As promised......

Here are the pics of my DRT box that I got the other day. :)




Yes, that is a Scrubbing Bubble from SC Johnson. The lady who tagged me works there so she had to send it to me. hehe :D




I got a bag with some Reese's Whips & 3 Musketeer bites in it - yum! The Scrubbing Bubble of course, some pretty blue, yellow & blue yarn for my dish rag to make and a yellow and blue dish rag that was made for me. My fave colors!!!

Dish Rag Tag

So I got my box today. At 2pm and got the dish rag done by 5:15 pm. Unfortunately the post office was closed at that time. I can get postage on the box tomorrow if I make a run to Meijer.....but the box won't leave the post office until Tuesday. Darn holiday weekend! I'll post pics of my box and dish cloth tomorrow. It's bed time now.

QOW # 12

I'm sure most of us have a proudest moment when it comes to knitting. A project or technique that you've tackled and completed beautifully. What is your proudest knitting moment??

And on the flip side? What is the one thing that you can't get right? What is that one project that you've never been able to complete? Or that you did complete but then hid away instantly because it was too embarrassing?

Proudest knitting projects - well hell the fact that I can now knit makes me proud seeing as how I taught myself from a book and the net. :D But seriously ;) my new sock.

The flip side - teaching myself to knit was very frustrating and took roughly 3 attempts to actually get it to take and for me to learn right. It was one of those things where I'd knit it, then frog, then knit, then frog, then knit, etc.

Can you say dense?

That would be me for not properly reading the Jaywalker pattern the first time......

I have finally figured out the foot portion of the stinking thing and can now attempt to finish my first sock. It figures that AFTER I pm'd Grumperina on Ravelry that I would figure it out myself. And now that I have that figured out and have knit 2 rounds I am back to cleaning. Why? Well cuz I miss sitting on my couch and having room to move at my computer desk. It only took about a week for this to drive me crazy - we have progress! ;) If you've seen my room you know what I am talking about.

I am however multitasking while I clean. I am finishing up my BFF Amy's birthday gift so that I can mail the box before the end of this week. :D Yes I am slow. :P And while I am doing that I am also thinking of what little things I plan to send to my SP next...... Back to cleaning now!

QOW # 11

This week's question of the week is: "What's the best thing you've ever received in the mail?"

Good question, since I have gotten a lot of packages and things from family who live out of state for birthdays and Christmas gifts in the past this will take some thinking on before answering.

Off the top of my sleepy head I 'd have to say the quilt my Aunt made for me as a graduation gift. She bought all kinds of sunflower fabric and put it together with a big sunflower in the middle. Even though it was a bit bigger than a twin/single size I still use it on my queen sizes bed. :)

There was also this past Christmas when I had sent out an email prayer request because of some medical problems I'd been having. My mom forwarded it to the family members that I missed. Next thing I know there is a check in my mail to help pay the medical bills that we were wondering how we were going to add to our budget. It wasn't the only check but the only one I got in the mail.

And of course there are the lovely packages I get from my SP. :D

Off to grocery shop now. :)

Socks

I have pictures....really I do but my batteries in my camera are dead right now.....I know I need to charge them but it requires being able to find the charger. But more on the sock later...... Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning - ugh. So the kids came back and brought a new bike for the youngest girl and a desk. Because one of the girls voiced that they could use it. Even after I told my mom-in-law that we'd need to rearrange before taking the desk - they brought it with the kids. Grrrr Which meant we had to rearrange the oldest girl's room to fit it in there and then try to get all her stuff back in the room. Well we got the room sorted and are now trying to get everything back in it's place. My living room pile has grown to not include just my stuff any more but some of hers too now.

I realized today that the sock wasn't working out right which meant I needed to tink it back to the last known section that was correct and then try again from there. That is what I spent all of knit night doing. But I have roughly 6 or 7 rounds left to tink and it should be ready to knit again. I thought I was to follow the heel gusset pattern for the foot. But I think I was only to follow the established pattern and then slip a stitch every other round like before but NOT k2together/ssk on the other rounds like for the heel. And somehow that will get me to 84 stitches at the toe shaping. The wording on the pattern is funny and I've looked at the toe-up version to see if I could figure it out from there - nope not much difference.

But the biggest bestest thing I hear tonight was that I should not have to clean the wool I got last knit night! YAY!!!!! S said I should be able to card right from the bag and that it would have had to have been washed when it was first cut. Otherwise it would have been smelly and growing mold by now. Next project is carding, dyeing the wool and spinning it. I think I want to dye it first and then spin it that way I can choose what order the colors can be in. But maybe it will be easier to spin then dye it. S showed me some she had spun from the Suffolk she had - sooooooo pretty! But I must finish the sock(s) first then work on the other wash clothes before moving onto spinning. :D

Well bedtime now for me. :) PS to my upline SP hope your summer is going great and all with getting ready for school to start again! I can't wait for my kids to go back.....and not just because I get to work again either. ;)

UGH!!!!!!

I HATE cleaning....this really sucks right now. The living room is looking nice mostly because all my extra crap has not made it out of the oldest daughter' room yet. But the kids are due back either Monday or Tuesday from being away for a week and a half. Now if the younger two had their room clean I'd just let them all camp out on the floor in their room until I got everything out of her room. But they get their cleaning skills from their mom. In other words they are pack-rats just like me and procrastinate on cleaning anything and everything. I mean it only took me almost 48 hours of looking to find the title for our house. Which of course was needed to refinance our mortgage so I had to find it ASAP. Of course I found it in the last possible box it could be in. If we still had everything in the old computer room - I'd have possibly found it in half that time......probably. :) And I suppose if I filed everything like I should I might have found t faster - but where is the fun in that. So needless to say I need to empty my closet of things that I no longer need/use on a weekly basis or have never used ever. I did get rid of a bunch of things in cleaning to get to the closet. But trust me there is much more that really should go. Some has sentimental value, some none other than I thought they could be used for something at some point in time. Like those canvases I have from back when I wanted to paint and the oil paint that I am sure is gone bad by now.

So why have I waited until the last minute to clean you might be thinking (other than procrastination :) )? Because my hubby has been off this whole past week from work and wanted me to spend time with him. But after the movies the other day he has spent his time on the computer playing Eve.com and I have been working on my knitting projects as much as I could get away with. I have on occasion had to play Rise of Nations with him to stop the whining. ;)

So on to knitting right?!?!? I almost have a sock done for the Ravelympics 2008. This is only one of the 3 events I entered myself into. The other projects should go fast once I get this sock done and I might even finish the other one before the Ravelympics are over. Maybe.... :D

Well I suppose I should get back to cleaning so I can clear off the kids and my beds tonight. The oldest daughter's because I need to get it done before she gets here and leave myself less hassle during the week. Mine because I want to sleep on it tonight. Which in essence really involves a lot of clothes folding and finding room for them in my dresser or on hangers. Wish me luck!

QOW # 10

Here's an odd sort of question...What Olympic event would best describe you knitting/knitting style?

I'd have to say any type of team sport like basketball, hockey, etc. Something where you are constantly competing to be in the lead. I knit, get distracted, realize I've made a mistake, tink or in worst cases frog it and start over from that point. It's a struggle to get ahead sometimes. A good example is my Jaywalker socks.......my first socks. I got the cuff down no problem finally and then started the pattern once I had 1" of cuff done. I get as far as I would like of the pattern for my socks and try to start the heel flap only to realize that I somehow have 2 stitches extra. Not a lot mind you but I should have an even number for the heel and the instep stitches - both of the extra two were on the heel side. So a frogging I went.

Does anyone reading this have any tips on cleaning wool to card it? I joined the Fiber Prep group on ravelry to see what they said but have not gotten a definite response. The wool is Suffolk from 9/03, doesn't feel greasy to me but has lots of little objects in the wool still. I don't think it needs much cleaning but I don't know if I can go straight to carding it or if I should wash it first to get it clean. Whatever I end up doing I will have to trap my cat in a different room because he keeps trying to play with the bag. lol

Well this is day 5.5 of being kidless. Hubby happens to have the week off because work was slow and he had oodles of vacation hours just sitting there waiting to be used. So we have been out to eat 3 times now and Monday we went to Home Depot after dinner at Burger King to get my spindle makings. I got a 3 foot long Oak dowel and the eye hooks. But it took us asking 3 people to finally find the rubber grommets that my Spin It book suggested. The first 2 guys told us they didn't think they carried them but to try looking here. Each time a different place. Finally the third knew what he was talking about. Yesterday we went to the movies and saw a double feature of Brendan Fraser - yum! First we saw Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D - which was super cool. Mike enjoyed it and it was neat because it was the first time he had been able to watch a movie in 3D - he's color blind but this wasn't the typical 3D movie with the red/blue glasses. They blurred it on the film somehow and the glasses brought it into focus to project off the screen. It took a while to get used to but wow! Then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner because we were hungry and chose to go to the 5 PM movie. We saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Awesome movie and so glad we went and saw both. Both of which were during their matinee hours so it saved us major money that way. We have one of the super expensive movie theaters in our area - and only one of them. I miss being in Lansing and having 3 theaters to choose from. Then we came home and that was when I realized I'd screwed up the sock.

Down for maintance.......

We were informed last week that our cable provider will no longer be servicing our area. Ummm ok doesn't bother me - we don't have cable/dish, etc. But AT&T is coming in to provide cable.....and cable internet. SCORE!!!! So we are switching from DSL to Cable modem as of Sunday. Yup, Sunday - go figure. But I can get rid of the land line now. The land line we only use for other kids to call parents from. The land line that we ONLY have for the DSL. however the downside is that I have to remove EVERYTHING from my little corner in the living room. Why? Well because the cables come up through the floor behind all my crap. And the installers aren't allowed to move anything so I have to. :p It's a good thing the girls are gone until the 18th (happy dance) so I can use the oldest's room as storage until the install is done.....or until I get motivated to move it all back to my corner. :)

"Hi my name is Jen. I am a pack rat and major procrastinator. I hope to someday de-clutter my life."
"Hi Jen." lol

So tomorrow I will be unable to respond to email, blog(s) & comments. Or at least until the new modem is installed. But I have my knitting to keep me occupied at least. I cast on the Jaywalker sock's last night. Frogged it this morning and started again. I now have about 1/2" of the ribbing done. I'm still getting used to the dpns but it seems to be going ok so far. I look that the other yarn I bought in case I don't have enough in the Scout's Swag for the Jaywalker's, and keep thinking it will look pretty in one of the other sock patterns I have waiting for yarn. We shall see what happens......

Back to cleaning the slave-master hubby says....... :P

Gotta love my LYS!

So on Friday I am starting some socks for the first time during the olympics. How do I plan to do this with the kids at home and not lose patience...... It's simple their aunt is kidnapping them that afternoon so they will be gone all weekend!!!!!! *does a happy dance* There is also a possibility that they will be staying through the following weekend with my in-laws, but that hasn't quite been confirmed yet so we don't know for sure. Either way a free weekend sounds great to me. Did I mention that there are 26 days left until school starts?!?!?!?!? Not that I have it marked on my calander or anything....... >.> LOL

Back to the socks, I looked at the pattern and realized that I was 35 yards short on the yarn I had compaired to the one used in in the pattern. DOH! Being that I have big feet for a woman and that these are my first socks - I thought it was a good idea to have the amount of yarn stated in the pattern. Just in case. So that lead me to try and find a matching color to my Scout's Swag....... Harder than it looks. However my LYS came through for me and I have a beautiful green to use on the toes and heels. It's even machine washable too - yay! I'll just have to air dry them. Plus I bought my DPN's that I will need for the socks. Now to practice with them.......and hope I don't break one! >.<

QOW # 9

This week. our question is about your knitting... In many communities, "the fair" is a great place to visit and spend time with your family. It's also where many have entered one product or another (jams, cakes, even knitting)...

Have you ever entered your knitting (or anything else) in the fair? Would you ever consider it?

Personally I have not because I am just a beginner. But my grandma has entered and won first place for her crocheted tablecloth. I might consider it once I am more confident in my efforts and know more about what the heck I am doing design wise. :D

Well off to the library to return and most likely check out more knitting books!

Knit Night

Tonight I think my subconscious was getting the best of me. I have joined Ravelympics and have two events I am entered in with 3 projects total. However one of them is crochet. I do not know how to crochet. I do however have Stitch 'N Bitch: The Happy Hooker and my Knit Night friends to help me. One of the ladies tonight picked up my pattern and started it for me. Hehehe However since I had no clue what she was doing I had to pull it out and try to figure out what my pattern was saying according to SNB:THH. I have some of it but not all of it figured out. I think that I need to practice from the book before I start to work on the pattern.

But our leader tonight was the b-day girl as well. Who as I was heading in brought in a trash bag full of wool - for whoever to take home. And D brought in her spindles because she was spinning but also to show me different ones for when I look for one. So D was showing me all kinds of tricks for spinning and then she and S both tell me to take the bag of wool home. Once I card it - using a dog brush will work according to D - then I can kool-aid dye. Can you say even more incentive to buy/make a spindle?!?!? :D So I am looking at which method will be the cheapest of the two (buy or make) and then I'll do whichever hopefully in the next few weeks. The hubby said he would even drill the dowel for me to put the hook in it. Isn't he sweet!

Well it's bedtime for me the coffee is wearing off and I am tired from not sleeping well due to a bad sunburn I got on Sunday.

Favorite things

Stolen from another blog because I thought it looked fun. :)

Sport: bowling - yes it is a sport
Game: I think it's called Michigan rummy for cards, World or Warcraft for computer
Color: all blues and most greens
Movie: Grease & Sweet Home Alabama
Broadway play I have seen: None
Broadway Musical I have seen: Phantom of the Opera - the movie only
Song: "What I Didn't Say" Saving Jane
American city I have visited: Indianopolis, IN, Chicago, IL, Lake Linden, MI, Cincinnati, OH, Toledo, OH, St. Louis, MO, and too many more to list in Michigan
Foreign city I have visited: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Book: Suspense, Romance, Mystery, Fiction & Sci-Fi
Children's Book: Anne of Green Gables
Classic television show: Facts of Life
Recent television show: Bones, Numb3rs
Actor: David Boreanaz & John Ritter
Actress: Michaela Conlin
Perfume: my fave Bath & Bodyworks scent - White Cherry Blossom
Food: spaghetti & meatballs in meat sauce
Dessert: milk chocolate candy - yum!
Chain Restaurant: Olga's
Local Restaurant: Don's Traverse City
Car: 1957 Chevy Bel-Air in Teal with cream trim - LOVE the fins!
Condiment: dill relish
Kitchen Appliance: coffee machine
Home Appliance: my computer or laptop
Beauty Product: White Cherry Blossom shower gel by Bath & Body Works
Piece of clothing: blue jeans
HGTV Show: don't watch it - requires having cable
Food Network show: ditto above
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
Male Songwriter: Jeremy Dundas
Female Songwriter: Charity Daw
Holiday: Christmas
Ballet I have seen: The Nutcracker - only on tv
Disney character: Piglet
Flower: sunflower or anything yellow
Alcoholic drink: almost anything with Kahulua
Non-Alcoholic drink: carmel marvel from Biggby's
Magazine: Self
Animated movie: Robin Hood
Television network miniseries: Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Season: Fall
Male vocalist: Tyson Ritter
Female vocalist: Poe
Day of the week: Friday
Household Chore: laundry
Ice Cream: Coffee or cinnamon
Candy: stick candy
Artist: Van Gogh