My yarn

My yarn is here. It's awesome. Check out the pics at Vanilla KAL

Dog Days of Summer Questionaire

1. Do you knit, or crochet, or do both? How long have you been knitting\crocheting? My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was a young girl. I did a lot of crocheting up to about 15 years ago. Nobody knit in my family so I wasn't exposed to it. One of my first jobs was a bank teller, back in 1984. One of the other tellers was into knitting and she convinced me to try it. I attempted a sweater, never got much past the body and that was the end of my knitting . My oldest son was born in 1985 and the next 15+ years were too busy ...I have recently, within the last 2 years, jumped into knitting in a big way.
2. Have you knit dishcloths or dishtowels before? yes, I have. I previously had done just the plain garter stitch type. Just attempted a patterned one, which is posted below.
3. What are your favorite cotton yarns? Is there a cotton or linen you’ve been dying to try but have not? I have only used "sugar and cream" - I am not even sure what else is out there...
4. Are there any cotton yarns you don’t enjoy knitting with? See the above question
5. What type of needle do you prefer using? (Metal/Wood/Plastic) I prefer wood - it just feels sooo smooth - I have a lot of metal -
6. What other projects do you enjoy knitting or crocheting? I really got into mittens last winter, made tons of pairs. I also did a lot of felted bags - just started exploring socks...They seem too mind consuming for me. I like mindless knitting.
7. Do you have other hobbies or enjoy other kinds of crafting? I own over 60 Stampin' Up sets. I have been into stamping for a long time, which has lead into scrapbooking. I like to read, although I must admit I haven't taken much time to do that lately.
8. What kind of treats do you like? Chocolate? Candies? Nuts? Dark chocolate, cinnamon candy, and sometimes sour candy (not so much into the nuts - although I have been known to eat an entire bag of pistachios)
9. What colors are your kitchen and bath decorated in, if any? I am not very good at decorating. The kitchen has a sage green curtain and white walls (which hopefully will be painted sometime this summer) My bathroom colors lean towards the browns, pink tones.
10. What are your favorite colors and what colors do you dislike? I really like the browns/pinks/mauves/ - I would say - "earthy"
11. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Other beverages? coffee only in the morning with Irish cream creamer - otherwise it's Cherry Coke - straight up - not diet
12. Do you have any kids (human or pet variety!)? I have four of the best young men anywhere as my sons. Jeremy is my oldest at 21, Andy is second at 19, Chris is 16 and my youngest, Nathan is 15.
13. Do you have any allergies? None that I am aware of.
14. Please share 3 tidbits about yourself that you think your pal and other swappers might find odd or interesting.

1. I am half "Hawaiian" - my biological Dad lives on the island of Maui. I have met him, he's awesome, but I have never been to Hawaii. It's on my list of things to do before I die.

2. I went back to college at age 36 - got my BS in Secondary Education, Mathematics and a minor in Special education. It was the hardest thing I had ever done.

3. I am the oldest of 5 children and our names go in alphabetical order: Alaina, Benita, Corina, Darren, and Erica. I don't know if that falls under the "interesting" or "weird" heading of information....

Second attempt

This is actually the third attempt at a bag made out of the yarn I originally bought for the felted slippers. I have frogged it twice already - and it might still be too small. (All of you experienced knitters are thinking..."someone tell this woman about gauge" )

I am kinda following a pattern - we'll see how it all ends up...I don't think I am going to do the i-cord for the handle - I am going to attempt more of a formed handle to sew onto the side. I am thinking I should make them out of the second skein, so I can totally use up the yarn on the body of the bag without worrying about the handles... make sense?

It's knitting and it's summer and it's all good.

Button, Button, whose got the button?

Well, I got the pictures of the buttons to show up - they are just not linked to anything. Suggestions??

Shopping

Look at all those colors!!!! I went shopping yesterday with my dear friend Becky. It was all ON SALE!!!! We lunched, we laughed, we shopped...it was awesome.

Having four sons is very special in many ways - shopping is not one of those perks. When I find myself asking fashion advice from a 15 year old boy...well, let's just say it happens more often then it should......sad, huh?

AND...when I got home... my YARN was here!! Oh happy dance!! More on that later.

No knitting or blogging today. I am loading up on the hairspray, determined to "keep those bangs UP"...He asked me to help put siding on the garage... so I am off to play carpenter. "If I were a carpenter, and you were a lady, would you marry me anyway?" Don't know where that came from - but seemed appropriate.

Back soon with tired arms, flat hair and pics of my lucious yarn...and it is soooo lucious.

Still working on those buttons

My problem is (well the one related to this situation, I have a couple others that could be discussed) is once I get to the "template" tab - I can find "edit html" then I get lost - I can not find a way to "upload" an image.

When I visit someones site and want to take the button - do I right click and "save link as" or "send link" or just copy the image?

I am hoping that I am making this harder than it needs to be.

Attention you expert bloggers - take pity on this helpless newbie floundering around in this sea of confusion. (All you English teachers (especially the newest Title One teacher for Greeneville Middle School) - keep in mind I am just a lowly Math teacher) - my attempts at commanding the English language is ...well, the word escapes me - cuz I am just a math teacher - out of my realm.. Quick..... think.... logarithms, pi, infinity, standard deviations....ohh back to stuff I know..sigh.

Anyways - enough of my random ramblings..I need some serious help if I am going to figure out this button thing...I admit it..I am defeated. (big sigh)

stitch markers

Here are the pics of the markers I made - I was really happy with how they turned out - am going to try and make some for my friend Linda...

I am such a softy for a man with a hammer...

He used his charm - He persuaded me - He begged - I finally gave in...I dug around and found my "toolbelt" and buckled it on for the first time in 2 years...

He was "one guy" short for a garage He is building. "Please".. He said.

I spent the morning on top of a 9 foot ladder - "flipping" 24 foot trusses with a 4/12 pitch... all 23 of them (including the gable ends)

I discovered a couple things along the way...

1. I am out of shape.

2. "Hammared" isn't as funny when you're talking about the actual tool.

3. That flab that jiggles under my arm - really is flab - not loose muscle as previously thought.

4. I am out of shape

5. Even hairspray doesn't keep your bangs "up" when you are sweating like a "little piggy"

6. I am out of shape

I should have brought a camera along to post a pic.

It will be interesting to see how high I can lift my arms tomorrow....He might have to rub soothing oils all over my body.....

I AM going to figure this out...

I am trying to figure out how to get the side buttons to show up... I just successfully figured out how to link within the text such as: Dishrag Swap



But - I just can't seem to figure out how to add buttons..Did I mention that Computer Science WAS my original minor in college - b/4 I switched to Special Ed?????

stitch markers

I've been snoopin' around checking out different stitch markers. Decided to jump on in and make some myself... So, went to "THE bead expert" my friend Dawn. After numerous hours of laughter, raunchy jokes, solved a few world problems... I now have one set of 5 and another set of 4 stitch markers... I am sooo excited - way cool!

Off to Duluth to buy more supplies... Yeah!!! Pics coming soon..Don't have time to post them now - it takes forever to upload here at home and I'm being booted... (19 yr old son wants internet for G4s "Free stuff" - if ya don't know what that means - you don't have a teenage geek in your home. hee hee.)

Dishcloths...

I have been practicing - I am not going to be "the weakest" link in the upcoming dishrag tag!!! Go team #5.

Too small

I finished felting the slippers - unfortunately - the slippers are too small. I washed them twice -I did check gauge... I don't know what I did - they turned out really cute - just won't fit me... or anyone in my house - (My boys are all size 13 shoes) So, I am looking for a little girl to give them to...

Guess I'll just Have to go to the yarn store and buy more yarn... sacrifices we all make..(big sigh)

Ready for felting

They're in the washer.....One looks larger than the other in the pic - They are actually the same size - I think it's just the angle of the pic that is tricking us.

A mom's dilemma

In my opinion there is sometimes a very fine line between protecting your children, being a good parent and "over-protecting" your children. (I have been accused occasionally of being over protective.) Yesterday was one of those days that I got caught in the middle - trying to decide which side of the fence I was on. The boys (ages 15 and 16) wanted to go swimming at the local lake with their friends. They wanted to go with their friends, not their mother.

In order to get to said lake, they would have to ride their bikes about 3 miles on a sparsely populated, wooded dirt road. In my day, I wouldn't have thought twice biking that road - I did it many, many times. In today's world of "icky" people - I don't like my children biking on such an isolated road. Now, my boys are not small children, they both play center for the school football team. They have also been taught to be polite and respectful of the people they meet as well as how to handle themselves if they were in trouble.

I let them go...I worried about them... I made them call me at start and finish and before they started for home. Protective or over-protective? I don't know - I do the best I can and pray a lot.

Slipper update

After thoroughly investigating the situation - I ripped out the first attempt - made a mad dash to the LYS (30 minutes till closing) - bought new yarn and am happily knitting away on my slippers... one down...one to go. I checked gauge - I was off - I looked closer at the pattern - it calls for bulky weight - I was using medium. I now have the coral striped yarn and absolutely no idea what to use it for. Maybe a small summer purse - so am searching for a pattern other than a booga bag....