Monday, April 30, 2007

Better pictures

Finally got some better pictures of the mystery shawl. You would think with all the sheets I own that I would have had a white one somewhere. Um no. They all had flowers or designs on them.

Well, no more. Mom gave me a set of her sheets that are an off white, almost cream color.

So now we got better pictures!!

Some of the center of the shawl. The other part of the center is still bunched up on the needles.
A good look at the border area.
A close up of the edging. The original chart was for only one of the zig zags going along. I added 6 stitches to add another zig to the zag. Cause it's hip hop. Ok, I just scared myself. lol
And here is the progress on the edge at this point. I think there are 14 repeats now. I'm thinking at least another 10 or so before the bottom point. I never did try the math to see how many repeats there was supposed to be.

I guess we shall see.

Big shocker. I'm working tomorrow. Just one day working for the place that cleans up after fires. Seems that someone had an oops in their apartment. Cross your fingers that I don't fall asleep at lunch time. hehehe

Friday, April 27, 2007

Do not try this at home.

Ok, I just got the scare of a lifetime. I was getting ready to grab a snack before getting the junior monkeyman from school. I went into the kitchen and both sides of the sink were completely full of water!

I had run the dishwasher and I swear I checked to see if the drains were open. I know they were open because I had poured something down the drain earlier. But now they were both closed.

At first I thought I had lucked out because there was no water on the edge of the counter in front of the sink. And then I remembered that my counter slopes back towards the wall and to the left. And of course the microwave is on the counter in the corner to the left of the sink. I was so sure the damn thing was gonna blow up on me.

Thankfully, the microwave is on little feet and the water didn't get very high on the counter. There was a nice puddle of water on the counter though. And under the stove. I put a fan in the kitchen to dry the water cause I'm not movin the damn stove.

My poor cookbooks are never going to be the same though. It's only been about an hour but I swear there is a spot on the inside of one of the covers that looks like mold already. Two of the cookbooks have their pages stuck together. I'm going to have to get them wet again and try and pry them apart. I used my hair dryer on the other 2 and they aren't too bad. I wonder if I can't put the books in the oven on a super low temp with the door open for awhile to dry them a little faster. Too scary to try it though. lol

On a knitting note, here are some more pictures of the teal mystery shawl.

Clue 4 pinned out a little to show the stitches better.
A close up of 4 repeats of the edging. I added an extra row of the zig zag to make it wider.

You can see more pictures of the shawl by clicking on the handy dandy Flickr badge over on the left. I tried to post a badge with just the mystery shawl pics, but I guess blogger doesn't allow them in a post itself.

Ok, I'm off to try and save my other 2 books

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Galveston shawl progress

Here we have the Galveston mystery shawl up through the third clue or chart C.


The shawl is supposed to be inspired by the water and a pier leading out into the waves.

This would be the pier section I believe. It's the straight part that stays the same width the whole way.


And this is the triangle area that increases every other row. It represents the waves. Well I think so anyway. lol It sure looks like waves to me.


I really love this shawl. It is addictive because the stitch repeats are narrow. I keep getting stuck in the just one more repeat syndrome. hehehehe

hrmph

I am tired.

Horrible tired. But it is my own fault.

Finally had Nick's parent/teacher conference today. Not totally happy with what I heard. He is doing find academically. He is just having some trouble with getting his words down on paper. Wonder where he gets that from? lol His reading and math are both right on track.

It's his behavior that is the problem. He is an only child. My folks have no other grandkids. Yes I've mentioned nieces and nephews. Long long story, but Nick has never seen any of them. Neither have I for that matter, but that isn't the story I'm trying to tell. There are only a couple kids that live on our street. There are quite a few in the apartments behind us, but Nick has shown no interest in going down there and playing with anyone. Basically, our street has 8 apartments in 4 duplexes. Including Nick, there are 8 kinds. May seem like a lot, but 4 of them are 3 yrs or younger. And he doesn't really like the other 3. The oldest girl is a total freakin witch and I don't want him playing with her.

So basically, He doesn't have much experience dealing with other kids other than at school. He has been in school since he was 3 1/2, but that really doesn't give him much chance to try and make friends. He is kind of shy just like his mommy. So he doesn't really know how to approach the other kids. I'm afraid he is following in my footsteps there. I went to 10 schools before graduating high school. I kind of gave up on trying to make friends because I didn't see the point. We were going to end up moving away again anyway, so why try? So, I'm horrible at trying to make friends. So now Nick isn't sure how to do it.

And of course, the lil shit is just as stubborn as I am. When he doesn't want to do something, he won't. When he doesn't want to participate, he mumbles and won't look at the teacher. She has to constantly work with him on speaking up. He doesn't know how to take turns very well either. He doesn't understand why he can't be first all the time. I mean, really, he gets to be first at home so why not at school?? Well that is his thinking anyway.

Found out today that when they have a substitute teacher, his behavior really acts up. He thinks he can get away with being a butt cause the sub won't know better. I guess one time it got so bad that he tried to hit the sub!! I so with they would have let me know about that when it happened. He would not have been a happy camper. I'm not even sure when it happened, so I dunno how I should go about dealing with it.

So, mentally, that has me kind of worn out. When I got home it was lunch time, so I made a pot pie. Was in the middle of eating it when I realized I had a voice mail message from Mom. Turns out it was taco salad day at the cafeteria. I've got a $10 gift certificate, so she told me to come over. Well, who am I to pass up taco salad. I figured that I would bring it home and eat it later. I don't mind cold taco salad. Well Mom put it on a regular plate, so I had to eat it there. Not sure why she did that cause I never eat there. So basically, I'm stuffed to the gills and ready for a damn nap.

But I can't nap. Cause lil Mr. Nick gets off of school in a half hour. I'm not one of those people that can take a cat nap. I always wake up more tired and usually with a headache. Yes I know that I usually have a headache anyway, but no sense in making it any worse.

Can't take a nap when he gets home cause Dr Phil will be on and today's show is supposed to be real good. Some total SOB that totally messes with his wife and faked a vasectomy so she would have sex with him again. Maybe after that I'll take a snooze.

I should be working on the purple shawl. I'm only about a row from finishing the 3rd clue. Then I'll get some pics for an update. I'm afraid that there just aren't enough pictures in my flickr album to make for a very good badge over there. It looks like all the pics are the same. hehe

Ok, time to go get a cold Pepsi and see if the caffeine will perk me up.

BTW if you like sig tags for your e-mail, check out my tag site. I've uploaded some more new ones in the last week. The addy is www.tagsbyfrod.com.

Progress

Here are the progress pics on the mystery shawl I kept saying I would post. hehe I've got clue 4 completed and the edging started.





This last one shows a closeup of the picked up stitches. I think it looks pretty cool.
It's been very dark and rainy here in Iowa and it was pretty hard to get a good picture of the shawl. The weather is just killing me. I hate hate the dreary crap.
I'll have pics of the finished 3rd clue on the purple mystery shawl soon. Just 2 more rows to go.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Just call me Grace

sigh

I thought the sunburn was a pain. I was sooo wrong.

It has calmed to a slight sting. The only sore spot is on my nose and it only hurts when I touch it. Unfortunately, I have allergies which means I rub at my nose a lot. heh

Seriously, the sunburn is the least of my worries in the pain department now. The bruises are more pressing at this time.

Took the kid to see Meet the Robinsons today. Absolutely hilarious movie. Being the hormonal mess that I am, I was bawling by the end of the movie. It has a sweet ending. But the bruises added to the tears.

About 3/4ths of the way through the movie, I had to go tinkle. The kid and I finished off a large Pepsi before the movie was half over. He had already run off to the can and I decided it was my turn. All was fine going down the steep steps and out the hallway. But as soon as I went through the theater door, the shit hit the fan.

Or rather the fat chick hit the floor. hehehe

As some of y'all know, I was in a car accident 13 yrs ago and I've got loads of nerve damage. Well one effect of that nerve damage is that sometimes I can't pick up my right leg very far. Add to that the fact that my foot doesn't always flex well when I pick it up. This leads to my dragging my whole foot or just my toes. So, I trip a lot. I mean a whooooooole lot. heh

I've learned over the years not to put my arms straight out when I fall. I'm a big girl and I really really don't want to break an arm going down on my hands. So, I just raise my hands up and let myself land on my forearms. This still freakin hurts.

So here I sit with skinned and bruised knees and bruised forearms. Even my wrists and ankles hurt. The wrists I understand. My hands prolly hit the ground before my elbows did. The ankles, I don't get. I didn't twist my ankle when I tripped. My toes just dragged and I went down. But both of my ankles are a lil tender. Shit even my back is a lil sore.

You should have seen the teenage girl that was standing near the snack bar when I went down. hehehehehe

I literally came through the door, took a step and went straight down. As soon as I hit, I rolled over and sat right up. The poor attendant asked if I was ok but man she looked shocked. I told her I was fine, I'm just a big ole klutz. I jumped up and went on into the bathroom. Thank God I didn't piss my pants. hehe I managed to make it into the bathroom and did my business. When I came back out, there was a guy standing there with the gal and they both looked at me funny. I broke out laughing and limped my way back into the theater. It is stadium seating, so the climb back up to my seat kind of sucked. hehehe

Ok, I'm gonna go pop some pain pills and knit on my dang shawl. The new clue is supposed to be out today and I'm only halfway done with this one. Man I'm slow. hehehe

Friday, April 20, 2007

owww owww whiiinneeeee

note to self: Sunscreen, even applied twice, will not save you if you sit in direct sunlight for close to 4 hours.

note to self part 2: Next year, you are not allowed to volunteer to help with the garage sale.

Mom had to work this morning, so I volunteered to help Dad get the garage sale going early instead of waiting until late afternoon. After the set up, I sat in direct sunlight on a clear day from about 10:30 until about 2:30. I knew my face was getting a bit red. I had applied sunscreen twice and quite liberally.

It didn't help.

My whole face is a nice bright shade of red that only belongs on tomatoes and lobsters. I have one nasty sore blister on the bridge of my nose. I'm surprised my eyeballs aren't completely toasted seeing as my glass are nothing more than glorified prisms. I guess for once the whole squinting thing worked out for the better.

I was sane enough to not wear shorts today. So, my legs aren't all nice and toasty tonight. But my arms and hands are a pretty pink. No blisters that I can see though. But I must admit that this is the first time that I've sunburned the backs of my hands. I suppose it is from knitting during the down time instead of holding a book. I got a few rows done on the green mystery shawl. Nothing major though.

Ok, time to go point my fan at my bed and see if I can't sleep.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Been busy

Haven't been feelin real great, but I've been knitting on the mystery shawls. Only got pics of the goddess knits one though. Here is the progress as of Monday.

A close up of the second clue.
And here is the 3rd clue.

I had picked up for the 4th clue and had about 7 rows done. The more I looked at it, the more I hated the way I picked the stitches up. There was a very very obvious ridge of stitches. So, I sucked it up and ripped it out. I picked up the new stitches from the very edge of the shawl. I think it looks much better. It now looks like some open work and not like I sewed 2 pieces together. poorly lol

Monday night, Mr. Nick had a musical recital at his school. Well next door to the school, but it was the kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders. It was called Welcome to the Jungle. It was about a mouse and a lion that became friends. The younger kids were mice and the 2nd graders were lions. Needless to say, I took lots of pics.





Yes I'm weird and just liked taking pics of him walking into the building. :OP I just like pics of him when he isn't really looking at the camera. Cause y'all my boy is a ham.

This is him at the end of the program. He was quite proud of himself. hehe Blurred the faces of the other kids cause well they aren't mine and I duno if their parents would like their pics on the net and all.

Also cause the school is full of vampires and I don't want the devil children to seek revenge. hehehehehe (click to get a closer look at the devils)

It was dark in there and I swear that 90% of the pics I took had at least 3 or 4 kids in it that had freaky shiny eyes. And yes, I know what causes it but I swear they look like vampires. hehe

Anyways, I'm gonna go finish lunch and then knit some more on clue 4. I've got 8 rows of it done now.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

What has kept me busy

The weather has been driving me buggy. Last week at this time I looked out front and saw this sight.


Today when I looked out back, I saw this!!

I am not a happy camper. They canceled school, so I missed my appointment with Nick's teachers. Amazingly the kids room hasn't suffered. Ya see, last Friday we spent all day going through Nick's room and weeding out stuff for the garage sale. His room looks amazing.

He has done a real good job of keeping it picked up. I'm working real hard to get rid of some of the junk in the rest of the house. My room is the last frontier. hehe

Sunday we had a real nice time at my folk's house. I handed over the hat that I made for my cousin.

It's kind of hard to see but I added some arrows of pearl stitches for some added texture and interest. Otherwise, it would have looked exactly like the last one I made her. hehe

Monday, her mom came over and picked the hat up and chose another one out of my stash of crocheted baby hats. I had said she could have 2 but would have to pay for any more that she wanted. So, of course, she only took 2. What she failed to realize is that on Sunday, the other one she chose spent a bit of time on the head of another family member.

Miss Dakota wouldn't sit still for a picture with the hat. It would seem that my lil bro has been torturing the poor thing by putting things on her head since she was a pup. I can't say as I'm surprised. We always bugged the shit out of our dogs. hehe
I modeled the hat on my baby doll I got as a little kid. It's also wearing a doll dress I made quite a while ago.

As you can see, it is a bit too big for the doll. Well that is cause it was meant for a real baby and the doll is a lil smaller. So now it is in 5 or 6 little balls. I've got about 3 or 4 rows done on the new neckline. I'm going to work on it in spurts while waiting for web pages to load up.
I've also been working on the mystery shawl some more, but I totally forgot to take pictures when I finished clue 2. I was at Mom's and after I whipped out the camera to take a picture of the dog, my mom got all upset. Turns out she bought me a camera with a photo printer and was going to give it to me for Christmas. As if I am patient enough to wait that long for a good camera. hehe I think she is going to sell it on eBay or at the garage sale. I should have the 3rd clue done tomorrow and I'll post a picture then.
I also started another mystery shawl. This one is the Galveston KAL. It's going to be a huge ass square.

I'm using the kettle dyed lace weight merino I got from www.handpaintedyarn.com. I swear it is like knitting with singles. It's think and thin in different spots. I'm not minding too much, but there are some spots that are a little over twisted. There are also spots with no twist to them. But anyway, that is clue 1. The second clue shouldn't take too long to do.

Plus, I've also uploaded another new tag to my tag site. I swear the people I make tags for don't know how to say thanks. I've gotten 3 responses out of over 50 members. sigh
Ok, time to get to knitting. Catch ya laters.

Friday, April 06, 2007

I'm not avoiding you

I swear I'm not.

I've just been a bit busy. Last night I had to knit a baby hat for my mom. She wanted a completed hat before I left her house. She has no clue just how slowly I knit. hehe I did manage to finish knitting it but I didn't get the ends weaved in. She will get the finished hat tomorrow. It helps that the baby was only 5lbs. Didn't have to make a big one or anything. I even added a lil bit of texture to it. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow. I'm a tad tired tonight.

I spent all day long cleaning house. I had let the dishes and wash pile up a bit. I've just got a couple pans and the dinner dishes from tonight to wash in the morning. The major part of the mess today was my son's room. OMG the kid is a damn pig. Ok so he takes after his mother in the neatness arena. :OP

But anyways, it took me and my mom about 3 hours to clean everything in there. We cleaned out his closet and his toy boxes. I already had 2 totes of his stuff out in the garage but I hadn't really gone through it for the garage sale, so I brought it in.

In total, we had 2 full totes, a small laundry basket, a duffel bag and a large black garbage bag full of things for the garage sale. There was half a tote of books. A tote and a half of clothes. The rest was movies and toys. We got him to get rid of his Power Ranger and Rescue Heros tapes and toys. I sooo hate the Power Rangers. We also got rid of all of his Rugrat and Tellytubbies tapes too. I will miss the Rugrats tapes. I quite enjoy watching them.

The kid's room is totally clean now though. I do believe I'll take a picture of that tomorrow too. hehe He has 2 half empty totes of toys in his closet and several small totes full of cars and legos. There is actually room in his dresser for all of his clothes now. hehe

OK, now I need to hit the sack. I really need to finish clue 2 of the current mystery shawl. I've got about 10 rows to go I think, but the new clue comes out tomorrow. hehe Night all!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Rediculous

Remember the other day I showed those beautiful pictures of the clouds? Remember how warm I said it was?

Guess what I saw when I went outside this morning.

SNOW!!!!!!!

It's freaking snowing!!!!!!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!