The past few days have been very eventful. Tuesday morning Rashawn got sick and the same night Hubby was sick too. Needless to say there was lots of laundry to be done, setting me back quite a bit from catching up in the first place. Wednesday I was exhausted from the previous day. Thursday morning it was, of course, my turn to be sick. Unfortunately, Hubby was catching up at work on top of going to school and there were loads of things piling up on him because some big shots are coming in next week. So I powered through. I was fine as long as I didn't move much.
Despite the mountain of work still needing attention Hubby came home early evening and I got to "relax" in the bath and bed. Today, I feel much much better, thanks to Hubby letting me sleep in. Feeling normal feels so much better after feeling horrible.

So that's why I haven't posted in a few days. In the knitting arena, I finished one half of a pair of Knucks.



Unfortunately I couldn't even knit during the sick days so not much got done despite having to sit and lay down all day. It was torture, I assure you. I did manage to purchase some sock yarn from FeltStudioUK (as heard of on Lime and Violet's podcast) on Wednesday.



I'm in love with this colorway. It's called Pink Smoke. This being my first sock weight yarn, I'm doubly excited. And yes I have decided on a pattern to use it for. And of course it is none other than the ever popular Jaywalkers by Grumperina. Had to jump on the bandwagon sometime I suppose.

In closing, I took this cute pic of Hubby and two of the boys this morning, in the aftermath of the past few days.





~DK

A couple weeks ago it snowed. And melted. I hadn't taken my kiddos out to play, and I felt bad. Then it snowed again, started to melt, and again I felt bad I hadn't taken them out to play. The other night it snowed again and then again. So refusing to be an evil mother and deprive my children the pure enjoyment of play in the white fluffy stuff, I took them out to play.

It took thirty minutes to get everyone suited up and, of course, I forgot my gloves and scarf. Oh well, at least the kids had theirs. I did remember to camera, hence the photos at the end of the post. So, I'm taking pictures and hoping they're turning out decently. My camera doesn't like to show the actual quality on the replay, have I mentioned I need a new camera? It's not happening soon so don't get your hopes up. The one I have is working decently enough, I'll have to just do without primo quality blog pics.

We're outside for all of maybe five minutes before Rayden starts crying because his hand is cold. His mitten had fallen off. So I get his hand brushed off and search for the mitten. I find it on the make shift ramp that was built for the dog for going outside (note the picture of Rayden climbing it below). A new deck should magically be appearing in that same spot sometime this spring I think :) Those elves are just wonderful aren't they?

Rayden gets his glove back and plays for about two more minutes before he starts crying again. Simultaneously, Rion starts to yell too. Hmmmm...this isn't going quite as well as I had imagined. After a little consideration I decide that it's best to just go bck inside and have a cup of cocoa, which is what we did.

snow + 3 autistic little boys + 1 adult = a mother who is not going to beat herself up if she is the only parent who hasn't taken her kids out into the snow. When I thought back on it, after the fact, I realized that the people I had been thinking about taking their kids out in the snow a) only had one child b) might have had more children but they were older or had more space between their ages c) had help in the form of a husband or grandparent (mine were working at the time of the snow excursion). Actually I'll just have Rashawn go out with me or someone and the other two boys have fun inside. Rashawn loved it but the other two had the impression that it was overrated I believe. They'll be older next year so we'll see how it goes then.

I stole this from smariek knits. Don't shoot me please. It just looked fun. Apparently it's national delurking week, which means if you read my blog I want you to comment and tell me so. Just because I love all my blog readers and would like to know you're out there. How depressing it's going to be when no one comments on this haha. But, I KNOW you're out there. The hit counter way down there at the bottom of my sidebar doesn't lie you know. I even blocked my own hits so it isn't ME raising the count. Although I'm thoroughly amazed that anyone other than myself is even remotely interested in any of this. So tell me hi. It doesn't have to be quippy I just want to know my audience. Lots of love!

~DK

A happy dance is occuring as we speak. Why, you ask? YARN OF COURSE! Possibly my most favorite blogger, Alison of The Blue Blog, just had a yarn sale to "make room for baby" as she put it. I had my eye on the 13 skeins of Phildar Giboulees.



$40 for 13 skeins! It's a discontinued yarn too! Only thing now is finding the perfect sweater pattern. I may just redo the one I made before I lost weight though. I loved that sweater.


The Red Scarf Project was finished a few days ago. Okay not the actual Red Scarf Project, just my contribution to it. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a ruined peice of unrecognizable mess. It actually came out to the right deminsions and everything! Maybe winging it isn't always so disastrous after all...





Rashawn being my little model :)


Finally received the sz 4 double-pointed bamboos I had been waiting for and cast on the Knucks immediately.



Sorry the pic is so blurry, I need a better camera. The Knucks look so comfortable from just the little bit I've knitted so far. I can't wait to finish them for Hubby. He's excited about these so that makes me really excited. It'll be my first official knit for him, and I'm pretty sure it'll be the first of many. I already have something else I plan on making him that he said would be awesome, but that will be in a future post. I think I'll make another pair of knucks for myself after I get some other UFOs off the needles. And of course what else would I put on them except DIVA KNIT. Or should I put DIVA KNTR, I don't know I kinda like that one better.

I just keep adding and adding to my work-in-progress pile. When will it ever end? Hopefully never :) I'll be off now. Hopefully to finish some projects!

~DK

It amazes me how ignorant (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) those not in the knitting world (aka muggles) can be! Have you seen The Yarn Harlot's post about this silly bank who didn't believe so many people could be interested in knitting socks? It's unbelievable! Here is the link to the blog post. You gotta love Stephanie Pearl-McPhee! She is the epitomy of a yarn diva! I salute her as such :)

For me the knitting has sadly been cut down in the past few days. I was getting ready for Rayden's 3rd birthday party.








There are also some rather daunting projects I need to undertake. I got one done; sorting through all the boys clothes to make room for their ever expanding wardrobes. it sounds simple enough but the overwhelming part is that I have loads and loads of laundry to fold and no where to put them. Even now! No, three seperate dressers is not enough. Sigh. Next on the list of to dos is finish up the boys' picture schedule completely. I made some stars that Rashawn can put up whenever he does something good or helpful. When he earns ten stars he earns a coke. It really helps motivate him. I also have a ton of photos to cover and put velcro on. The other thing I need to do that is hovering over me like the Hindenburg is sorting through all the boys' toys. sound easy enough right? Not when you have a whole wall covered in rubbermaid drawers just for toys and train set parts(GeoTrax may be freaking awesome but they definitely are NOT easy to store).





After that I just have a small organizing project to do. Usually I would enjoy getting these things done, but because of the lack of space we have no where for all this stuff, especially laundry. Not just the kids' our own too. Oh well, we're anticipating a move soon so then we should have some room for everything.


I started my Red Scarf Project contribution. I'm kind of winging it which is usually disastrous but we'll see how it goes. Here's the beginnings of it.






It's just a drop stitch pattern that I plan to felt at the end. The drop stitch supposedly will make it much more flexible. My only true worry is the yarn I'm using. It's not the softest thing around but I'm hoping it softens a bit when I felt it and add the fabric softener. This is what I'm using.








Sorry the pictures are so blurry. It's a yarn my grandmother had gotten from a friend and sent to me. I have no idea if it's a good yarn or not all I know is that it's definitely a different yarn. It seems like it's barely spun at all. It's interesting to knit with just because it's so different from any of the yarns I've worked with before. I can't decide if it's a good or bad different though. We'll see how the finished project turns out. if anyone is familiar with this yarn let me know what you think of it, or if it is considered a quality yarn at all. It's pretty old so I'm just wondering.


~DK

Continental and I have decided to separate indefinitely. I tried. I really, really did, but our relationship just couldn't last. There was just way too much high maintenance for me to deal with. I mean seriously I always had to come back and make sure everything was done correctly and it never was. Sometimes things were just uptight and other times way too laid back. How can anyone live like that? It's so unpredictable. Yes, I know, I know, there are those who enjoy such a relationship but it's just not for me! I suppose living like that is just different for others. They were made for that kind of life and can keep everything organized and consistent. I'm not one of those people. So bye bye to Continental. I'll be going back to my ex Throwing. We just worked SO well together. Everything gets done faster and life is much more CONSISTENT! If you're reading this, please don't be jealous, it isn't you it's me. We just don't mesh. It wasn't meant to be. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, really! I'll miss you. I wish it could have worked out too. Maybe we can get together again for old times sake. Like for a nice relaxing cup of cocoa and some quality catch up time. That could be nice. But as a long term thing, we can never be more than just friends. And don't worry about me, Throwing will take really good care of me promise. We work well together. Good luck with everything, it's really too bad it didn't work out for us. It could have been such a beautiful thing.

~DK

I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't post quizzes, surveys, or anything in the like. BUT I got tagged and I just CAN'T let the Knitstress down, now can I? So here you are, six weird things about me.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

1) I love anime. My favorite movie is Howl's Moving Castle. I'm a self-proclaimed nerd, so save yourself the trouble of telling me so ;)
2) I don't like to crochet because I can't get every single loop the exact same as the others. I'm a perfectionist. At least I am when my lazyknitteritis doesn't overcome my perfectionism.
3) I actually enjoy watching my kids TV shows, my favorite is The Upside Down Show on Noggin.
4) I mix mayo and ketchup for my french fries and hamburgers, I've been known to put it on a managerie of other things too.
5) My favorite sandwich is a peanut butter, banana, and mayo sandwich. Okay, so I just like weird foods!
6) My husband always gives me crap because I never wear socks. I'm warming up to them now, but I still don't wear them very often. Maybe when I start knitting my own socks I'll wear them all the time. Maybe.


Here's the lucky six who I'm tagging:

Needles on Fire
Yarn-A-Go-Go
Knitlet
Knitting Wench
Pinku!
Yarn Harlot

Yeah, I know, I actually had the guts to tag the Yarn Harlot! I've seriously overestimated myself here but I had to try :)

UPDATE- Kate at Needles on Fire had already done this one so here's the replacement blogger :)

cosmicpluto knits!

~DK

I know, I'm so so sorry it's been sooo long since my last post. Okay, so I'm pretending that I have thousands of readers who rely on the consistency of my posts. So what? It's fun to pretend :)

Anyway, I know I promised everyone I would have my first felted project actually felted by January 1st after sitting in a drawer for six months. Well there's good and bad news. The bad news, I lied. The good news, I got over my fear and threw it in the washer last night! It turned out pretty decent for my first felting experience I thought. I didn't feel like throwing it in the trash so I was happy. Of course it isn't perfect, but the important thing is it's done.




The main reason for waiting so long to post was this project.





They're the cashmere arm cosies from lionbrand.com, there's just one difference in mine and the ones in the pattern. Mine are wool not cashmere. But they're warm and that's the point right? I had left over merino from the felted bag and decided the gauge was close enough might as well use it up.

So on New Year's hubby and I went to a friend's 22nd birthday party. It was really fun, but that's not the point of including this little tid bit. this picture explains it all.




That's right. New Year's, all dressed up, at a party and what am I doing? Knitting of course! I was working on the arm cosies. And no, I was not in the least bit tipsy so it was safe knitting. No KUI for me :) That's "knitting under the influence" for anyone who hasn't come across it yet. That's my knitter friend, Sara, that I've mentioned before. She's not quite as addicted to knitting as I am. Yet.

In other news, I got to run to the local Michael's for some knitting stuff without a huge cap on the spendage. Here's the loot.



The yarn is for the next project seen below. The floss is for the embroidery on some Knucks for my husband. He's really excited about them so I'm going to do them as soon as I get all the supplies in the mail. The rest of the stuff in the pic is just this and that. I actually had more yarn but ended up taking back the three skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick that I got. For some reason I thought that's what my Knit.1 mag meant by Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky. It was good though, because I decided to nix the legwarmers until later. I'll be putting the money toward this instead. There will be a guaranteed happy dance when it comes in the mail. I've wanted this thing for over a year!

In conclusion, this is my next project.




The remote caddy from Knit.1 magazine's TV issue. I'm sick of looking for the remote.:) I'm thinking it should only take a couple days at most, but we'll see. I thought I could have finished the arm warmers in a lot less time too.


~DK