An Excellent Knitting Surprise

I decided to pop into the local yarn shop on Saturday where two of my monkeys have been for a while for sale. I was going there to find some yarn to make some special presents for Megan's upcoming 13th birthday. Just before we went in Joe asked me if I had heard if any monkeys had been sold and I hadnt heard anything. As soon as we walked in the lady who owns the shop said Im so glad your here because I sold one of your monkeys last week. Yay for me! She said she gives store credit for things that she sells in her shop so I had $35 to spend at a swanky yarn shop. Double yay for me! I took a photo of the things that I got. I bought the brown merino yarn because Im making Megan some cable fingerless mittens for a present. Its so super soft and I scammed her into picking the colour that she likes without knowing its for her. In the photo you can see that I have already made the left one. I love this yarn. Even though its just over $7 a ball, you get alot of yardage and it feels so good on your skin. I would love to buy enough to make a cardigan and the colours it comes in are wonderful. I also got the pink and orange yarn for a second pair of fingerless mittens for Megan but in a different style. She saw a pair in the yarn shop that she loved and I just happen to know where the pattern comes from so she is getting two pairs. I am going to have to go back and buy more of the brown yarn because Megan keeps telling me that she wants me to make her some socks out of the brown and she doesnt know that I am using it for something else. I got the kelly green yarn that is to the left of the orange yarn because its debbie bliss and very soft. I had heard great things about Debbie Bliss yarn and wanted to own some. She only had 3 balls of it left because she's not going to carry it anymore and I thought this was a good chance to get some. Finally I got the bamboo handles for some future bag that I may make that would look good with these handles. I have been forming an idea in my head of how it would look but Im just not sure yet. I got those four things and I still have nearly $5 left to spend the next time I go there. I think that works out nicely.

The other two balls of yarn I got at the local craft shop. The pink yarn is the exact yarn that I needed to finish my pink and brown socks. I was very excited to find that and went home that night and finished them off. I am wearing them right now actually hehe. The other yarn was on sale and it really interested me. It is different shades of green with an underlying metallic sheen in certain spots. I wasnt sure what I was going to do with it but I liked the colour and the price was right. I decided to make myself a pair of the same cabled fingerless mittens that I am making for Megan. You can see that I have made the left one already in that pair. Its interesting to see how different the same pattern turns out just by using a different yarn. I have to say that I like how Megan's ones are turning out a little better than mine.


I finally finished sewing up Olivia's Kimono Cardigan last week. I have been dying to post the photos but got too busy to do so, so here they are. A shot of the front and the back. It turned out better than I kept thinking it would but I guess the real test will be when she puts it on. The real trick will be getting it posted as I am the worlds worst mailer.



Today we had our visit from Victoria's new preschool teacher. She seems really nice and I think it made it real for Victoria that she is actually going to school. She was very excited today. Her teacher is young. This is her first year of having her own preschool class. Previously she had been a student teacher or helping with preschool programs. I feel so bad for the girl being thrown Victoria on her first year. It will be interesting to see if she is still enthuastic and full of patience as she says she is now hehehehe. I wish her all the luck in the world. Tomorrow Victoria is going for her physical which sucks because she has to get some immunization needles which she will not be happy about. I hate when they get needles because they cry big tears and look at you like why are you letting them hurt me like this, what did I do. But its a necessary thing and if she wants to go to school it has to be done. Afterwards my friend Natalie and I are going to Starbucks, this will be her first time, and I am going to get Victoria a Ginormous rice crispie treat to cheer her up. Friday will be more fun because Victoria will get to visit her classroom again with her new class and take a ride around the block on the bus to find out what its going to be like.

OH this is something exciting! Now it may not seem exciting but people who know me will understand. About 2 weeks ago I finally started painting the kitchen cupboards. Yay for me hehe! I have been putting it off for a very long time and our kitchen has looked crappy because we havent had cupboard doors in ages. I wish I started a couple of months ago because painting time is growing shorter and I still have so far to go. All I have done is prime the doors and finished painting the one side. There are 17 cupboard doors so there is alot. I am trying to think of each step done as an achievement and not thinking of all the extra stuff I still need to do because I become overwhelmed. Once I move onto the 8 drawers that need to be done I will feel more accomplished. I have been trying to paint Megan's trim in her room at the same time. So much painting and so little time. Perhaps when Victoria starts going to school in the afternoon I can get more done. Yeah that sounds like a good plan.

Just Felt Like Blogging Update

We went shopping on Saturday and I couldnt find the matching yarn to finish off my pink and brown socks. I cant believe it. I am hoping that they may have it in the craft store which I didnt check. They do have the colour on their website so if worse comes to worse I can order it. I really want to finish my socks and wear them but I guess that is going to be longer than I thought.

I got some new pins just for knitting. The ones I usually use are the small sewing pins with just the metal end. Its hard to see when you are pinning knitted stuff. I found some perfect ones. They have pretty metallic balls on the ends and they are twice the length of normal pins so you dont have to use so many. I was enjoying using them while sewing up Olivia's Kimono Cardigan. I really hope it fits ok once its done. I have been picking it up, doing a bit and then putting it down again for the past couple of days. I cant just sit down and finish it because I keep thinking it doesnt look very good. I guess I wont know until she finally gets it and tries it on.

I bought some 10.5 circular needles so that I can make the cable bag that I had started before and had to undo because double pointed needles weren't cutting it. I have to do the old trick of putting them in boiling water for 10 seconds to straighten them out and then I can use them.

Yesterday we had Joe's Grandma over for a visit. I think she really enjoyed herself and I got the feeling that she gets a little lonely and was glad to sit down and have a good chat. We got some afternoon treats for the occasion. A Boston Cream Pie, an assortment of cheesecake slices and some vanilla caramel truffle tea. She was very happy about the cheesecake. I think she likes our tv and its bigness. She ended up staying for about 4 hours which is quite a long time for her. I just love her. She makes me laugh and fills the void of not having my Nanna's around anymore. I get to spoil her instead. I asked if she would like to come to the Sinclairville History Fair breakfast next weekend with us and she is going to get back to us. Should be lots of fun especially now we live so close to the centre of town. We live in a little town of less than probably 700 people. We are in the country despite the fact that my husband says that we're not hehe.

Megan is back to school on Wednesday. She cant wait to go back to school. She starts 7th grade this year which is unbelievable and even more unbelievable is, she will be 13 on the 29th of this month. She is super excited about that as she talks about it and reminds me all the time. I am hoping to make this birthday super special as its an important birthday.

Oh a sad thing today, the Valley Shack Ice Cream place closed down for the summer today. Joe has become hooked on their burgers and we love their ice cream. The burgers are super yummy. We are going to have to find an alternative until the spring time so we can all get our fix.

Half A Pair Of Socks

I have been knitting myself a pair of socks. I picked this yarn and colours because I like pink and brown together and I thought I would have just enough for a whole pair and use up some stash. Apparently I calculated wrong hehe. Here you can see I have one sock made and this is as far as I got on the second sock. I will have to take a bit of the pink with me when we go shopping and see if I can get more so I can finish my socks. When I tried on the finished one I didnt want to take it off because its very comfy and cozy. I looked kind of silly walking around with only one sock on though. I will just have to be patient.



A couple of weeks ago I purchased the rest of the watermelon yarn and finished off Olivia's Kimono cardigan. The other day I found a spray bottle to use so I am in the process of blocking the pieces. I ran out of pins so all pieces are not being blocked at the moment. I will definitely have to buy more pins. I have my fingers crossed that it will turn out nicely in the end. It still doesnt look very interesting yet.

Tomorrow I have my knitting group meeting. This is the last meeting that I will be able to go to where Megan can babysit Victoria for me because she is back to school in about a week. I will have to try and enjoy the quiet as much as possible. My only trouble is with running out of yarn for my socks today, I havent got a project to take with me. I will have to look around tonight and figure out what I am going to work on. It feels like I have just been plowing through these projects that I am wanting to knit. My issue as always is finishing off the little details. Its always those last little things I just cant seem to get done.

Finshed Some Projects This Week

I started out making this monkey for Emily in my knitting group. Megan saw me making him and asked if this was the monkey I was making for her little brother. I completely forgot she wanted him to have a monkey. I asked her if she wanted it to be for him and she said yes. Luckily I hadnt sewn button eyes on him yet so I attempted to stitch him some eyes so it would be safe for the little one. They didnt come out to badly. I am just loving the colours that he is done in. Its Robin's Egg Blue and Aran Cream. I got out all my Red Heart yarn and started putting colours together. When I put these two together they just clicked. I will have to buy some more of that Robin's Egg blue and make lots of things in it hehe. Megan had lots of fun doing the monkeys hair. I usually start off with it having long hair and then trim it down to the right length. Megan just had to give him all sorts of funky hairstyles in true Megan form before his final trimming.


You always have to have the classic monkey butt shot. All my monkey get their butts photographed. Its become quite the tradition hehe.


I decided I couldnt just send a monkey and nothing else so I knitted a little top knot hat out of cream Unbleached Organic Cotton. So super soft. I still have some more of that stuff left but Im not sure what I could make with what I have left. I think I have to buy more of this because there is a hat pattern that I made with this that came out wonderful and I would like one for myself. Im not sure if I want cream or one of the other colours.


Here are a couple of photos that we got when he was first born. We havent seen any others yet but he sure is cute.


He definitely looks like his dad and has the barely there eyebrows just like his big sister hehehehe.


Today I just started a pair of socks for myself. They are going to be pink with the heel and toe being brown. Its the same old sock pattern that I have done two times before but its easy and I understand it hehe. I have found a few other sock patterns I would like to try but I have to write or print them out before attempting them. Megan will kill me when she finds out these socks are for me because she keeps asking me for socks for herself. She will get some I just need the right sized needles.

This week we got a package from my mum. She sent over some of her famous Butterscotch Popcorn. Oh so yummy. I cant even remember the last time I had some. It was a staple at all our birthday parties and whenever we needed a treat for our class. She has passed on the recipe to me with confidence that I will be able to make it just as well as she did. I know that Megan wants me to now make this popcorn for every single occasion she can think of. This was her first time tasting it and now she cant get enough hehe. Looking at the recipe it seems easy enough. We shall have to see how it goes. It would be great to be able to make that whenever I feel like having some and impress people with my skills hehe.

Felted Stuff As Promised

Here is the moss bag before I felted it. I actually measured it before felting but forgot to write it down thinking I would remember. I think it was 13 inches long.


Here is the moss bag after felting. Looking much better than before. It always makes me unsure that it will look any good when you see it before felting but you just have to keep the faith that when it felts up it looks completely different. Now I just have to buy some green thread to sew the ribbon on it and it will be all pretty. I think it now measures about 6 inches. Its just a cute little thing. I will post pictures of the absolute final product so you can see it all done up. I still have to shave it a little to smooth out some of the fluffiness.


This is the little mini purse that will match it. It is still drying a bit that is why there is stuff inside it to shape it. It will have the ribbon sewn on it as well and maybe a small wooden button for closure. Its just suppose to hold little things in it like lip balm and small things you dont want loose in your bag.


I made this today for an order. It is for Megan's friend Ali's MP3 player. She loves orange just like Megan so this colour is just right for her.


While making this MP3 cover I was in the mood to do some duplicate stitch and thought I would put a white A on the back for Ali to match the white button. I was able to give this to her tonight and she just loved it and thats something because Ali is really picky. It felt good that I got it just right. Megan will probably want one like this now hehe.


Now I have to think what project to work on next. There are some projects that need stuff purchased before I can finish them off so in the mean time I will have to work on something else. I was thinking the other day that I was in the mood for making a monkey. There is a girl from Megan's girl scout troop in my very small knitting group at the library. She is just learning to knit and I thought I might make her a monkey. She told me one day that her favourite colour is sea green and turquoise type colours. I think I might have similar colours that would work for that. That would be a really cute monkey. I will have to see if I have the right stuff.

I've Been Finishing Some Projects

I have been meaning to get online and post a message for ages and just hadnt got around to doing it. I have been trying to finish off projects that have just been sitting around and needing to be finished. Here are a couple.

I finally sat down and added the pink buttons and pink ribbon to the baby set that I knit. Now I just have to get the address that it needs to get sent to. I think I like the little pink touches. Much nicer sometimes than an overly pink set. I hope they like it.


I finished the pink and purple hooded towel blanket. Actually thats not the whole truth, it is all finished except I havent weaved in all the ends. Once I got done knitting it, I needed to put it aside for a little bit before I could weave the ends in. I had grown so sick of the pattern that I didnt want to touch it for a while. I think next week or this weekend I will do the ends just to say its finished.


Here is the close up of the hood that is on it. I wasnt sure how it would look but once I started working in the hood it made sense and came out pretty cute.


I had some of the pink and purple yarn leftover so I made a little baby hat to go with it. It didnt take long and there was just enough leftover to make it.


I also finished knitting and felting the moss bag. I took photos but when I uploaded them on the computer tonight I realized that the felted shot looked really dark and Im going to have to retake it before I can post it. I will try to do it tomorrow. It shrank more than I imagined it would but came out really nice. I was brave and felted it without doing a tester on the yarn to see how much it would felt. I think I would like to buy some more of that yarn and make double to size and see how that looks. This one came out like a little clutch size bag. I knitted and felted a small little purse to go with it today. This stuff felts up wonderfully. Just once through in the washing machine and its all done. I wish they all felted up quickly and nicely like this. All I need to do is buy some matching moss coloured thread because I have some wonderful ribbon that matches it perfectly that I am going to sew around it just to give it some pizazz.

Hmm, what else have I been knitting. Oh yeah, I am knitting my niece a cute little kimono cardigan. Im hoping it comes out alright. I would have had it at the blocking stage today except I ran out of yarn last night. I thought I would have enough but apparently not. I got the back, left side, right side, a sleeve and a couple of inches on the second sleeve done before running out of yarn. It will have to now wait until I can get some more yarn. I have never made this pattern and Im not knitting it in the recommended yarn for the pattern so Im hoping my adjustments are correct and it comes out cute in the end. The colour is bright but I have seen her wearing this colour in photos so I think she can pull it off hehe.

I got another order for an MP3 player cover the other day so I thought I would start that. Its going to be orange. Im thinking I will make it all orange with a white button. This MP3 player is white with bits of orange on it so that could be cute.

I just found out that Lindsey, my hopefully one day sister in law is having her 21st birthday soon and I would love to knit her something. I have to find out the correct date to see how much time I have to create something. I have a pattern for a very nice cardigan that I think would suit her nicely and looks fairly easy. She loves that light turquoisey blue colour that is everywhere these days so I would love to make it in that. So many projects that want to be made hehe.

Well thats about it. I will get another shot of the felted stuff tomorrow and post them.
Oh I just have to say that I am up to nearly page 300 in the 7th Harry Potter book and loving every minute of it.

A Finished Project

I finished the kids cotton blue, green and white cotton blanket the other day. I was so glad to finish it. The colours were starting to drive me batty and so was the pattern. I have now started the pink, purple and white one that is half the size and has a hood on it. Its a suppose to be a hooded towel blanket for a baby. I have a small amount done because I needed to stop and work on something else to break up doing that pattern over again. So today in my knitting group at the library I took the moss bag that actually knits up quite quickly when I get a chance to work on it.


Here is a close up of a corner so you can see a little more detail. It feels soft and very touchable because of the texture. I definitely like knitting with cotton, especially in the summer. I would love to do a knitted toy in the cotton to see how it would turn out.


I took a couple of shots of Megan's pink and orange room. I took them of the semi organized sections. I am determined to finish of the rest of the pink paint on the part wall I have done in the next section of the room. We went to get more pink and they didnt have the white in stock they need to mix it with so the other half of the room will have to wait a little longer. We did get the white for the trim so I could start working on that. I just have to get motivated again. I just really want to get it finished so I can get Victoria's room started. I am hating Victoria's room at the moment because she doesnt have enough storage so there is stuff everywhere. It doesnt matter how much I try to tidy it, it still looks like a mess. I cant wait until Megan gets her dresser so that she can pass her storage tote thingy onto her. It just occured to me today being the first day of August that I dont have long until I wont be able to do any painting because of the cold weather and then I will be kicking myself for not getting what I want to get done. Im not sure if you can see the colour definition on these walls. Perhaps if you click on it you might be able to see it better.



We managed to get our big screen tv hooked up on the weekend. I will have to take some photos to show how big and cool it is. All our movies look really good and sound really cool now. We are rewatching all our old dvds just to check out all the details you miss on a smaller tv.

I finally got to talk to my dad on the weekend. I surprised him and wished him a happy birthday. The significance of this is that I havent been able to talk to my dad in about 4 years. We had quite a long talk and he's still the same whacky dad that he always was hehe. It is very nice to be able to call home and speak to people on a regular basis that I havent talked to in a long time. One person I definitely have to call and havent yet is my friend Kylie. That will be excellent. We use to chat online on a weekly basis but havent really chatted much in the last year and a half. I have no idea why. We just kind of got caught up in our own lives. I will definitely have to fix that.

We had a good time at the fair. Victoria is now officially a fair and ride junkie hehe. It was so cute to see he that excited. She couldnt stop grinning the whole time she was there. We took a bunch of photos so I will have to post a few classic ones to show off hehe.

Well I better go. Tomorrow is summer reading and we are teaching preschoolers about the moon. I have to cut out some cling wrap squares for the binoculars we are going to make. Only one more summer reading day after this one and we have the final ceremony. Yay I wont have to freak out about this anymore hehe. Its been fun but I still feel like I am out of my league on this one hehe.