. A new fan was $900! Today is second set free day, which normally is quite busy. Plus I ran out of matte paper. We will have to take the films over to SuperStore to get developed, then print them here. We had to do that earlier this summer.

Happy knitting!

Better one of Bobby Curtola. Although it's before my time (born in 1972, so not too much), I do like the old music. 

Hard to see, but this is Bobby Curtola and his band, the Hot Rods. Bobby is wearing the shiny jacket, although it's hard to tell. We stayed til 9, so we missed the last hour, but the boys were just too wound up to stay longer. He put on a great show, though! 

Sun was going down, so it didn't turn out so good, plus I was quite a ways away. 

I was waaaay down back, far away. 

The boys and Nanny listening to the music. 

He told the crowd to whistle, so this was Logan trying to whistle! 

Seafest!

This weekend there is Seafest happening. Tonight there is a free concert by Bobby Curtola, who moved to town about a year ago. The store is closing early because I am going to the concert! The owners of the store live literally a few feet from the park where the concert is, and one of the former employees here lives directly across the road. That's good, cuz that gives us some place to park! They are expecting thousands of people to the concert tonight, and anyone who knows Brooklyn park they know it ain't that big!

May take my camera and try to snap a couple of pics!

http://www.brooklynmarina.ca/events.htm

Happy knitting!

Finished hoodie for Logan! The body is forest green, although it looks almost black in the pictures. My camera flash really washed these pictures out. Really need Photoshop back on my machine - the software that came with my camera sucks. I still don't know how happy I am with the hood. I think the next time I do a hoodie pattern I will try to make the hood by picking up stitches around the neckline or something. This was knit and then attached, and I really ain't that fussy for how it looks. I had it on once, took it off, then did it again. I didn't put the drawstring in the turnback either - too dangerous for little ones. Most things now don't have drawstrings in the hoods anymore, but if I do get something with a drawstring in the hood I cut it out. I figure he won't wear the hood up very much anyways.

Busy, busy, fixing his wagon! I really like the bright "crayon" colors of the sleeves and hood.

Big smiles for Mommy! Had a hard time getting him to let me take the sweater off of him. It was too hot to keep it on long, and besides, I wanted to wash it. At least I guess that's a good sign that he likes it! :) 

Rear view of the hoodie. 

Almost a FO

I almost have a FO! I have everything done on Logan's sweater except for the hood, but that's almost done. I am doing the decreases now, then just sew it together. Have to try to finish up some of the half-done things before I start anything new.

Took Darren to get his stitches out this morning. That went well. Had to go to the hospital outpatients department to see the doctor. He wanted to do it up there instead of his office just in case he needed assistance. But all went well after we waited almost an hour for him to do two mintues work.

Must go finish the hood. Hopefully will have a picture in a few days.

Happy Knitting!

The doctor who stitched him up is a total nut. You never know what he is going to say, and he has pissed many people off who don't know him. He is a really good doctor, though. This is what he made for Darren when he was finished stitching. Pretty good likeness! 

This is what happens to little monkeys who jump on the bed when they are told not to! 

Briar rose Briggs & Little Regal multidirectional scarf. Can't see it so well, the flash washed it out. 

When Will They Learn to Listen?

When will kids learn to listen? No matter how many times you tell them not to do something, they never listen til it's too late. Then they get, "I told you so." That's what happened tonight. I was doing my dishes, and the boys were in my bedroom (where the computer is - for now) with their 14 year-old cousin (who was on MSN, of course). I had just told them to stop raving and stop jumping on my bed. Lo and behold tremendous screaming errupted from said bedroom, nephew comes a-running, "Darren hit his face in the headboard on your bed." (We have a sleigh bed, so it has a big headboard and footboard.) I was already on my way to the bedroom, had dishtowel in hand and immediately slapped that on his little kisser (probably not the most cleanly choice, but it was there). I could tell by his scream he was really hurt, and one look at his lip I knew stitches were a-comin'. I told him to hold the towel on his face and come get his shoes on. I called the hospital to tell them I was coming. He ended up with 7 stitches - one inside and six outside. Talk about screaming! I felt so sorry for him. Had to turn my head a couple of times. Now his poor little lip is puffed up twice as big as normal and knocked one of his top teeth loose (baby tooth, thankfully). I took a picture of him and will post it tomorrow or so, along with a picture of my first finished multidirectional scarf. The doctor did a good stitch job - he had to line two halves of his lip up where it split down through it vertically. I don't think it should scar much if at all.

We talked about moving the computer out of the bedroom to the kitchen maybe, as the boys rave in our room too much and always rip my bed apart. Every night I have to remake it. I do believe now it is moving for sure, and our bedroom will be off limits.

Happy knitting!

Multidirectional

Started my first multidirectional scarf the other day. Ended up I was doing the SSK a little wrong, so I had to rip out three triangles to get back to my original triangle. Ho, hum. Anyways, I am using this yarn in Briar Rose, plus I have a skein of Fundy Fog to make one for myself.

http://www.briggsandlittle.com/wool/default.htm (This link is a little weird - I am using their Regal yarn.)

I really like Fundy Fog and would like to make a sweater for myself with it, the only drawback being it's hand wash. I don't mind hand washing scarves and smaller stuff, but is sucks for sweaters and big items. We'll see. I have a few (too many) sweaters picked out that I would like to make for myself this fall/winter, most of them being hand wash yarns. Will have to see what I can find for washable substitutes.

Will try to get a pic of my multidirectional scarf to post this weekend.

Happy knitting!

Heard an awful racket the other morning. Simba and Nala were quite distraught over something -- lots of mournful meowing. Pumba doesn't get bothered by anything. Scroll down to the next picture to see what the cause was! 

This was what the big "cat"fuffle was about!  

First stop was at the "Boat Park". 

Boys swinging. 

Darren at the park today. 

Logan at the park today. 

Boys having a picnic in the yard the other day. 

Skinny fizz scarf for the shop. 

Fizz scarf for the shop. 

Scarves Everywhere

The other knitter at work and I have been busy knitting scarves with various "furry" novelty yarns. I have made two so far. One was supposed to be longer than it turned out, but when I joined the second ball it was way different, even though they were both white. So I ended up making a short scarf and am keeping the other ball of white for another project I have in mind. I have one on the needles now and have two balls of black for another one. It's nice to have a sample of each kind of "furry" yarn so people can see how they knit up.

I bought my first set of bamboo needles the other day. I really like them a lot. They are bent a little already. I must be hot stuff! (yeah, right) We don't have a large selection of bamboo needles in stock. I don't think they are really popular around here. (Small town, people set in their ways and used to what the old Ball 'n Skein carried, etc.)

I have pictures to post, but the nephew was over last night and had the computer tied up chatting to his honey he met when he was camping with us last weekend. Will try to get them on tomorrow.

Happy knitting!

Quickie!

Just a little quickie post to let everyone know I am still around. We went camping this weekend, left Saturday around 10am and got back today after 4pm. We went to Yarmouth to see the mother-in-law. Took our nephew with us. He ended up staying today as well. She has to come to town tomorrow and is bringing him back then. It was Christmas at the campground this weekend. (One of my step-brother-in-laws won first prize - if his campsite looks like that I'd love to see his house at Christmas time! Took some pics with my 35mm, may scan some to post.) We didn't know it or else I would have taken some decorations. All we had was some blue and red Christmas lights to go with a set of six patio lanterns. The camper has an outside light by the door, but it doesn't give off much light, so we took these lights along mostly (to be honest) so I can knit by the campfire and have a little more light to see what I am doing. My days camping are spent mostly chasing Logan, so I don't get much knitting done unless A: Logan is napping or B: Logan is alseep for the night. I did get the front of his sweater finished and over half of a sleeve. It's a two-hour drive. Gotta have something to do.

I finished a baby set for the store tonight. All I had left was the neck and buttons. I took some pictures but will wait to transfer them when there's more on the camera. This is one of my own designs that isn't on my Darganknits site, so I have to add it there as well.

One of the girls at the store has been rearranging the yarn. We have some new kinds coming in and have to make more room. It's looking better now because all of the Briggs and Little wool is together, and all of the colors are out now. I think we were missing some colors. Also all of the fluffy/hairy/shiny novelty yarns are together. We carry Fizz yarn, and a bunch of them had gotten tangled (awful stuff - I hate how they wind it). I had to try to pick apart three balls of Fizz that were tangled with two balls of Sirdar Eskimo. I got two of the Fizz apart, but I had to cut a bunch of the others out. The other girl and I are going to make some scarves to sell. No one will want to buy a hand-wound ball, especially ones that aren't a full skein.

Well, it's past my bedtime. Didn't get much sleep. Up til 2am chatting by the campfire, up again at 8am, chasing Munchkin all day.

Happy knitting!