Solid Bee Block. Sept Edition

So we were sent some pink, yellow and white fabric and told to make pin wheels. I had a ton of fun searching out a pin wheel to make. I wanted something really different. Then I found the Amish Pinwheel and I knew I found the one. I added a couple frames around the edge to get it to the right size, and because I wanted to use up as much of the fabric as I could. I still have to snip threads on this one. :)

And, because I had a wee bit of fabric left, and I love tiny little things, I added some white from my stash and made a MinPin block. :) Yes. Bad pun. I'm sorry. It's just too cute! Tiny! I luv it. :)

Quilt Top Done and some Knitting!

So I finished the quilt top for our bedroom. It's Swirly Girls Design pattern called "Equal Rights" There are eleventy billion triangles. Holy crap that was work. But I"m super happy with how it turned out. Now I just have to save up to get it quilted. I know a lady that rents her machine out and teaches you how to quilt. So, that's what I"m going to do. The backing is the light colored one with dots. I love that one. I'm not sure what I'm going to bind it in yet, but that's a ways off. I tried really hard with this one to just 'let go'. I tossed all the printed triangles in a bag, and just pulled them out and stitched them up. I would put one back if it was the same one I had just pulled out, but other than that, I just sewed. When I sewed the rows together, I tried to just do it. I wiggled a couple around, if there were too many pieces that we close, but again, I just tried to go with it.

On the knitting front, Sock Knitters Anonymous is back for a 4th year in a row! This months' challenge is hard for me. Black or white is the color of the month. Which I thought would be easy, but I can't find a patten I want to knit! WTF? So I'm going to do a patten by the chosen designer instead of the color challenge.

I think I'm going to go toss a load of laundry in, do the dishes and then skein up my yarn. I've got a sick kid at home, so it's just been a lazy day. If I have to watch Thomas one more time, I'm going to lose it. :)

Using up stash

So I've been working on some various projects to clean out my stash. This makes me happy on

several levels. Being creative and using what I've collected.

This one was inspired and made using Cluck.Cluck.Sew. tutorial. I loved the little offset boxes, so I had to make my own. I built this quilt around the dark pink bird fabric. It's hopscotch by red rooster. After I got my blocks finished I threw them up on my design wall. For like a month. I moved them around and then I moved them around some more. I finally came up with an arrangement that I was happy with. But I was just not feeling the sashing. I just thought white would be the color. But it was boring. It didn't pop. I just happened to have some brown left over from a different project, and I threw that up on the wall.

Totally different. That makes me really happy. So I went with the brown. I"m pretty sure the color is "Coffee" by Kona. I've got it all sewn together, but didn't take a picture of that. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that. Now I'm just stuck on the backing. Do I piece it together? I've got the light pink and some birds left over that would work, but I'm not sold on that yet. It's hanging on my wall, so I can stare at it for a week or so. :)

1 week old

My nephew Mason!

Quilt By me. Photo and Baby by my SIL. :)

Fixing...Messing with...

Whatever you call it. Tweaking maybe? I don't know. I'm playing with my blog layout, so if you notice anything really crazy, I'm sorry. I'm working on having that fixed. My old set up was weird for posting pictures. They could only be super tiny. So I grabbed this template so I could post them a little larger. Easier on the eyes I think. Now I'm just tryign to make it my own, with my very limited html know how. :)

Cheater Cheater

I made this for a friend that had a baby on Monday. She is not a pastel kind of person. When I saw this panel, I knew I wanted to make it. Then I found out she was preggers, so I knew I had a match. I feel totally like a cheater cheater pumpkin eater because it's a panel. I still quilted it and everything. But still. She loves it and that's all that matters. I used Kona Honey Dew to bind it off. I didn't get a pick of the back, but it's a pink and burgandy print that matches the colors in the urchin.

Pictures!

This is one of the quilts I put together while my hubby was in San Diego. I had seen some on flickr like this, and decided to make up one of my own. I cut 2 1/2 inch strips and sewed them together. Then I cut those strips 7 1/2 inches. I slapped another strip on the top and bottom and done! I used some fat quarter I had laying around from a baby quilt I was going to make oh.. 5 years ago. :) The border is pieced from the leftovers. So much fun! I quilted it in white thread, just going about 1/4 an inch on either side of the seams. So it's a grid pattern. Simple, but striking I think.

What? You love it? You want it? Well, Lucky You! It's up in my etsy shop.

Also. I went and did something crazy. I started a bee. You know, a quilting bee? The theme is Solids. Just using solids. No prints. It can be a single color, or a rainbow of them. But only solids. Head on over to Solid Bee Block for more details and to join! Right now there are 2 peeps that have joined, so there is room for 10 more. Hurray! Act Today! No Delay!

Thoughts about Stash.

Since I don't have photo editing software on this thing yet, there are no pictures to share today. Sorry. Instead, I've cracked my skull a little, to let the crazy out and you guys (okay. You guy. My one faithful reader) in.

So I've been thinking about my stash, and stashing habits lately. Why I stash, what I stash. You know. Deep Thoughts. I have come to a realization that I am a collector. A hoarder if you will. My thoughts are along the lines of "I love it. I must own it all. If I use it up it will be gone forever." So, it sits. Lovely yarn or fabric just sits and waits. Which, after further thought, seems really dumb. Because if I USE it, I get to enjoy it while I'm knitting. Or put it into a quilt and then have a finished quilt that I or someone else will love and see all day. Instead of sitting in my craft room. Waiting for their full potential to be met.

While my hubby was away, I re-did my craft room and now I can see what I have. I pulled out 3 garbage bags of fabric that I no longer love, and won't use. People. That is just crazy. Now, granted I bought alot of this stuff years ago, before I had a husband, a kid and a house. But really. How long should I keep holding on to this stuff that I'm never going to use? So I was honest with myself, and got rid of a bunch. I also made it so I could see what I have, instead of hiding it away in rubbermaid tubs. If I can see it, I can use it. If I see it, I won't buy new stuff that I don't need. Well, that's the hope anyway.

A good example is fabric I'm cutting for a quilt. I bought a bunch of black and white fabric, wanting to "someday" make a black and white quilt. I bought that fabric before I starting dating my hubby. 7 years ago. I think 'someday' has come. I starting cutting into it last night. I didn't break out into a sweat. It didn't kill me. Hell, there is nothing special about that fabric. It's just fabric. I'm even throwing tiny pieces away, instead of saving them. Shocker!

When I was in college, I learned that once people went from a hunter gather society to a more settled lifestyle, they didn't need to hunt to live. But people still do. Those are the people that hunt for toys from their childhood. Baseball cards. Stripey Sock yarn. Whatever floats your boat. They hunt, they find, they collect. No reason really, except to fill some deep seated instinctual urge. Well, I'm breaking that habit. Mostly because I don't want to turn into my Grandmother, who couldn't throw anything out. She was a child of the depression, and saved everything. When she died and they cleaned out her house, she had 3 garbage bags of the waistband from men's' underwear. 3 bags. Of worn out elastic from Grandpa's skivies.

So. In my rambling way, I guess I'm saying this. I am going to start USING what I have. Knitting up that pretty sock yarn, instead of petting it and dreaming about the socks it will make. I will make those socks. I will cut that fabric. I will make a quilt. I will keep it and love it, or give it away and be happy it's making someone else happy. There will always be new yarn to love and pet. New fabric that is just the right shade of pink. Why am I saving all of the goodies? Wouldn't it suck if I died tomorrow, and my husband just sent it off to the salvation army? (Don't worry. My BFF Rose has strict instructions as to what her job is when I kick)

Use it or Get rid of it. Then get new stuff. That's my new motto. :)

Thoughts? Comments? Hints and tips?

Hello Blog World!

Okay. Let me whine a moment. I cut the heck out of the tip of my index finger yesterday fixing the ac and it hurts! A band aid doesn't want to stick and of course, it's right were I type. argh! But the ac is not leaking water any more, so that's a plus. *end whine*

While Michael was in San Diego, I finished 2 baby sized quilt tops. Of course, I left them at work when I showed them off to the girls, so I haven't gotten pictures yet. I work tonight, so I hope I'll remember them this time.

I cut out a wonky block quilt top and sewed it up yesterday. I just need sashing and it's finished.

Now. here's the funny part of the whole being productive thing. I cleaned out my craft room and it's lovely in there. But I've found if I haul my cutting mat or sewing machine upstairs and work in the kitchen during nap time, I get a ton done. I think it's because I can hear the kid when he wake ups, or I can sneak away while he's playing trains and cut a bit. So. Lovely craft room= no work. Working on the kitchen island = work done.

I think if I ever get these tops quilted, I'm going to toss them up on etsy. Maybe they'll sell. If not, I've got a stack of baby quilts ready for when all those people I know pop. Seriously. I think I know about 15 people birthing babies this year. Anyone else out there overwhelmed with babies? Not everyone I know is getting a quilt. Some are getting knit hats or flannel receiving blankets. I have a system. Blood relatives get a quilt. Good friends get a blanket and friends/coworkers get a knit hat. I have a bunch of hats to make, but they're super cute, made out of sock yarn. Hooray for using up leftovers.

ha!

I got me a laptop! It's a tiny little dell and I got it from my brother. Well, it;s sorta on loan until I pay him, or decide I want a ipad. :)

Which means, while I'm in bed with J watching toy story, I can surf the net. woo!

Another Baby Quilt!

This one is for a friends baby girl that was born last Sept. *oops* I made it before her first birthday! That should count. Right? It's my go to baby quilt pattern, Yellow Brick Road. Which I think I've made 6 like this, and am now over that pattern. It's all different shades of pink, with some Zebra print thrown in for fun. Because the Mom said "not too pink" Ha! Anyway. The light is crap as it was evening, and I just wanted to get this taken so I could mail it away.

Done!

It's finished! The quilt for my soon to be here niece or nephew

My SIL asked for green. So that's what she got. :)

The Quilt is from the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book. Flock of Triangles is the name. I used Kona Cotton White for the solid and lots of green. Some I had in stash, some I bought just for this project. I either got 1/4 yard cuts or fat quarters. I think there are about 8 different prints in there. I used the same green on the backing as I used for binding. I just quilted straight lines down the center of each triangle. Simple, yet beautiful. I hope the little one enjoys it!

We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die.

Watching Firefly while the boy naps. Bliss! :)

I joined the World Cup Hexagon Month over on Flickr. Because I am crazy. And I had this purple hexagon quilt laying around untouched for like.. 7 years. So I've been working on it again. Which is nice to do while sitting around while Johnathan plays trains. I sew a little, fix the track that baby Godzilla trashed, and repeat.

I finished the quilt for my up and coming niece or nephew. It's all done, ready to go to it's new home. I snapped some pictures of it, and we'll see how they turn out, as soon as the battery recharges. It's raining here, so I may need some new ones when it's sunny out.

Other than that, nothing new here. Johnathan fell down on Sunday and whacked his head and bled. I think I handled it pretty well. No tears from me. I just kept repeating.. heads wound bleed a lot...head wounds bleed a lot. He's fine. No stitches needed and no permanent damage. But still. Scary.

Seriously?

You know. I hope and wish and pray for a time when my life slows down a little. Gets more towards 'normal'. Whatever that is.

Lately I feel as if I've been flying 9 million miles an hour. I'm tired and I feel like I don't get anything done. Just go go go. It's weird really.

Last week was especially bad. Lots of bumps along the way. Some bad news, and more bad news, and then my Mom's retina detached and it was down to the cities for emergency eye surgery. Thankfully she's fine, and it seems to be healing well, and Johnathan was a little angel in the waiting room. But still. Last week kicked my ass.

Thankfully I've had Tuesday and Wednesday off, and I'm feeling a little better. I also have this weekend off. And if I bust my butt and get the housework caught up, I'm doing only fun creative things this weekend. Sewing. Knitting. Whatever my heart desires. Well, that and running after the worlds busiest 2 year old. Who, by the way is off the charts at 38 1/4 inches tall. 100th percentile. Damn. He's going to be taller then me by Christmas. :)

Anyway. He's napping and I should go do more laundry. Or something.

Pictures. As Promised.

First up, because I love it so much. Is the yarn I got at Craftstravaganza. Or, Craftapoloza. As I like to call it. :)

Dudes. Is that not the prettiest yarn you've seen in a long time? It's from the very sweet and very talented Aisha Celia Designs. She had some really great handspun and variegated ones. But this was the one for me. Well, I would have bought many many more had I had more money. :)

Next up is the little sweater I'm making for J.

It's the Wonder Years pattern that you can find online or over at Ravelry. Loving it so far. Making a size 3T.

And finally, a little sewing. A quilt that I finished sewing the top while I was pregnant with J.

I was hoping to get it done before his bday, but that's not happening.

The pattern is Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs. I used a bunch of fat quarters I collected while pregnant and shopping. :) Not sure yet what I"m going to bind it with. The backing is just a solid green kona.

Dude.

It's been so long since I've blogged that I forgot my password. Nice. :)

So. Let's see. What is exciting as of late?

Hrm...

Couple weeks back Hubby, J and I went to the cities to hit the annual Craftstravaganzia at the state fair grounds. I bought a lovely skein of yarn from a local dyer, and as soon as I can find the camera, I'll post a link and a pic. I could have seriously spent a ton of money at her booth. But I was good. I only bought 1 skein of sock yarn.

I've been working on some kai-mei socks, out of Yarntini cabana boy. They're lovely. I'm on the second sock, and the ribbing part is nice to knit while watching tv.

We did a little yard landscaping last weekend. Again, as with everything, pics someday.

Cast on a shallowtail shawl last night. Yarntini Concord. Lovely dark purple color.

My baby turns TWO on thursday. I'm not sure where the time has gone. To celebrate we're having a little gathering on saturday. And Hubby and I are going to try to make him a sandbox. Being as neither one of us is really handy with a saw, we'll see how it goes.

Working on a little button front cardigan for J. It's dark grey with light grey stripes. I think it will be super cute. I'm knitting a 3T in hopes it will fit him next winter.

I work at noon today, so I'm just puttering around this morning. Still in my jammies. I think I'll go toss some laundry in and maybe do the dishes. Super exciting, I know. But first, I think I'll dig out some fabric. I designed a quilt in my head last night at work. I cut out some paper this morning, and I think it'll work out nicely. So now on to find fabric. :)

But really... I should go finish polishing my toenail. Priorities!

Knitting Olympics. Pt 2.

Is anyone laughing out there? Because I sure am.

Did I think that time would change and that I could knit faster then light?

I've made it up to the elbow on my brothers sweater. I picked out yarn for ester. I knit a baby hat.

Hm... how may days do I have to go?

Kitting. Olympics.

So. I've been thinking and pondering about my knitting a lot. I want to join in the knitting Olympics again this year. I've done it the past two times, and it's always been fun to see what I can do when I focus on something.

So, I've been hemming and hawing about what I'm going to do. And I have giving myself a good challenge. At least I think I have.

First up, I'm going to finish my brother's cobblestone. I've got one sleeve and the yoke to go. Simple. Easy. Almost done. I will finish it.

Second, I'm going to frog a sweater that I started for Johnathan. It's 6-9 month size. He's 20 months size.

Third. (Can I make 3?) I'm going to knit something for myself. Either Ester or Citron. Ester would be made out of some grey Paton's wool I have in stash. Citron would be made out of semi-solid sock yarn (yarntini club! yea!) color to be decided. Both are printed up and ready to go. I just have to dig out the yarn. I think I'm going to work on my brother's sweater first, I just have to pin down one of the other things to work on.

Hello 2010.

I'm glad to be done with 2009. 2010 is going to be better. It has to be.

It's been super crazy busy around here. The holidays, working, sick babies, cleaning house. On and on it goes.

Knitting has been slow and in spurts, I've been focusing on finishing up Xmas gifts that I sewed. Those mostly got done in time thankfully, and now I've just got a few small projects to finish up for my friends.

I lost our new camera. I'm not doing so good with cameras as of late. I broke our old one, and now I can't find the new one. I know we had it at my parents at Christmas, but I can't seem to find it since then.

So. Really. Nothing new here. I've got the day off and I'm going to try to finish laundry. And keep my baby from covering me with snot.

Hello again!

So I took some time off from blogging, because it's been needed.

So. I think I'm back now. At least until life gets crazy again. :)

I got a GC from B&N for my birthday and can you believe I"m having a hard time spending it? I can't find a quilt or knitting book that I want. WTF? Now, there are some knit books I want, but carry at work, so I get a discount and can't see spending my $$ on books I can get for cheaper. But seriously. I've been looking on line for an hour and am stuck.

Any suggestions? I like modern/contemporary quilts. (like Quilt Baby! which I have) and All kinds of sock books. But I really think I own every sock book out there.

Anything out of my box that you can suggest? Otherwise I'm just going to have to spend it on Godiva Chocolate.

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. We really do appericate it.

It's been a week, and every day gets a little better. There are still times when I pat a blanket that's on the couch to make sure he's not under it before I sit down. Night time is the worst, when we'd all be in bed snuggling and watching tv. I still can't sleep with my legs straight in bed. I still keep them and wonky angles as if he's still curled behind me knees.

Godspeed little dude.

We lost Siris today. He got hit by a car and now he's gone and I am a mess.

Sick sick sick. We're sick with ick.

So the whole family has caught some sort of icky cold. Between the three of us, I think we got about 3 hours of sleep on saturday night due to Johnathan coughing and just being miserable.

Today I stayed home from work, and sent the baby to grandmas for a few hours so I could sleep. It was awesome.

He's now home pulling kleenexes out of the box one buy one. Oh well. He's not screaming and we'll use the kleenex, so whatever. :)

Oh, he just held one up to his nose and made 'blowing' sounds. Copying me. So cute!

Anyway. I think the rest of the day is going to be about house cleaning, and maybe I'll quick whip up some supper. I have a work meeting tonight, and they'll feed me, and I'm taking J. So that leaves my hubby to fend for himself. Which he totally can do, but I just found this awesome recipe for a white bean and avacado wrap, which I totally want to try.

And now it's snack time, so I better go. He's no longer interested in the kleenex.

dude.

I'm not dead yet. Really. I just work 87 hours a day and still haven't fixed the lap top. I think we shoud do this soon. Like, maybe next week? I don't know. I'm sad that I don't get online as much as I'd like to. I feel like I"m missing out. :)

Speaking of missing out, I'm missing sock summit. Boo.

On a happy note, my little dude is 14 months. He running and climbing and just acting full of energy. ALL. THE. TIME. he gives hugs and cries for Mommy! when he needs something. It's super cute. But, he gives me at least 1 heart attack a day, by climbing on top of the couch, or climbing on top of the dog, on top of the chair. It's nuts.

Well hello!

Happy July! Where did June go?

I've been super busy, working 3 job plus tending the baby. I hardly sleep and I knit even less. :) So. Really, there has been nothing really interesting going on. Plus it's really hard to use the computer when the baby keeps stealing the mouse ball. The laptop cord is gone, so I borrow time on my hubby's computer when he's not working, so that gives me about 27 minutes a day between all that stuff plus sleep.

So. Onward and upward. :)

How have YOU all been?

Happy (belated) Birthday!

Happy Birthday on Wed the 27th to my little booger.  He turned 1 year old! We're have a party tomorrow, and I'm taking moment out of decorating cupcakes to post. 

It's been a hell of a year, but I wouldn't change it for anything.  (but a little more sleep next year would be great, k?) 

oh. Hai!

Hello Blog. I forgot you were here. :)

I've been super busy. And stuff.

My baby turns 11 months today! Holy crap! Where did the year go? Seriously?

I think I need more knitting hours in the day. I've fallen way behind in the SKA knitting. I didn't finish Feb, I won't finish March, but there may be hope for April. Maybe. I've got to finish this dog sweater I've got going. It's a reknit in a larger size, and it's going a little slower than I thought it would be. I'm hoping it will be done by the end of the month.

Other than never sleeping, working here and there, and tending a almost 1 year old. Things are the same here.

Stuff.

So. What's been going on here? Lots of stuff. I've been working everyday to cover a girl that's on vacation. She comes back this weekend, so I'll be back to my 2 days a week.

Friday night we had a scare, at 2:30 in the morning a dude tried to get into our house. Turns out he was peeing on the lawnmower mans' lawn when he got home from work, and when the LM yelled at him, and called the cops, the dude FOLLOWED him into his house. LM's son ran after him, and he ran to our house to try to get in and get away. He was on the deck trying to open the door, and the dogs were freaking out and my husband got up and said 'what the f*ck!?' and the dude said "let me in!" as he ran away. I called the cops, and they were here in 10 seconds, as they were already on the way because LM had already called them. They swept the neighboorhood, even looking under the tarp that covers the pool next door. Crazy! I was pretty freaked out, and didn't get back to sleep until after 4 am. Then the baby got up at 7. We ened up takeing a couple naps together that day. :)

At work they got a new system, and need all the data transfered into it, so I get to work from home via remote desktop while the baby sleeps. Works in everyone's favor.

Dude.

I broke my laptop. It fell off the couch and the little plug part broke off into the plug part on the computer. It still sort of works, but I need a new mac cord. One that doesn't jiggle lose.
ack!

So I borrow my hubby's when he is not looking.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! :)

So, since I walked away from the casino with some monies in my pocket, I decided to run the contest like this.

I counted up all the yarn, 1-16. (Each person's vote gets 2 entries into my contest) I used the Random Number Generator, and Number 16 popped up! So, that means Aitara, you'll be getting the lorna's laces Franklin's Panopticon.

Congrats! And thank you all again. :)

A Big THANK YOU

To everyone who voted in the Zuda contest. My Husband thanks you as well. :)
So. Yarn drawing tomorrow. Why tomorrow, you ask? (I know you do. You can't wait, the suspense is killing you.) Because tonight, my hubby and I are escaping! We're going to the Ever Exciting Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel. We're not gamblers. Nope. Not in the least. But the rest of the family is, and they're all heading down, and they got us a room. So, we got us a dog sitter and we're taking Johnathan and we're going for our First ever overnight trip! Woo! The last time Hubby and I went away was...um... 9 months ago. We stayed in the hospital. Yea. Not a vacation really. I'm so excited for the 1 hour car ride. It's free knitting time! And, if there is a ton of family around, they like to steal the baby. MORE free knitting time. :)

Speaking of Johnathan, the little monkey turned 9 months yesterday! He started crawling a week ago, and it's been go go GO! Ever since. He had his 9 month checkup yesterday. He's 30(!!) inches long (94%) and 17 lb 14 oz (11%) He's a string bean. :) I will leave you with a little picture of the ham.

FREE YARN!!!

Did I get your attention? :)

Okay. So you all remember how my hubby is in that little comic contest? Well, it's the final week and he's doing a push to get out the vote. So I thought I'd do my part. If you go, vote for him, make him your favorite, and give him all the stars you can, I will in turn, give you yarn. for free! I will let you pick out anything I have in my stash on ravelry. Don't forget my sale/trade page.

All I need is for you to do this, go make an account, do the vote and favorite thing. Friend my hubby. Then post here with your user name and your top 2 choices. On March 1st I will have a uninvolved party use a random number thinggy to pick the winner. And I will send you one of your two choices. If you've already voted, thank you! Now friend my hubby and put your info here. Hell, if you have a Significant Other, get them to vote, and post here too. It'll double your chances.

Oh! And if you could, pass the word along, that would be great! Heck, I'd even give you an extra entry. Go post it on your blog, and link it back to me. That would be great! The more word out I can get, the better. I'd love to see a bunch of knitters win it for my hubby. :)

-I'll give you an 'entry' on the stash page. Meaning if there are 4 skeins of lace weight or 5 skeins of wool, you'll get all of them. Not just one.
-I'm pretty sure some of this yarn will never make it to the sale page. So this is the only way you'll get a couple skeins. That and you sneaking into my house at night to get it.
-I do have a few skeins of sock yarn not in yet. Some vesper, and sKitches and some lovely German stuff. Pick 'surprise me' and I'll send you one of those. :)

Thank you all. And good luck!

So, last weekend Michael and I went out to eat at probably the fanciest restaurant in town. Now, I know that we live in the middle of the Midwest, but still. It was a fancy place. Hubs wore a black button down, and a suit coat and jeans. Very cute. Very hipster. I worn a fine gauge v neck sweater, a dark grey denim pencil skirt and black boots. And we were by far the A) youngest couple there and B) The almost best dressed. (And older gentleman was wearing a tie)
So. What can't people dress up any more? I mean, I saw middle aged women in fleece shirts. You know the kind you get at old navy for 5 bucks. I mean, we walked out of there with almost a 100 dollar bill. And I only had 1 glass of wine. And the food was AWESOME! But yet, I felt weird because I felt overdressed.
Is it because I live in the middle of the middle west? I've been to funerals where people wear jean cutoffs and the ratty old t-shirt you won from the MN state lotto. You know, stuff you'd garden in. I've talked with professors in college who have had to have classes to teach kids what is appropriate to wear to a job interview. That short skirt and hoochie mama shirt that shows off your boobies? Not appropriate.
What's happened to this world that people don't dress nice for 'special' occasions anymore? Am I the only one wishing that people still dressed for dinner?

World Class Favor

So. Ya'll know how my husband is awesome right? Well. He is. See, he's got this comic in a little contest over at Zuda Comics. (they're like, affiliated with DC comics of something) Anyway. He go in the contest, and it runs the month of February. Could you do me just a tiny little favor and head over there and vote for him? You could even make a profile and tell him how awesome he is. Make the comic your favorite! Give him 5 stars. He'll thank you for it! :)



That will take you right to it.

Thank you!

Where I don't really talk about knitting at all.

Today we are braving the cold to go out to eat with Hubby's family for his birthday. He turns the BIG 3-5 on Tuesday. I'm working on a project that will hopefully be finished sometime on Tuesday so he'll have a b-day present. :)

Also starting on Tuesday, I'll be doing some fill in temp work for a week at a place I worked a few summers back. I've been filling in here and there as of late. One of the girls is going on vacation for a week, so I get to work full time while she's gone. It'll be a change!

On the job front, I'm still looking. I think I'm going to try and get into a salon. That does extensions. Or, just get a booth rental and do extensions. Because that's the reason I went to beauty school in the first place, so I really should do something I enjoy, not just something that pays the bills. I'm really excited about this, and hope that I can get some clients and make money, but not work full time. I'm thinking ahead here... but thinking about offering some really sweet discounts to start, to build up the clients and to get some portfolio pictures. I don't have any pictures anymore. And no pictures of my extension or deadlock work. I don't know. I love crazy big hair, and I know Minneapolis/St Paul is a better venue for it. But I'm not driving, and if I just start out small and cheap with good quality, and share booth rental with someone, I think I just might be able to pull it off.

So yeah. That's what's going through my mind this weekend. I haven't been excited about work in forever, and this has got me excited.

I have 8 little baby hats ready to mail. Yea, I didn't make it to the post office on Tuesday. But, the point is, they're ready and will be mailed well before the 31st due date. Woot Woot!

I picked up yarn for a scarf for my hubby. It's not often that the hubby wants knitting, so when he asks, I knit. :) I also have to get some time to quick like start and finish his b-day present. I have no idea when I'll get that started, let alone done.

Johnathan is being fussybaby to the 10th tonight. Just when I get ready to sell him to the gypsies, he'll smile at me. The stinker. :) I'm thinking maybe teeth are bugging him? All I know is I hope I get to sleep tonight, I have to work for a few hours tomorrow, and don't want to fall asleep on the job.

MLK day is on Monday, and the Obamas called people to service. I've been thinking about that, and what I could do to help. There isn't a lot going on in St Cloud that I can be a part of. They have a blood drive and a book drop. But I wanted something more, and something that wouldn't require me to find a sitter. Plus, if it could involve knitting it would be all the better. Then it struck me. I've been wanting do some knitting for the Knit One Save One campaign. I've got one hat knitted, but I keep pushing the rest aside. How hard is it to knit a few baby hats? Considering I could actually save a baby's life? I should *only* be knitting baby hats. So, starting today, I've put my selfish projects aside, and until I go to bed on the 19th, I'm only knitting baby hats. Then when I get up on Tuesday, I'm heading straight to the post office and I will send them off. The mail date is Jan 31st, but I don't want to dink around and miss the date.

Dogs and Knitting.

Things have been quiet around here. My PT job ended, so I've been on the search for a new one. Had an interview on Tuesday, but I didn't get it. So the search continues. I've been working on my Jan SKA sock down socks. I'm to the leg now, but the picture was too cute not to share. Osiris thinks that any sunbeam is fair game. Even if it's on the table. Silly dog.

Johnathan is growing like a weed. If you ask him "how big is Johnathan" he'll lift his arms "So Big" It's too freaking cute. He'll sometimes 'give kisses' by popping his lips. His grandma has been on vacation for 2 weeks, and these are things he's developed while she's gone. It'll be fun to show off his new skills.

Other than that... quiet. Which is good. Just staying inside and trying to keep warm. Like the dog.

Random Thoughts regarding the old and the new.

So, 2009 huh? Wow.

2008 was a crazy arsed year. I think that about sums it up.
We went on a mini-vacation, got a new car, got fired, had a baby, had my dog almost eaten, got flooded, rebuilt, stressed way too much about politics, actually volunteered and donated money to our chosen side, learned how to make dogs throw up, got a new job...and..here we are. 2009. I'm surprised we made it through alive and intact. But I'm very glad we did. I've learned some valuable lessons this past year, which I thought I'd share with you.

-Dealing with insurance is going to take longer then you think. ALWAYS. Proof? I got in a car accident in Dec 2007. We finally got my new car in Feb 2008. Reason? Insurance snafu. Basement flooded in August. Still waiting for a final check for that. Dog bite in July. Waiting for a check. Now, granted, on the dog bite issue it did take me a while to scan in the bills. But you ever try to scan in 2,000 dollars of bills while a baby naps? yea, it takes a couple days. :)

-Having a baby is not as scary as everyone makes it out to be. Epidurals are AWESOME! And when you get a great doctor and nurse, you can actually be laughing to hard to push. And tell your family to visit later. Not in huge groups. It might seems fine when you're all doped up on pain meds. But dude, trust me, you need the sleep. It's the last you'll have for months. :) Also, when just starting with breastfeed, tell your family to not come at all. Everyone wants to hold the baby, and you can't feed the baby and it's a mess and you end up sobbing on the for to some one from the La Leache League. But, an upside? They make house calls!

-Trying to take care of an eaten dog and a 6 week old sucks. It's like trying to take care of twins. I think I showered and slept less after my dog got eaten then when I had my baby. Family will help with babies. Not always with eaten dogs.

-Did you know the 6 full grown birds can live in the vent? 6! And they only have bird parties at 2 am, while you're trying to sleep. Awesome! But they make these little cages you can put on the vent to prevent them from getting in. But make sure they're all OUT before you put it on, otherwise they're trapped in.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. Use the knowledge wisely. :) Here's hoping 2009 is calm and about eleven million times calmer then 2008.

Hello new year!

Goodbye hair!

My friend Tonia came for a visit today, and she chopped off all my hair. Hooray! I loves it.

Still Sick.

But I think we're on the upswing.

In other news, about a month ago we went to see Santa. There were no tears at all. Little smiles and he thought that the fuzz on Santa was awesome. At least that's what I think he thought. I just guessed from the look on his face.
At Crafts Direct they had a 'donate to the food shelf, get you pic taken with Santa' day. The lines were short, and it helped out a worthy cause, so we went. Glad we did and that we didn't have to brave the mall. :)

Winter in MN

So we had our first real storm of the year yesterday and my baby has his first cold. We were up last night a 3 am with a fever of 101.1. Called nurse line, and don't have to worry until it hits 102. So I took off his jammies, left him in his diaper and slept on the couch with him on my chest, propped upright so he could breath. Got a little sleep I think . Today he's still streaming boogers, but the fever is gone. And I'm staying home from work. Poor little dude cries every time we come close with a tissue. And the booger sucker? Torture.

PSA

So. I'm still here. Really I am. I can't believe it's already December. Holy carp when did that happen?

So. Since it's December, you know what that means. Cold. And gifts. Right. It's cold, and it's time to give those you love gifts. What about our four legged friends? They get cold too! Well, if you're an Italian greyhound in MN you do. Anyway, my point is this. If you know anyone that has a cold little dog, why not head over to the K9 Knitters website and pick a sweater up? Not only are they hand knit at a really good price, 100% of the money raised goes to a nice pet charity. They have sizes all the way up to moose sized.

A dog you know gets a sweater, and the money goes to a pet charity. It's like..win win win!

Just so you know, I've knit a couple sweaters for this group. And I plan to knit a whole bunch more. :)

I'm a working mama!

Which is... well.. weird. It's just weird and I'll leave it at that.

Work is good. Everyone is super nice and it's pretty fun and I got covered with glitter yesterday. So when I got home, my baby was covered in glitter too. Poor guy.

Friday Hubby had baby duty, and I guess Johnathan threw an unholy fit. Wouldn't eat, just fussed. Michael said that during the episode, he would swear that Johnathan cried "Mamaaaaaa!" My poor guys.

Erm... that's it really. Nothing much else going on. I knit my husband a hat. But it's not been photographed yet so you'll just have to picture a hat here in the open space.

Also, I am behind on the blog stalking. So, here it is....

I love puppies because they are warm and share the covers with me and I like to knit them sweaters. :)

Hopefully? Yes?

I think I have a job. Well, I'm pretty sure I was offered a job today. They did ask when I could start. :) Crafts Direct. It's only seasonal, but if I kick ass and they really really love me, it might be permanent. So, I must kick ass and they must like me. :) Just waiting to hear back from the girl in charge of hiring to set up a training schedule and what not.

Now. Just have to figure out the baby feeding thing......

Bah!

Well. Crap.

That's pretty much it. I have to find a job. Have to. Hubby just got his hours cut at work. So I have to either force my baby to take a bottle (he stopped taking them out of the blue back at the start of September) so I can work a full day, or try and find a job that will let me work a full day with an hour lunch so I can run feed the boy, or work in 4 hours shifts part time somewhere. Ugh.

Stress. Level. Rising.

OH HELL YEA!

Hooray! I can't believe it! I mean, I hoped it would happen, and it did. Thank jebusallahbuddah!

We were going to our friends house, and I made cupcakes. But the minute we pulled into their driveway, I realized the cupcakes where at home, on a chair, where I put them to tie my shoes. Hey, at least I remembered the baby! So Michael went back home, and found no cupcakes. I called Emergency Vets, and was told to make them throw up. He came back to friends house, picked me up, and went back home. We made the dogs throw up. Siris didn't vomit, but Cleo did. She ate them all. At least, I'm 99% sure she did. I blamed Siris, and it was Cleo that ate them all.


Anyway. How do I get chocolate frosting out of my nice, freshly steamed cleaned carpet??

Fast Update!

Baby asleep! Time to update!

Okay, all the prizes have been mailed out. Sorry for the delay. It got crazy around here.

Happy belated Halloween! I sewed Johnathan the cutest costume in the world.

Also, I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but tomorrow is election day. PLEASE for the love of all yarny goodness, go out and vote. If you're still unsure, may I suggest my guy? Obama. He rocks.

Contest Winners!

Dudes. I scared myself. I counted my yarn and I have a helluva lot more than I thought I did. I think I've gotten it all. I opened every little hiding spot and I found all the yarn.
I counted the skeins. I added them all up. I have *88* skeins for sock yarn. I could make 88 freaking pairs of socks! And that doesn't count the yarn that I traded for and is in the mail. :)

Carrie was closest, with 85 skeins.
Ikkinlala was second with 101
and Trillian42 was third with 40.

Okay you guys. Email me at kelly at 50footrobot dot com and I'll send out your prizes. :) I'm still gathering little bits and pieces for the fun pack. :)

Is now the time I let you know that I'm not buying any more yarn until the 1st of the year? I'm not going on a yarn diet, I'm going on a yarn starvation.

A Bloganniversary Prize Extravaganza!

Come the 26th, I will have been knit blogging for 3 years. So, I think that deserves a little prize giveaway.. yes?

Here's the deal. I shall give away 3 prizes. Here are the rules, all you have to do is guess how many skeins of sock yarn I have! Okay, and for those of you over on Ravelry, I did just get some birthday booty in the mail, and I haven't added it yet. So there is no way to cheat. Unless of course, you come over to my house and count it all. :)
To make things easy, we'll count only yarn specifically for socks. I know I can knit a thick pair of socks out of say... worsted or whatever. And I do have some knit picks palette laying around, but that's not specifically sock yarn.

Okay. The 3 people that are the closest will win. So, as soon as I find some neat things for prizes, I'll let you know. You have until midnight on the 26th to post in the comments your guess.

Have fun! And thank you to my loyal reader for sticking around. ;)

Carpet! Tile!

So the guys are here and installing carpet and tile as we speak. (type?) The only problem, is that they're loud, and Johnathan did not want to take his nap. Even being so very tired. I finally got hi to sleep, we'll see how long it lasts.
I finished his pumpkin hat yesterday. That's the best picture I could get. He was in his jumper and would not be still. Imagine that! Anyway. It's super cute and fits him just right. I cast on 5 less stitches then the patter called for. He's not going to be able to wear it for too long, but really... pumpkin hat in December? That's just silly. He'll need an elf hat by then. :)

I'm working on getting rid of some of my WIPs. I finished his hat, I'm almost done sewing the dog sweater together, so that's helping things a bit. I really need to get my butt in gear and sew his Halloween costume. Maybe this weekend...

Speaking of knitting...

Ode to my knitting if you will. (for the Blog stalking 3 via knittyboard)
Dudes. I have got to get a handle on this knitting thing. What to take a walk through my WIP?
I have a dog sweater that just needs to be sewn up. I have two sweaters that need just an arm and collar. I have a sock that needs to be done by the end of the month. What do I do? I cast on for a hat for Johnathan. And now, I want to join the Sexy Knitters in a knit along and knit Snow White.
All the while, still having a bunch of things I've pushed off finishing. Like that second sock for my husband. And a pair of socks for my Mom. And, I bought yarn for like... 3 sweaters for Johnathan. Which If I don't get my butt in gear, he will out grow before I even begin to knit them!!
Plus I want to finish my Hats for Alex project AND knit a few for Knit one Save One.

I think I need some focus.

Wow!

My baby has a tooth!
Last night there was nothing there, and today, a tooth popped out! Bottom left. Crazy!

Today,

Is looking to be a good day. I am NOT doing anything that is 'work' today. I am going to knit, and color my hair, and eat chocolate. All day! My hubby already gave me my present Hedwig and the Angry Inch DVD! (I loaned mine out and it's gone.) and the book "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" awesome! I also got lots of chocolate from a friend. Yay! Hence, the eating chocolate all day.

I'm way behind on posting knitting things. If I can find the camera I shall post some pictures of yarn that has come in the mail. Oh! And my new knitting bag. So Sweet!

Off to enjoy my day. Happy Birthday to ME!

A quick Update of the last few week or so.

Last Thursday marked my first yoga class. I loved it! It's a yoga/Pilate's class, that really works your core. So I have hopes of getting rid of the baby belly. :)

Speaking of the baby, Friday was his 4 month check up. 13 pounds 11 oz (25th%) 26 inches long (86th%) and his head put him right at 50th%. Got shots, and since he no longer wants a bottle, we were told we could start trying rice cereal, as he most likely will take that from someone else.

Then, we went to our friends house and watched the debate, where he rolled over for the first time.
Ready for the debate

On Tuesday Osiris went to his last vet visit. They gave him the all clear!
He does not like to be woken up to get pictures taken

Which is good. We're finally done with the dog bite ordeal. Money from the other owner should be coming within the next couple weeks. Also, Yesterday was Osiris's birthday. He turned 2. Which is a pretty big deal considering we very nearly lost him in July.

ON Sunday my Grandmother turns 85 which is a much bigger deal then 2. We're heading to Spicer for the party, and to show off the baby, as no one on that side has seen him. I'm sure he will get squeezed by everyone. Poor guy. :)

I'll save the knitting update for later, I need to take some pictures. :)

Bah!

So I've been fighting a cold for a week now. It just won't go away. And, I think my poor hubby finally caught it too. Stupid cold.

Because I don't have enough to do, I've joined the Sockdown! 2008-2009 on Ravelry in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group. The Challenge for September is Cookie A patterns, Mystery Sock, or Orange. And, I don't have any yarn that's Orange enough. (can you believe it?) So I grabbed Mona and a skein of Fearless Fibers I had lying around and I cast on Saturday afternoon. And after a quiet Sunday afternoon, and an evening of watching Dexter (season 2 on DVD) I am working on the heel flap! Now, if I can keep up the steam, I shall get this done with the time frame.

In other news, Um.... yeah. Not much going on really. Baby is teething. I have a cold. Oh! The housing development is having a garage sale this Friday/Saturday, and I'm totally going to have one. I have so. much. crap. Plus, my hubby said if I get rid of all the random fabric I have, I can have more yarn. Got to love that! So, I think I shall spend this week going thru stuff in my garage and in the crawl space and hopefully come Friday, I have enough junk to put out for the sale! :) Okay... not junk... you know what I mean.

Yay! and Stuff.

So, we did it! We beat my goal! 280 bucks! Thank you all who helped out. We did the walk and missed the ran. It was grand. And Carrie gets to take home some Vesper sock yarn! Woot woot!

And! I have walls! They FINALLY started work on my basement yesterday. Now if was can decide on a paint colors and carpet/tile samples, we'll be set. :)

Also, I finished my hat. To match my mittens. It's lovely. I put it on last night as asked my husband if I looked like a spy. He said I looked like an Art Chick. Hehe.. he's silly.
It's Gretel by Ysolda. I made the medium/regular size.
Here it is hanging out on a plate. I'll get it blocked and then snap a modeled shot.

One last request!

Dudes, do you see that little box over on the right hand side? It says 82 % !! Woot woot! So close.
Thank you all that donated so far! If you haven't and can spare a buck or two, you have until Friday evening to do so.

Oh! I never posted the prizes! Either 4 hanks of Alpaca Cloud in peppermint, or a skein of Vesper in Neapolitan.

So, go Help the animals. Please? :)

Shiny!

I made a baby hat. Cunning no? I know it's not exactly like the show, but it's cute and that's all that matters.

Next up? A hat for me! To match my mittens. And if blogger would work, I'd post a picture.....no dice.

Next time folks!

All is right again.

The yarn was found. Things are good. The little skeins are safely tucked away in rubber maid tubs waiting for me to finish a project or two before I cast on something new.

Speaking of finished projects, look! I finished something!
Osiris is now ready for some fall weather. He has a jaunty new sweater.

Other that that, we're still in a holding pattern. Waiting for insurance to get their butts in gear and fix out basement. it's been 3 freaking weeks since the adjuster came out, and apparently we're just waiting on him. Yes. I am calling him today to chew his butt.

Dude.

Where is my yarn?

Tracking number says it was delievered yesterday at 4:27 pm. I have no yarn. I have no notice of yarn. I was home at 4:27 pm. No yarm!

arrrggh!

Okay. I'm better now. I've called the post office and someone put in a request to figure out where my yarn went. Knitpicks (bless them) said they'd send out a new box if my yarn went *poof*

Osiris Update

Since it's been almost 2 months since the attack, I thought I'd update ya'll.
This is what he looks like as on Monday.
The scab is about as big as my thumb to the first knuckle. Which is a damn big improvement let me tell you. It was the whole leg, what with the cleaning of the dead tissue and the part that got left in the yard and all that. He even got clearance to walk in the Humane Society walk. Which means, I'll most likely carry him. Because he did not make the distance last year, and he's out of shape because we've been A)afraid to walk (dogs still in neighborhood-lady had court today) B)Babying him.

He's back to his old self really. Jumping on the counter for food, and racing around the house leaping over me from couch to couch. We're all very happy here, and again thank everyone for there wishes.

Need a Laugh?

There. I have one for you.
Please ignore my double chins. It's not like that in real life.. I promise. :)

Check it!

Dude. That's my baby on the YouTube.

It's that Time again!

Time for the annual Tri-County Humane Society Fundraiser Walk!

Last year ya'll helped me raise over 150 dollars. Can we do it again this year?

Same deal as last year. Click that little box over to the left, (firstgiving) and donate something. Even a dollar! Put a little note that you're on the ravelry or knittyboard or even just your username and "knit" and I will put your name in a hat for yarn! Last year CPurl won a skein of Yarn Pirate. (Dude! I still have your yarn! Shoot me an email!) I'll pick out the yarn here this week, when I can hopefully get into my stash. :)

Thank you in advance for all your help! :)

I'm no Michael Phelps.

But, I still get a gold medal.


I finished it this morning at 10 am. I love it so very much. The colors are just lovely. And the little braid? Totally cool.

Also? I wear my pants way higher on the hips.

The fans are gone! Well, they were actually gone yesterday, but I'm been so enjoying listening to...well silence that I've been to lazy to blog. That and I'm surrounded by boxes. I'm trying to downsize and get rid of tings before they go back into the craft room. I already took 2 bags to goodwill (one was full of clothes) and I've got another box going soon.

I've been knitting! Because I can't vacuum or do laundry or really, anything except the dishes. :) So I've got one sleeve to go and I'm gone with the baby sweater. I'm planning to make a matching sweater for Osiris out of my leftovers. I've talked with a couple folks on Ravelry and they're going to send me their scrapes. I hope I have enough yarn!

I've got a wedding to attend on the 30th. If we go. It's in Madison. Which is a haul with a little baby. Anyway, I want to cast on a shrug for that. Maybe I'll get it done? Maybe we'll go? Who knows! I also plan on casting on some doggie sweaters for K9KittersUSA, which is a group that sells dog sweaters to raise money for dog charities. I can get on board with that.

That's pretty much it really. We looked at some paint and carpet samples on Sunday. The rebuild guys are coming tomorrow to do...something. I don't know. Measure?

Oh. Better go. Baby is waking up.

Why I did not Knit yesterday.

No. For once it wasn't because of the dog. I woke up at 6 am to feed Johnathan, and heard water running. Oh. Just the softener I thought. No... toilet running... no... what IS that? SO I went downstairs.....SQUISH! Oh FUCK! The hose on the washing machine broke, and was gushing water everywhere. I ran upstairs, grabbed my glasses and woke hubby. I had just happened to rent a steam cleaner, and I took out 8 buckets of water before he got a hold of his mother and we found out who to call. Turns out or basement was pretty much toast. Water had run down the hallway, into the guest room and HORROR! my craft room. Thankfully all my yarn is in totes and off the floor. So, we cleaned out that room and moved everything into the rest of the family room. Then, they found that the carpet was delaminateing in the living room, so everything went upstairs and into the garage. Carpet could only be saved in the guest room, the water only went a little bit in there. They had to tear out everything else. And part of the walls to. And the bathroom and laundry room floors. So pretty much, we get a new basement.

Looking down the stairs. That's where the TV used to sit. The dark? Water damage.
Looking down the hallway. That's the bathroom door on the left.
Craft room! The horror! That's a huge dehumidifier. There's 2 of them in my basement right now. See how the wall under the window is missing?
And this? This is the wall that had my shelves with all my yarn stored. You're looking into the laundry room now.
This is the guest bedroom. They've pulled up the carpet, and cut out the pads. There are fans like that in every room. The fans and dehumidifiers have to run for a full 3 days at least to dry everything out. It's so loud that I'm holed up in the bedroom with the dogs and baby with the doors closed.

Knitting update.

So. I am on the 4th color change on the baby sweater. I also frogged 15 or so rows of it. Also? Since I cast on at 9 am on Friday morning, I've taken the dog to the vet. Twice. Done several loads of laundry, mowed the lawn, tried to pick up the house, and gone on a date for the first time since Johnathan was born. We ate at a little Mexican restaurant and saw "The Dark Knight". All I have to say is, it sure is a shame Heath Ledger died in a pool of his own vomit. His Joker is awesome. Unhinged. Like the Joker *should* be. Oh. Did I get too nerdy for you there? Sorry. More knitting....

Here's hoping I'll be able to keep up the momentum and finish the baby sweater. and Hopefully, I'll not have to take the dog to the vet again before Wednesday.

Stuff.

So. Not much happening here. Same old same old. Feed baby, yell at dog to stop licking, repeat.

Have an interview today to work at a salon. Not sure if that's what I want to do or not, but I'm trying!

Will be knitting a Baby Sweater for the Ravelympics. Hopefully I have the right needles. I should go search them out I guess. I can cast on tomorrow at 7am. Yea, like I'm getting up that early! I'll probably be kicking myself at the end of it all, that I didn't get up! :)

Erm... That's it really. I must go get my things together for the interview. And find my needles. And clean the house so I can knit all day tomorrow.

The one where we all cry.

So. Johnathan got his first set of shots today. 6 shots! And one in the mouth. He cried, I cried. It was awful.

So we're home now, and I'm trying to gingerly snuggle him, and his little thighs are covered with 4 band-aids.

Poor Monkey.

Happy Baby!

So, here's Johnathan. He'll be 2 months old tomorrow. He's such a cute little peanut! Just talking to him can get him smiling and even laughing a little.

A quick puppy update...

So, they bandaged Siris up and he came home on Wed. Thursday morning had us rushing over to the vet to replace the bandage, as it had slipped and you could see a big gaping wound. Friday morning? A repeat of Thursday. Friday they kept him during the day to watch him, and stapled the bandage to his leg. Brought him in today, and they changed his bandage, and stapled it it two places thankfully, as we have to make it to Monday. And, a couple of the stitches on the top row have already come loose. So, we're watching it like a hawk. We're heading over to a friends house tonight, and have to bring him with. Ack! He's just like having another baby!

But, he's healing well. It's just a lot of running to the vet. I was there EVERY day last week. And, they keep reminding me it's going to be a long road yet.

Teal!

This is what they had to do to make sure he didn't eat his stitches. So much easier to look at!

:(

I'm sad. I miss my dog.

I feel like I failed him.

The one where I almost have a nervous breakdown.

I'll admit it. I'm not to proud. I took Siris to the vet to board him for a couple days.
We couldn't do it anymore. He popped stitches, and Johnathan was crying and Siris was trying to wrestle with Cleo and I just. couldn't. do. it.
So I went to the vet, and sobbing, asked them to check his wound and could they please please please keep him for a couple days? They said yes. Of course. And they he's healing well, and that they'd try to bandage him up, instead of putting him under and re-stitching him up, as it's getting pretty thin, and he's already been under 2 times this past week.

If I ever see the owner of the dogs on the street, I'm totally going to punch her in the face.

Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary, and I haven't even been able to pick up a card for my husband! Ugh! It's been a shitty week.

ACK! (Puppy update)

Thursday night went fine, and Friday during the day was fine. Friday night sucked. I think the pain meds made Siris a little loopy, and he would get up and wander around, like he was lost. Then to top it off, he popped some stitches. So we brought him into the vet, where they put in a couple staples. Then, about 4 pm, my SIL (who stopped by to help with the baby, so I could watch the dog, so Hubby could go buy groceries) noticed that the staples had opened up again. So then it was a trip to the ER vets. They put him under, cleaned up the dead tissue, and put some new staples/stitches in. They closed up the hole, and the vet (who was the one that originally closed him up on Monday) said he's healing well, and the part that is open is much smaller then he thought it would be.
They kept him overnight, so I was totally looking for a good night's sleep, But Johnathan decided instead of sleeping for 3 hour stretches, he's like to get up and eat every 1 1/2 hours. Ack! Here's hoping that tonight is much better.

So today, it's just be a mellow day, sitting in front of the tv, with the doggie sleeping next to me.

Thanks again for all the well wishes.

He's home!

Siris came home today. And I think I lost a layer of skin to his licking. He was so very excited to see both of us, I thought he was just going to jump out of his skin.

He's got 2 kinds of pain meds, and he'll need to go back in on Monday for a check up. We're supposed to just keep him calm and clean. Once he got home, he's just been hanging out next to me snuggled up on the couch. It's going to be a interesting couple of weeks. No jumping. So, I think I'll be camping out for awhile, as our bed is way too high, and I'm afraid he'd try and jump out/fall out in the middle of the night. Plus, we have to watch him like a hawk so he doesn't pull out his stitches/staples.

There is a part that's missing skin, and we have to watch out for necropsy, which would be bad, as that's more surgery but the vet said it would look like a step back, but it wouldn't be, as there would still be healing going on.

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. Please keep him in your thoughts, it's still going to be a long road.

Puppy Update

Went and visited him yesterday, and he almost licked my face off, and wagged his little tail off. He was moving around quite a bit, but I think it was all the pain meds. They kept him last night, and the vet will call today, and will let me know the status, if he goes home tonight, or they keep him another day.

Talked with animal control, and got things rolling there. The dog will be quarantined because of the bite, and or impounded as it wasn't licensed. Currently there is nothing on the books for attacks, so I'm going to have to check with the neighbors that said their dogs got attacked, to make sure they called it in. I'd think there has to be more then one on record for them to do anything. Unless of course, since the lady admitted this is not the first time it's happened.

Frankinpuppy

Here's a photo of the little guy. I shrunk it so it's not as awful. Click to see the full horror.

The vet kept him today, and is pumping him full of meds. He said that where all the stitches met, that the skin might be lost, but it's okay, as everything under will continue to heal. The fur might not grow back there, which, if that's all that happens, is the least of my worries. He should retain full use of his leg. I'm going to go visit him tomorrow. Hopefully he's not missing home too much. This is the first time he's ever been alone. I'm so worried.

Thanks for the happy thoughts. Please keep thinking good things for him.

The one where my dog was almost killed....

Last night my hubby was walking our dogs, and my little guy got attacked by another dog. The dog burst thru the invisible fence and torn up my little guy. He's stapled back together, but they're not sure if all the skin will take, as he was missing a chunk and they had to stretch the skin tight to put him back together. He might need skin grafts.

Thank god he's alive, and the other dog didn't get him by the neck. I spent the night on the floor with him, and he cried the whole time. So, now we're taking care of 2 babies.

I was at home taking care of Johnathan, and Micheal called me, saying "you gotta come get us... siris... bite....oh...god...." I totally pulled a Britney Spears and ran out carrying Johnathan, barefoot, to the car and went to find them. Michael was covered in blood, and Siris looked awful. His whole right leg was missing skin, and it look like a chunk of the muscle was torn. Siris went in back, I hoped in the back seat, holding Johnathan, Cleo went in front and Michael drove to the Emergency vets. On the way there I called Michaels' Mom to met us to get Johnathan. She called Dan to come to, he went home and got the car seat, diaper bag and shoes for me, then took Cleo home, while Johnathan went with Grandma and then Michael and I went to Urgent Care, as Siris had bit Michael in the thumb when he tried to pick him up.

We're take him in to our vets' at one to have him looked over, and see what they can do to help us. We just don't what to do! We're overwhelemd with him and the baby.

Baby Contest

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Fail!

So. I was one inch away from completing my hubby's second sock. It was looking.. large. So I dug out the one I already finished..yeah. Like 3 times bigger then the other sock. Nothing could be salvaged, as even the ribbing was much longer then the first sock. Frick!

So, to make myself feel better, I cast on and finished my very first dishcloth. Yeah! I can knit something! :) I decided to toss some cotton into my diaper bag, and I shall work on dishcloths while I wait for doctor appointments, and maybe even knit while I'm feeding him at other folks houses. I can see why these stupid things are so addicting. It's the instant gratification. :)

While cruising around Ravelry I was reminded that the Olympics are this year. And the last time I jumped on board the knitting olympics. It was fun, and I didn't finish my project. So I'm thinking this year I shall try again. The thing that got me was not the difficulty of my project (I knit 7 out of 8 baby hats) it was the time management. I know I always have that issue, so I'm thinking maybe trying to knit a pair of socks or a baby sweater. The only self imposed rule? It must be A) from stash yarn and B) from my que on Ravelry. So really, that doesn't really limit me too much. :)

socks!

Teeny little baby socks! See. I still knit.

I've been working on my Hubby's socks, and the BSJ. Hopefully I'll finish one of then soon. I need to cast on socks for my mom, and I feel guilty with so many projects staring at me. :)

I've got about 4 repeats on the sock, then it's the toe and I'm done. I have no freaking clue where I am on the BSJ. I'm increasing. But that's all I can tell you.