I fell off the wagon

already! It's been, what? 5 days since the major life changing event and the agreement under duress to not purchase any more yarn......well yesterday ** gasp** I bought yarn!! Problem is I have fallen in love with the One Skein Wonder, still trying to make one for my friend Debbie whose birthday was Sunday. I whipped up another one in wool, but decided wool may not be so comfortable for the summer. So I decided to knit one up in Cotton Ease, but all my CE is spoken for. So off Noey and I went for a Cotton Ease expedition. First stop - JoAnn's. Every single bin was empty! Not a skein in sight. (and the clearance price of $3.00 wasn't that great anyway) So our next stop was Tuesday Morning. Success!!! They had 9 skeins of Candy Blue and 6 skeins of Orangeade so I bought them all! Only $2.00 per skein.....how could I not? That's a money saving deal on my part!!!

Okay, so here's the really bad part....there is another Tuesday Morning store on my very own street......as soon as I drop Noey off at preschool this morning I am going to see if they have any Cotton Ease!!!

So now I am knitting a OSW for myself in Blueberry Cotton Ease, and after that I will make a tank to match. But I guess I better start on Debbie's birthday gift soon!

(I'm having trouble uploading pictures so......nothing to see today! sorry!)

Another FO and MLC*

*Major Life Changes!

First I finished Glampyre's One Skein Wonder. I started out with my friend Debbie in mind, but somehow I ended up with a hole in the back and the ribbing went weird so Noey decided she would keep it. I was rather impressed with myself however.

And now on to the big news. I have quit my job. I gave my two weeks notice yesterday. I will be starting a new job anyway sometime before September 1, so DH and I decided I should just quit and stay at home with Noey for the summer! Sounds good, right? But I had to agree to NO MORE YARN PURCHASES for the rest of the summer! AAAAAHHHHHH! Good thing I have a pretty good stash accumulated.

I think Mabel needs a larger size and.....arms to show off the full beauty of this piece!

The back view. I think it turned out pretty good except for........

.....the hole!

And here she is.....

Misty Garden in all her glory. I blocked her last night and now she is ready to wear.....too bad it's SUMMER!!!

Finished Object!!

I finally finished Misty Garden. It seemed like it took forever! I think I got bored with the pattern, and knowing that I wouldn't wear it until fall or winter slowed me down. Noelle and I are working in the church nursery every other Sunday (and we get paid for it!) so I finished it today in between services. I have it blocking at the moment.

I also made a dress and a skirt for Noey's Barbies. My grandmother had knitted me a whole bunch of Barbie outfits, only one survived, so I used that as a pattern for the dress. It took no time at all, I made them both yesterday.

One of my kids at school gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card so I bought "The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns" yesterday. I wasn't sure I would like it, I felt pressured by Noey to get in, buy something fast, and get out. I read it last night.....very cool. The patterns are pretty simple but I like that you can choose any yarn weight. But again, I won't be wearing any of the items until fall/winter so I'm not in any hurry to start them.

Now I'm kinda at loose ends knitting wise. I don't have anything started (except the Relaxed Pullover) and I don't know what I want to work on......

The girls in their new outfits.

Misty Garden and Noelle being blocked.

Feeling Funky

I'm in an end of the school year funk, a knitting funk, and just a general funk! There's just too much stuff going on what with Noey's school year ending and my school year ending. Yesterday was Noey's "last day" and yet she goes to summer school starting Monday.

My knitting is not exciting me at the moment. I still have Misty Garden to finish, and the Relaxed Pullover. I swatched for a tank from Vogue Knitting Summer 2005, but not excited to work on that either.

And then there was the EARTHQUAKE today! That kind of rattled our nerves......pun intended!

A special note for my Secret Pal

I just want to say a big THANK YOU! Thank you so much!! There could not be a better gift for me and it could not have come at a better time. I have been completely stressed out over the past couple of days, feeling unloved and under appreciated (more on that another day.....) I had just carried a sleeping 40 pound child up 3 flights of stairs, when I found a package on my doorstep. Everything in it is so ME!!! First, 3 skeins of Rowan Cork in the most beautiful deep pink (my favorite color!), then the book I have been wanting - Vogue Weekend Knits! I have had my eye on that for some time! A pack of Apple Cinnamon and a pack of Wild Blackcurrant herbal teas....they smell yummy! And a pack of Tropical Fruit hard candies.....which I don't even think I mentioned but I love all things tropical!!! I don't think you can see it in the picture but the package has already been opened and I've sampled all the flavors!! and to top it all off a very sweet note! Thank you again. I am truly grateful!

I tried to get a close up for the color. It is just the prettiest deep pink with a little purple.....oooh so pretty.

Hurricane Ava blew threw our house

Yesterday I babysat Debbie's 2 girls, 5 year old Hannah and 2 year old Ava, along with my own child. This is the aftermath left in the wake of Ava. It was CRAZY! I was so exhausted by the time it was all over, I still don't have the energy to clean up the mess.

My baby graduated!

Here she is with her diploma. The graduation ceremony was very nice. Each preschool class sang 2 songs and then received their diplomas. Noelle did so well, she sang all the songs and did all the motions.... I was so proud of her. And Mommy did pretty good too.....I only cried once!

Noelle and her fellow graduates Christopher and Nicole.

I swapped one of my knitting books for this one from a very nice woman named Beverly. She also included the book thong which she made.

A finished object (or two) and a little stash enhancement

The felted bag has a new owner! Noey decided this should be her purse. Well, why not? Seeing how I have the same exact color yarn to make another purse. I started it last night, making more of a tote this time.

I finished the Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl yesterday. I love the way the colors "stripe" themselves as if by magic. Surprisingly, the acrylic yarn is really soft and cozy.

Front view......modeled by Mabel.

and the back.

On the right is my order from KnitPicks, on the left from Elann. The green wool on the right is for a Knitting Pure & Simple neck down tie front sweater. The multi-color wool on the left is for more felted bags!! Speaking of Elann.....I love them!! I had put the wrong address on my order, the package was returned to them, and then re-sent with the correct address, all within one weeks time! And they kept me updated with the most friendly emails! I got the package yesterday and everything was so neatly packed.

and of course the child with the new stash.

I don't know what I was thinking

I got my order from Kaleidoscope Yarns yesterday. I've been wanting to try Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride to felt, but why I chose the same exact color as the Cascade 220 I just felted.....I have no idea!!

I finally found Interweave Knits Fall 2004. I have been searching high and low for this issue, no one had it, not even Interweave Knits. But Kaleidoscope had it! Yeah!! Now I can add the Flower Basket Shawl to my wish list.

Just added to the wish list - The Buttonhole Bag. Check out the cute ones on Stacey's blog. Just need more yarn!! Does it ever end???

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes....

I wouldn't have believed it! My first felted purse!! It's hard to believe something that initially was 3 times this size, can shrink down so much. It turned out really nice.....doesn't look anything like the pattern, and the strap is a little long, and you can see where I sewed the strap on, but other than that....it's pretty cute!

Misty Garden has recovered and is now back on track. I started the third and final skein last night.

The Feather and Fan Shawl is going good. I managed to work on a couple of rows over the weekend. It's about 4 feet wide now, think I want it to be about 5 feet wide.

My new dress! One of the many outfits I bought the other day for my new job. Now I just need to find a pattern for a little sweater. I want a cross between a shrug and cropped sweater. Lion Brand Homespun in Coral Gables is the perfect color. Any suggestions for a pattern?

Here she is!

Big Day

Today was a big day for us. First my Denise needles came!! That was fast......I just ordered them over the weekend. I haven't had a chance to use them yet, but they look interesting. Kudos to Copper Moose for such fast service.

Then this afternoon, for the first time ever in her whole entire 5 years of life......Noey had a paid babysitter! We're just trying this out to see how it goes. Turns out the preschool secretary, who is probably 25 or so, babysits. So I hired her for this afternoon. I went shopping....by myself. I was a little nervous about the whole deal but I soothed my nerves by buying 7 tops! (I am starting a new job soon and needed more appropriate clothing.) Apparently everything went well. They were eating chocolate and watching Toy Story when I got home. It's nice to finally have a babysitter. DH and I have not gone out by ourselves for......years??? I can't even remember the last time we went out without Noey.

No knitting yet today. I spent the entire morning cleaning the house in preparation for the babysitter. I'm still working on the purse, and the Relaxed Pullover, and the Feather and Fan Shawl, and Misty Garden, but I want to start something on my Denise needles!!