Trying to figure this thing out

Sorry about how the last post looks. I was trying to fix the font and everything went wonky and it wouldn't correct. Grrrr Oh well, hopefully I can get it right first try this time. I managed to get photos of almost everything that I wanted to. As a result though, this will be a bit of a photo heavy post. Sorry about that.
Okay, let's start with an update on the Tulip Baby Cardigan. Since ripping it out, I haven't had quite as much drive as before but I am rocking along pretty well on it:


Unfortunately it is competing for my attention at the moment. You see, last Friday we took a bit of a day trip up to Prescott and I had to visit a local yarn store. ;) I went to The Fiber Shop , which does not seem to have a website at this time and I managed to get some lovely Skacel Merino Lacein color 93, some size 8/0 black beads and a set of addi turbo 4's. Which lead me to start on this:


The Mystery Stole 3.

I want to note that I was so enamored with The Fiber Shop. It was such a quintessential yarn shop. You walk in the door and a greeted by the friendly staff and also brilliant colors everywhere!






Note that this is just a small nibble of what all they have. Then after you start to recover a bit from the headiness of it all, you also notice that they have a knitting nook set up right in the front window:



as well as a sitting area for those waiting for you to shop: ;)

I can't even come close to posting all the pictures that DH took while we were there. He was loving all the colors. I told him that it was getting an inkling of what makes it all fun for us fiber enthusiasts. ;D

Back to the current WIP's. Here is what I have done of my Knee high to a Grasshopper socks from the April installment ok the BMFA Rocking Sock Club :


My current plan is to go for the longer version. We will see.

Next is the wrap out of the hand painted yarn that I picked up in Sedona back in May:



I really love the colors of this yarn. It is exactly what I was looking for, something done locally and in the colors of Sedona. It is really great to work with as well.

And the final WIP that I took a picture of is the "I'm not sure if it will be a wrap or lap throw" out of Patton's Divine that I received for Christmas:






It is knitting up pretty well and it is fun to knit with the lite up needles when traveling at night.
Alrighty, that is all for this installment. I think it just might be enough, ya know? LOL

Ahhh Choo!

My, at all the dust in here. Hmmm....I guess that is what happens when you don't post anything in almost a year. *blush* Now where to start. Not much has changed. I am still knitting away, trying to stay out of the Arizona sun, homeschooling and I can now add being a Girl Scout leader to the list. :) I am really excited about my troop of girls. They are AWESOME! I signed up to knit five items for the Dulaan Project and I asked my girls to help make some double fleece blankets. Boy did they ever! They made a total of 9 blankets! With the 3 that I made and the 7 knitted items, I was proudly able to let Ryan know that we had not 5 but rather 19 items to donate. :) I know that is nothing compared to how many other people did but I am very proud of how well it all turned out. I currently have way to many projects on the needles. Such as the Tulip Baby Cardigan, which I was rocking along just fine and dandy with when I realized something......I had gotten to cocky....I didn't check my gauge and I got bit.....hard. This precious baby sweater, that I had just stared adding the trim to


would have to take a trip to the frog pond. :( All the way back. I, who typically knits to gauge with out any trouble, had to take it all out. *sigh* I admit it, I deserved it but my intentions were good! I got all excited because I got the kit just before the baby it is intended for arrived and so I cast on. I have learned my lesson....for now. :P

Other things that I have on the needles are a wrap out of some beautiful hand dyed yarn that I picked up in Sedona when DH and I got away for the weekend for out 13th wedding anniversary. A something...in that I am not sure if it will be a throw or a shawl....out of some yarn that I got for Christmas. What it turns out to be will depend on how far the yarn goes. The next project is my April kit for the Socks that Rock club...Knee high to a Grasshopper socks. I knitting them as the knee highs so it will probably be a while yet. And then there is the bathmat and ball-band dishcloth from MDK. And soon to be added to it all, silly me signed up for the MS3. Oh the shame of it all....I am so weak here lately and will have to get myself in gear to get all of this done anytime soon...okay, this year. I promise that I will get busy on pictures of all the UFO's very soon. For now, I just wanted to get back to blogging after intending to for way, way to long! Ahhh....it's good to be back. :D

It's my birthday!

It has actually been a good one as far as birthdays go. I had some friends that helped start it off great earlier this week. They surprised me at our Bible Study with a cake and some great books, one is a gift book from Hallmark called Serenity and the other is The Love Languages of God by Gary Chapman. They also gave me some candles and precious candle holders. The scented one is soooo delicious! It is Strudel & Spice by Gold Canyon.

Then today, kids woke me up this morning with breakfast in bed (pancakes Yum!) as well as home made presents. It was so sweet to see them so anxious about me opening the gifts and so proud of themselves. The gifts were great but their excitment is what I treasure the most. They are just such great kiddos.

My dad and step mom also sent me some yummy stuff from Merle Norman and I have a couple of very special phone calls from cherrished friends.


My Dearest is wanting to take me out to supper tonight, so I am thinking that I want to try Bill Johnson's Big Apple. I was kind of hoping that I had signed up at Red Robin in time to get my free birthday burger but it doesn;t look like I quite made it. Oh well, there is always next year. Okay so I know that I am cheep, I even went and got my free movie rental from Hollywood Video this afternoon. LOL

Not much news on the knitting front. I have finished one burp cloth from MDK and am about half way done with a bib. I love how simple it all is to knit but at the same time find myself wanting a bit of a challenge. So I have decided to pick back up a sweater that I started on last year. It is knit in one piece starting at a sleeve edge and then working across the body and down the other sleeve. I am already past where you join the front and back together at the neck and start knitting it as one piece again. So, really it shouldn't be too much longer until I get it done. Well, that is what I am hoping for anyways. Ack! I just went to look for the photo of the sweater that came with the pattern and I can not find it. I guess that I will have to get it done so that I can show it off. It is a lacy affair and is being made from schachenmayr nomotta Rainbow.

Okay, I am off now to enjoy the rest of my birthday with knitting and my movie.

The yarn has spoken

And it is telling me that it is just not meant to be for the adult wonky lace sock. *sigh*


It is just turning out too loose on the cuff and despite the 80's making a come back this year, I can not stand to wear slouchy socks. I love the way the Cascade Fixation knits up but it just isn't working out for me with the pattern. I do believe that it will make a wonderful plain ole ribbed sock that I will wear until it wears out though. But for now it will have to sit like this:


because I really need to get busy on making baby gifts. Something about one already here, 2 due soon and a set of twin girls being due in a few months. Eeeek!!!! So, until I at least knock out the eminent ones, the socks will have to wait. Although the temptation to cast on a hedgehog may be to great. :P

Catching up

Don't ya just love the craziness of life? In all honesty....I do, I love my life! It is busy and nonstop but I really don't think that I would want it any other way. I am so happy to be able to do so much with my kids and I know that they are growing up way too fast, so I am getting as much in while I can. Okay, enough of that....on to the knitting fun. I was all excited on Monday when the mail came that I took pictures of some fun stuff that I recieved. Of course, I didn't quite get the chance to blog about it, but I can make up for it now. :)

First was a package from England with some Rowan Felted Tweed that I had won on ebay.




It will be made in to a set of Knucks for my hubby. Please note that this is the first thing he has ever wanted me to make for him. He thinks that he wants me to stitch "rite" and "left" on the respective mits. LOL

The cute little nose that you see in the above photo belongs to the queen feline of the house, Emily:



There was still more excitement in the mail in the form of a pattern:



Aren't these hedgehogs just adorable!!! I an hardly wait to cast one on. It will also be my first felting project.

I did manage to get Peridita finished but out turned out a little bigger than the first one I did. Not sure what happened. Its all good though as I am planning on it being a gift. Not sure yet who the recipient will be.



Knitting time has not been as readily availible with life happening, so sock progress is slow.That and the fact that I had the gauge off bad enough on the Wonky Lace sock that I frogged it and began again. Yesterday morning the sock looked like this:



and last night when I went to bed, it looked like this:



Definite progress and I like how it is making a striped pattern now as well. I am still concerned about how the cuff is so much larger than I feel it should be. I will go ahead and finish it, wash and block it to see if I like it any better.
Well, that should catch me up for now. Hopefully I will have more stuff to show off soon.

Overdue sock pics and WIPs

So....a while back, back when I was supposed to start my blog, I promised some friends of mine that I would post some pics of a pair socks that I had completed. So....here they are...finally!








They were knit toe up, both socks at the same time on circs from Brown Sheep Wildfoote, the Mums color way. . I used the Crazy Toes and Heels Sock Book as my guide and her fan toe, which I really like.

Now the WIPs. I am working on another pair of socks using the CT&H method with Sockotta color #30. I am up to the gussets on them:




I also started another pair the night that the Yarn Harlot came to town.




I am using Cascade Fixation color #9891 and the Grown up wonky lace pattern.
I am knitting them on 2's but I may need to go down to 1's. I have never knit with the Cascade Fixation before and am unsure of what tension to use. I figure that I will just knit up the leg of the sock and see what I think. If I don't like it I'll just have to rework them. Such is life. :)

This next one should be added to the finished list after tonight. This is Perdita,the bluebells motif. It is a fun quick knit. So pretty and delicate looking. I have already made it in a pretty blue for a friend and I look forward to get to wear this one.


And do you know what happens when you are trying to take pictures of your works? You have shutter bugs that are trying to get in the photo too:

The Beginning....

Okay, it is past time that I get stated on my blog. I have been blogging in my head for a while and it is getting kinda crowded in there so....on to blog land I go. I guess that I should start off with a bit of an intro. I am a stay at home/ home schooling mom of the lovely monkeys, err... I mean children. I have been a finatical knitter for 5.5 years and have even gotten my 11 yr old son hooked on the sport. My 7 yr old daughter is next on my list. heh heh heh

I guess I should also explain where the title comes from. It originally started with someone asking me how I had three kids and managed to stay sane. My response was that I wasn't sane to begin with. LOL Now-a-days, it is usually the response people give whenever they find out that I am a mom of three and that I home school them. So add in the being a "crazy" mom with the knitting and there you have it. :)

Okay, enough about that and on to some cool stuff. Cool as in, I got to meet the Yarn Harlot last night!!!!
It was soooo awesome! If you can believe it, she is even funnier in person. Stephaine was so wonderfully chearful and sweet despite all of the books she had to sign.


This is a picture of me with Stephaine signing my book and, even though the basket is in the way, my sock meeting her sock. After reading about her trip to Oklahoma City and not being able to get anything other than a Budwiser, I felt that I just had to warm her up for her upcoming trip to my hometown of Austin and brought her a little something:

Yup, a Shiner Bock that I just so happend to have sitting around. Actually, I keep it on hand because I use it in a killer BBQ sauce on my ribs. YUM! Oh, and I of course had to chill it and keep it cold for her. I couldn't have her drinking a warm beer with all this heat.

Thank you so much Fiber Factory for hosting the talk and signing. It was just great getting to sit , knit and listen to the Stephanie. :)