Slow Progress

I'm making very slow progress on the baby set I've been asked to make. I've got to get my butt in gear tonight and tomorrow - I want it finished for Monday. So far I've only got the bonnet and the booties done. I'm anxious to get back to working on the kids socks for the store, and I also have to make my mother's socks for Mother's Day yet.

I still haven't blocked my Sockapalooza socks. I really should try to get those done tonight, too, considering they are going in the mail on Tuesday! Best make sure they are dry!

Hubby's off to Newfoundland. He crossed on the ferry last night. This is his first time there, so now the only part of Canada he hasn't been to is the north. He unloads Monday, goes to another place to get a reload for Quebec, then he'll come home from there. This has to be a short run so he can be home next Saturday for the annual Firemen's Banquet.

Please pop on over to visit Nova Knitter. Her dog, Cleo, that she's had for 15 years died yesterday.

Hope to have pictures of FOs tomorrow or Monday!

Happy knitting!

Home

Hubby got home Saturday night at almost 9. I wasn't expecting him til yesterday. He had me on the phone, pretending he was in New Brunswick. Then I looked out the window and first thought was, "Who's that driving a big truck like that down this road this late at night?" Then I clued in it was him. The boys were excited. He may be leaving tomorrow for a short run to Toronto so he's back next weekend for the annual firemen's banquet. He gets his 15 year certificate this year, and it's free booze to boot!

I started a pair of toddler socks for the store in some Fortissima socka that we had in an odd dye lot. (I think it's this color or very close - I lost the label already!) I will have them finished later today. I will have to pause the socks for a couple of days. The lady that used to do the framing at the store called me yesterday and wants a newborn baby set. She needs it quickly, so I will start it today and hope to have it finished by Friday. If not then I will have it completed over the weekend so she can pick it up Monday. I have the same book she had in the store the other day, so I am going to make the same one she had planned. It's just a garter stitch bonnet, jacket, and booties. I've made it once before, and it was cute. The sleeves and body are knit from the bottom up, and the top is a yoke, so it cuts back on the sewing up! I think if I remember correctly the only sewing on the jacket is the sleeve seams and buttons. She has a bad shoulder, and she tried to knit it but it bothers her too much. I have some pink yarn in my stash that I can use, so this will be all profit!

Hope to have some pictures in the next couple of days of the toddler socks and the finished baby set. Now that I found my other 4.5mm needles I have to get back to work on the sweater sleeve, too!

Off to the grocery store.

Happy knitting!

One Missing Needle Found, One To Go

I went to start the second sleeve to the sweater for the store, and I couldn't find one of the 4.5mm needles. I looked in the closet where I had the yarn and already finished pieces of the sweater stored, couldn't find it. Then when I went to work on the Ma-in-Law's Ma's Day socks (say that five times fast!) I couldn't find one of those needles. It was in my knitting basket. I took everything out and gave it a quick look - nothing. I had to get out another one. I will take everything out again and look better. It may have slipped inside one of the books I have in there. I ended up going on the 4.5mm needle search again this morning. I do have a bamboo set, but they are in use for another project, and I didn't want to use one steel, one bamboo. I decided to haul stuff out of the closet and did end up finding it, so now I'm back in business.

Here's what the second Ma-in-Law sock looked like on Thursday afternoon:

Here's what it looked like Thursday night at almost midnight, along with sock #1:

Here's what they looked like this morning. I tried to finish them last night but kept dozing off, and I didn't want to mess up the toe shaping:

It's been sunny out for the past few days but very windy. Temperatures are supposed to be getting a bit higher, too. We played outside yesterday after school/work. We are getting ready to go out in a little bit, too. The boys will play, I will sit in the sun and work on the sleeve. The top picture is the ring toss/horseshoe set they got for Easter.

I forgot to post a pic of the boys on the truck from nearly a month ago! (That's how long he's been gone this trip. )

We're trying a points system devised by the brilliant Alison for her boys. Good behaviour = points = money for Lego. So far it's working for Darren. Logan is a bit too little yet to really understand the whole concept. But Darren has ADHD, so it was worth a try. I hope it continues to be successful! He's been on the website looking at things he likes and seeing how much they cost.

Lastly, here's a couple of shots of some of my daffodils that opened a few days ago. They are droopy, so I had to hold them up. My tulips have lots of buds, too, but will probably be a few days before they open yet. The grass has turned a lot more green and is getting long in places. Soon time for the first mow!

Happy knitting!

Finishing Up an Old Project

I decided that I really want to finish up a sweater that I started for the store almost a year ago! It is knit with my own yarn that I got for a great buy on good ol' eBay, but it is yarn that we sell in the store. (I got it before we started selling yarn.) I have one of these sweaters myself knit in a different color that I made a long time ago. This one could be man or woman, but the color is more for a man, I think. The color is discontinued. It's a forest green/dark tan ragg. Here is the current color selection in this yarn. It washes nicely. It says lay flat to dry, but I've always thrown mine in the dryer and never had a problem. It's only 25% wool. Anyways, I have the front and back done, and I will have one sleeve finished tonight. I have 3" more to knit, then do a 6" saddle strip. My goal is to have it finished over the weekend and take it to the store on Monday.

I also started a pair of socks for Mother's Day on Sunday. I am following my pattern, trying to make sure there are no bugs in it. I finished the first sock Monday, cast on for the second one but ended up just doing two rounds. I then moved on to the sleeve of the sweater. I may work on the sock again tonight once the sleeve is finished. These socks will be for the Ma-in-Law. She's the same size as me, and this sock fits me. My Ma is only small and wears a size 6, so I think if I just go down from 2.75mm to 2.25mm needles they'll be fine. I am using Regia Cotton in 4076 Top Orion and have 4078 in Top Florida for Ma's pair. It's the first time I've used any kind of cotton yarn (34%) besides for dishcloths. It's knitting up quite nicely. I like it.

Hubby is still in Calgary - can you believe it! - waiting for his load. I was talking to him earlier, and he had gone to the place he had to go but was told it might not be ready til tomorrow. I tried calling him a couple of times but got no answer. I am hoping that's a sign that he's outside getting his load secured.* He's only been at the same truck stop for 9 days because the company has nothing for him to haul. Sucky thing is he's a broker so he doesn't get paid for any layovers. Got a big truck payment coming out May 2 and hardly any money to put towards it so far. The company he currently works for will not be happy if I have to call them. I think when (if) he gets home he is making some calls and look for something else. This is only his second trip out, and it's not good that they can't keep him moving. By the time he gets back he'll have been gone for almost a month, and they had said he'd be home for Easter. Ha! He wasn't the only one from his company sitting at that truck stop, but he was there the longest. No need of it. I don't know how they expect people to be able to live like this. They definitely paint a better picture when they try to get you to sign on with them!

Anyways, enough complaining for one night. Pictures next post of a finished sweater and socks! (I hope!)

Happy knitting!

*He was outside securing his load. He's finally on his way home - should be here Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

Happy Easter!!!

Last night we decorated Easter eggs. There were sponges that you could sponge paint with, but the boys decided they wanted to "sink" them and totally dye them. I tried sponge painting them, and it wasn't easy. We had some of these for breakfast this morning, and there are three left for a couple of sandwiches.

This was the Easter Loot pre-egg hunt. It rained last night, so the Easter Bunny hid his eggs inside. It was still fun. Darren woke up 6:45 and could only contain himself til 7. He woke Logan up, and the hunt was on. I will be to bed early tonight - I had stayed up til nearly one watching the original Ten Commandments.* It came on at eight! I watch that every Easter. I tried watching the remake earlier in the week, but I couldn't get into it. Too used to the original. Anyhoo, here's a few pics of the boys post-hunt.

Nanny and Grampy came down later in the morning. Logan got a Dora chocolate, and Darren got Spongebob. (She was going to get Logan a Patrick, but he spied Dora in the drug store and had to have her!) They each got two new shorts sets as well. Logan had to wear one of his, of course.

Daddy also sent two special Reese eggs home with the Easter Bunny. He's still stuck in Calgary. The eggs were hard to find! The bunny hopped up and put them on my living room ceiling fan!

Here are some not-very-good pictures of my finished Sockapalooza socks. Logan was all over me, so most of the pictures came out blurry. I'll try to take a few more later on. I still haven't blocked them yet. I'll probably do that tonight. Check out the previous post for changes I made to this pattern.

Must get going. Darren is waiting for the computer. Have a happy Easter everyone! Don't eat too much chocolate! I imagine my boys will be up for two days with the amount they ate today! I did get them to eat a good lunch, though. I was surprised. I am also finally working on my free patterns site. I haven't linked it yet - there's nothing on it. I just "opened" it up. I am working on a pair of socks right now using my self-striping sock pattern. I am working out any bugs, and as soon as I am confident that it is error-free I will post it and link it on the sidebar.

Happy knitting!

* Should have known better - I see it's on in five minutes! Could have watched it today since nothing else is on!

Sockapalooza Yukon Leaves

Here is one of my Sockapalooza Yukon Leaves socks, unblocked, as you can see. The other one needs two more pattern repeats, and then I can start the heel. I am hoping to have these finished sometime tomorrow. We'll see. Hubby has been stuck in Calgary since off-loading Monday, so the evenings he's on-line with his laptop. I end up going on MSN with him til midnight, so it's cutting into my knitting time! He'll probably read this and get all offended, but at that time of night the kids are in bed so I watch tv and knit! I know he's bored, and if he wasn't stuck there with nothing to do he'd be driving and not able to chat, so I'm really not complaining. Darren keeps him on MSN most of the evening playing games. Anyways, back to the pattern... The only changes I did to the pattern are I used 2.75mm needles - I got gauge with the 2.25mm, but they were t-i-g-h-t! These are perfect. I also did my normal heep flap instead of the band heel. I tried it, didn't like it. I did my toe as usual, but I think that was the same way the pattern did it, too. I usually don't read the toe shaping in patterns too closely. I just do it the way I always do it.

Here's a closer look at the pattern. I am definitely making myself a pair in the near future.

Check out this neat link from Nova Knitter's blog. I wonder how they ever got the web cam there? Last night he got up and repositioned himself, and I finally got to see the two eggs. It would be really neat to happen to pop in when they hatch!

Not calling for very nice weather this Easter weekend. I think the Easter Bunny will have to hide his eggs in the house. I should be able to catch up on my knitting by the sounds of it! I do have to work Saturday, though. It's the last day of our yarn sale - 15% off, even already reduced prices! Stop in if you're in town!

I sent these pictures to Daddy earlier - the boys were dressed in their team shirts today!

Must go do my dishes.

Happy knitting!

One Down, One to Go

I finished one of my Sockapalooza socks today. All that's left is to graft the toe. No pictures yet, but it turned out quite nice. I definitely plan on making a pair for myself! I should have pics in a couple of days. It's a really nice pattern. The only changes I made were I went up to 2.75mm needles from 2.25mm (even though I had gotten gauge - they were tight!), and I made my regular heel. I didn't quite like the heel in the pattern.

I am suffering from some envy today. Hubby is in Calgary, and this afternoon his is visiting my best friend who I haven't seen in almost four years! Last time she was home we were both pregnant. At least I will get to see pictures of her kids finally! I haven't seen any since he was through there when her littlest one was 3 months old! He's exactly two months older than Logan, so now he's three-and-a-half! She's terrible for writing and calling - always has been, always will be! I know she may read this - I told Travis to show her the blog so she can see pictures of our boys - so face it, you know it's true!! I have plans in the works to visit her this summer. It will be too long to be cooped up in the truck there and back, so I think we will either fly out and catch a ride back with Travis or go out with him and fly back. I've never been on a plane before, and neither have the boys, so it could be interesting! I'd prefer a direct flight where I have no airport experience!

Anyways, must get the boys ready for skating. The season is almost over. I just thought I'd do a quick update where I haven't posted since Monday.

Happy knitting!

April Socks Completed!

I have finished my April socks early for the Sock-A-Month KAL. Now I can concentrate on Sockapalooza socks. Here are some pics of my socks. Fortissima Socka, two skeins, very little leftovers, pattern I made myself. It's just your basic stocking stitch, top-down, heel flap sock. I want to tweak it a bit before I post it as a free pattern. I haven't worn them yet (except to take the picture), so I want to see how they feel.

Now I've got those other socks to finish first, then I have a size 4 child's sweater and an adult sweater for the store to finish, plus Logan's hooded jacket. I hope to get all this finished by the end of the month. I also bought three skeins of Bernat Sox yarn to make Darren some socks, and there will be enough leftovers to make Logan at least two pairs. I am also watching a bunch of sock yarn on eBay. There's one listing for four new summer colors of Confetti self-striping sock yarn (8 skeins), and the same seller has a clearance on a bunch of solid and tweed Confetti yarn (18 skeins). I'm still thinking on the larger bunch. There's also another seller with some Opal and Confetti socks yarns that looks interesting, too. One good thing with the larger bunch of sock yarn - there's some good colors that I could use to make Christmas gift socks. I worked it out if I bought it all (it's all listed Buy It Now) it would work out to be $4 Cdn/skein.

Sunshine is hovering to use the computer.

Happy knitting!

Nothing New

There's really nothing new to report knitwise. I am at the heel on my second Fortissima sock. I hope to have it finished by tomorrow night, then I can move on to the Sockapalooza socks.

Here's a better picture of my chimney that desparately needs to be rebricked. I'm going to start calling this week for estimates. I also took a picture of my daffodils - flower buds! The top picture was taken on the 26th, the next one on the 30th. All this nice warm, sunny weather really made them grow fast!


The boys were excited that Daddy got home Thursday night. He has to call his dispatcher Monday morning and should be back on the road. I took some pictures of the boys and the truck, but I haven't uploaded them yet. I will wait until I have some finished sock pictures as well! Here are some that I took over the last couple of days, though. I always have so many pictures of Logan because Darren is in school now, so it's just the two of us for half of the day. I have tons of pictures of Darren, too! Got the albums and a box full to prove it! (It also helps when you work in a photo lab and can print your own pictures!)

We've been walking around the Trestle Trail pretty much every day. I didn't get around it today, but the boys did with the babysitter. (I had to work.) This is what the "beginning" looks like, and that's Logan racing me across the bridge. (I say beginning because 95% of the time we go this way around it.)

There's a new loop on the Trestle Trail, and this bench is there. He always has to sit and have a snack or a drink!

Then we had to stop in town at the "boat park". He wasn't too keen on staying very long, he was tired, but then a little girl arrived, so he wanted to stay and play. Then a couple of more kids arrived, and it was hard to get him to leave to get Darren from the bus stop!

Then, of course, there was a hole lot of bikin' goin' on!





Lastly I will leave you with these two pictures that Darren took. I have more pictures to post, but that's quite enough for one day! (I know, I overdo it with the pictures, but I do like blogs with lots to look at!)

Happy knitting!