Thursday, June 24, 2010

Tonight's the Night!

New blog template. I wasn't having any trouble viewing it, but a couple of the Knitterpudlians said it went wonky when they tried to view it. Don't know what was up, so I'm trying this one. If this one looks funky for any of you, please lemme know so I can try something else. Thanks.

Tonight is the night that my BFF is arriving from Alberta for a visit. She's coming with her oldest girl, they leave on July 6, and her boyfriend is coming as well but is leaving on July 2. He wasn't supposed to come but decided a couple of weeks ago that he was. Her other two kids unfortunately can't come, so they are staying with her brother til she gets back. I'm excited, I haven't seen her since summer of 2008. We're hoping to get out to her place next summer. Ideally she'd like to come home every second year, and we'd like to get out every second year, so that would work out great to seeing her every year. (We've been BFF for 30 years now, ever since grade two when we met.) She'll also finally get her birthday presents from last year. (Remember how I mailed them to her, she's terrible at checking the mail, they were there so long they shipped them back? And I had to pay as much to get them out as I did to send them to her. And I said she'd not get them til I saw her in person.)

I have been knitting but don't really have much to show. I'm working on dishcloths for the boys' teachers. They had their last day of school yesterday but have to go on Tuesday morning to pick up their report cards and anything else that accidentally got left in school. So far I have one set done, two more to go. (The Littlest One has a teacher's aide in his class, so she's getting these.)

Last night was prom night at the high school. I had such plans for outdoor photos. We were going to go to T's house and use his yard (gorgeous yard, flowers everywhere, lawn kept perfect, nice pond with waterfall, just plain beautiful). Anyways, it absolutely poured out, so no pretty pictures. (From working in a photo shop for over 11 years I know all the poses!!) My house is smallish, and I don't have anywhere good for really good pictures, so I had to make due with what I had. This is nephew when he was getting ready to go. He'll be 19 on Sunday. Ga!! Where does the time go? And my brother's boy was 22 yesterday.... Man, I feel old.

This is him and his date (just friends) at the prom. My SIL took my camera and got some more pictures. This girl, I went to school with her father. (Who happens to be my BFF's cousin.) Man, I am feeling even older.

The girl on the left in the black dress, she's the boys' babysitter. Her grandmother and Hubs's grandfather are brother and sister.

I guess it was pretty crowded at the school since it was raining, and everyone was inside taking pictures. Today it's hot and sunny. Figures. We really did need the rain, but not on prom night!

Off to finish up some housework.

Happy knitting!

Friday, June 18, 2010

WWKIP Day

Just a reminder to everyone that the store is celebrating WWKIP Day tomorrow by having a sale. 25% off all in-stock, regular priced Ball N Skein items (except for finished knitted items).

Happy knitting!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Some Father's Day Socks

Got a pair of socks for my Dad finished up for Father's Day. I started these one June 5, finished them up on the 13th. I used a 2.25mm needle and did a basic 3x2 rib with Scheepjeswol Invicta Extra. Ravelry details here.

I'm trying to crank out a pair for step-FIL, but he's away working, I don't know if he'll be home for Father's Day this weekend or not. Better have them ready, just in case. I have the yarn to make my Dad another pair, too. He does oodles and oodles of stuff for us all the time (like fix backed up septic systems, bleed hot water tank lines when I run out of oil, tar a leaky roof til I can get it reshingled, etc, etc....), so he'll get an extra pair if not on Father's Day then shortly after.

Remember this big kerfuffle back in December? Finally, finally, we got the release papers to sign for the settlement. They've only had our stuff since March and had approved it. We had to wait til the company we haul for had all their bills submitted so the insurance company could settle the file in one swoop. That was highly annoying since our claim was separate from the company's claim, and we aren't millionaires, unlike the company we haul for. Anyhoo, the bright side is they're paying the full amount we asked for, so that's a good thing. I think the insurance company only did it this fast cuz the company we work for has their fiscal year end June 30, and they wanted the file closed before their year end. I'm just glad it's going to be done for good within the next week or two.

This wasn't a good way to be on the news, but my nephew was on tv the other night. Not sure how long the link will last, he's the one in the red plaid shirt, baggy jeans, hat, and sunglasses. (Currently he lives with us, he had a spat with his mother.) A good friend of his was killed in a car accident Saturday night. Three others in the car had minor injuries, a fourth boy was air lifted to the city - his mother is a good friend of mine, she worked at the store for a couple of years after we got the Ball N Skein, his sister used to babysit for me. He has a broken pelvis, shoulder, and a broken shoulder blade. The guy who died, his father was my home room teacher in grade 7, had him for different subjects in junior high, and his mother was the Oldest One's teacher in grade one, the Littlest One was supposed to have her this year, but she retired. Hubs's cousin got married on Saturday, her photographer was the boy's sister, the poor thing. They had to come get her at the reception and tell her that her brother died. The man talking in this news clip is my current babysitter's father (they've got his first name wrong). It happened pretty much next door to her house.

And I know exactly how these kids all feel -- 18 years ago this November one of my best friends was killed in a car accident at age 20. He's who my Oldest One is named after. And 19 years ago this month on the 7th there was a terrible accident in a small community just outside of town where 3 guys that I went to high school with were all killed. Time is healing, but you never forget.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Bronzed Berries

I signed up for the 52 Pair Plunge again this year, but this time I opted for the mini-plunge option. Instead of trying to make 52 pairs of socks in a year (which I've never done) I only have to do 26 pairs. The first Plunge I managed 29 pairs, I skipped the second one, and the third one that just ended I did 33, so I feel confident that I can reach the goal of 26 pairs of socks by May 31, 2011. Here is the first pair:


Not much yarn left! It was hard to match up the stripes, Kroy has so little yardage compared to other 50g skeins. Doesn't leave much to work with. I had actually started the second sock and not worried about matching them (even though it was annoying the heck out of me). But once I got started I saw that I wasn't very far off from where I should be starting, so I frogged it and started again. When I finished the toe of the second sock I just had enough yarn left as I was knitting to kitchener the toe! The toes are off a bit, but I'm not worried about it. Close enough.


These were standard vanilla socks over 60sts, heel over 30sts, toe to 20sts. Started May 29, finished June 4 and knit on 2.25mm needles with Patons Kroy Stripes in the bronzed berry colorway. They are ladies 8 and were made for a customer at the store. Ravelry details here.
Last week I also finished up some finger puppet blanks for my church group. They have a big do in the city today and are going to put the faces on them and seam them up, then they will be donated to the IWK children's hospital. The Oldest One got a finger puppet there when he was four and has his tonsils and adenoids out, but I don't know what ever happened to it. I made a total of 50 blanks out of leftover Classic Wool and Northern Worsted yarns.


The store will be having special sales on Saturday, June 19, for World Wide Knit in Public Day. I chose the 19th cuz Have a Yarn is doing theirs on that day, too. That way if people want to hit up both stores and make a day out of it they can.
Happy knitting!