I'm a Lucky Lurker!

I wanted to join the Lucky Lurker Club at A Swell Yarn Shop, but forgot about it on the day she opened sign ups. She did add some random slots on various days, but every time I checked there were none. Well, yesterday I was sitting here editing on Ravelry and an email came from Angela at the shop saying that she'd be posting just a few more spots in the next few days. So I clicked on her store link, and was lucky enough to snap up the one slot that was sitting there waiting for me. I can't tell you how fast I typed my info in because I REALLY wanted it. This is the first club I'll have belonged to, and probably the last. I really don't need any more yarn unless I start knitting some, and I can't start knitting some if I don't stop playing on Ravelry!
I'm trying to knit something for a friend who just had a baby. I keep printing off projects, or picking out ones in books, then quitting 10 rows into it. I finally decided that it's the yarn's fault. It's not washable, therefore not practical for a baby. I didn't want to use the Blue Sky Alpacas again but I don't want that yarn sitting around so I guess I will. Now to get the energy to start a new project.

I jsut checked, and there's one spot left in the Lucky Lurker Club. Hurry up and get it!

I once was lost, but now am found......

The cylinder for my ball winder is found. Friday night we were going to go into town to get another one, but DH ended up having to work like 14 hours and we didn't make it. I was really pissed off about the whole thing, but he brought home a massive wide screen monitor for me so that softened the blow of the whole thing.
So Saturday morning we were going to go into town in the morning. We were cleaning up the house when DH found the cylinder inside Hennessy's Dora star catcher bag. Then I was pissed because there was 2 days I didn't get to do stuff because of it. And, I wound a huge ball of Spinnaker by hand. What a waste.
We ended up going into town anyway. We went to a knitting store called Farmhouse Knit Shop in Beaverton. I wasn't too impressed. They do carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns (Socks That Rock) and I got a fabulous skein of mediumweight Tide Pool. The rest of their yarns were mostly obscure yarns arranged by color. They did have some lovely stuff that I wish I'd bought but didn't have any idea what I'd make with it.
Then we went to The Knitting Bee to try and find some stuff I wanted for a few projects. They didn't have what I wanted either. I had originally wanted to go all the way into Portland to go the The Yarn Garden, but we decided to try Farmhouse first, and I wish we didn't. I want to get to Yarn Garden without kids though, but I hate driving. Don't know how I'll pull this one off. Our Finnish friends (who live right near Yarn Garden) will be back from their holiday in Finland soon so maybe we can coordinate a visit with them and a trip to the yarn store.
I'm off to church, then to paint pottery this afternoon with the ladies from my mom's group. It should be a good time, and there'll be no children (except for the nursing babies).

Lost!

The cylinder to my yarn ball winder is lost. Who knows where it is. We turned the house upside down looking for it, but the kids have lost it (or DH threw it away accidentally). Either way, I was going to wind yarn tonight and now I can't.
Another thing that's lost...the pattern to my custom baby blanket. I decided to just rip it out and make a blankie that I can knit using double stranded yarn. But I need the winder to rip all the yarn out so I can make it all neat. So I didn't do that.
Then I wanted to start making the Piggy to send to T, to take with her to the hospital next month. Can't do that either as the yarn is in a hank and I'm not going to wind it all manually or my arms will fall off.
So I knit a very small amount on the first of the Horcrux socks (I'm working on the 2nd of the 15 rounds of K3 P2 ribbing). I spent most of my spare time entering patterns from "Dream Toys" into Ravelry. Tomorrow I have some more books coming (3 I think) and 2 more on Friday. I know that Casey isn't hip on adding patterns without projects but once I get all the patterns from these books in I won't have to do much editing, just a little cleaning up here and there. And the Dream Toys patterns are so cute I just might make some to fill in the pictures. I'll probably do the mermaid or the princess first. Probably the mermaid...
I feel like crap today. We had to get up early to go 100 miles (round trip) to take Garrett to the doctor. Then I had a doctors appointment here in town this afternoon. She's changing my meds some in hopes of better pain control and better sleep. Plus my blood pressure was up so she started me on another med for that. Unfortunately, it's the one I refused to take last year because it made me gain a bunch of weight. We'll see this time. But if it does, she'll have to find something else again. I was trying to remember the name of the medicine at her office but I couldn't remember it. It figures it's the same one.
I'm tired, and going to bed. I'll try to photo the new stash additions and latest projects tomorrow.

Company Picnic Day

Today was the company picnic for Shari's, the company DH works for. It's always held at Alpenrose Dairy and it's an adult only event. That has it's pros and cons. My mom came over on Saturday and stayed through today to watch the kids while DH and I went.
I usually just play bingo. They also have volleyball and baseball, but I'm completely unable to participate in those due to my shoulder. Plus, I fell this weekend and had a bit of a shoulder setback. They also play casino games with play money, and the person with the highest total at the end gets a cash prize.
I didn't win any bingo games, but I came close. I did participate in some of the "team" game they do every year too. A. and I had to do a word scramble of words related to "The Wizard of Oz". We did pretty good, even if we didn't know what winkies were. In the end our team got eliminated about half way through when someone didn't show up for their event. The team that wins the game gets first choice of the numbers for the prize drawing.
The prizes are an interesting thing. Three years ago, the first year I ever went to the picnic, Dan won $300, and $200 in a blackout bingo game. Two years ago, he won a golf club. Last year, it was a cordless phone system. So we were due for a good prize this year. Well, it turned out he won an OK prize, a mini CD player stereo system with an IPOD docking station. We thought about selling it but decided to give it to the boys. They've been wanting a stereo for their room, and I won't get upset if it doesn't last very long (which I don't expect it to with 2 boys).
They always have a barbecue buffet at the end and that was OK. But after eating I started to feel really crappy (I had a bad headache). We left at about 4, ran a few errands, then came home.
I got to knit some at the picnic. I finished the Fetching gloves I was making for my swap pal, and started on some Horcrux socks. I really like the yarn I'm using, it's Fleece Artist Merino Sock in Baltic Sea Storm. The colors are really vibrant and look great with the pattern on the leg of the sock.
Tomorow Garrett gets his braces put on. I'm sure he's going to hate me for it by Wednesday.
I've become a volunteer editor for Ravelry, and I keep taking on more pattern books. I just picked up 3 more, and I don't even have 2 of the books yet (I did order them). It's a good excuse to order books that I want, right?

We were on the news!

Brendyn, Hennessy and I on the news. You have to watch the video story but we are standing with our signs at the end of the story. My good friends Andrea and Kari (along with her husband and daughters) were also with us. It was pretty neat. I was on the news once about 16 years ago. Again, just a short clip but cool nonetheless.
I worked hard on the Presto Chango today. I think I cast it on last night, but I got the entire main body of it done today, and I am about 2/3 of the way done with the removable front panel. It should take me about 1/2 an hour to finish it up tomorrow. It will probably take me longer to sew up the seams than it did to make the whole front panel. Oh how I hate seaming. And I don't have any buttons. I might have to go get some Sunday.
G. got back from Cub Scout camp tonight. He had a great time and I'm really glad. I was sure I'd have to go pick him up early. He's never camped before, and he's not really the outdoorsy type. He was very proud that he got a bullseye in bee bee guns, and an "almost" bullseye in archery. This from a kid who has dyspraxia (poor muscle strength and coordination) and ADHD. He also learned to whittle wood.
Tomorrow is NaNa's birthday party. We'll probably have a house full of kids as the weather is supposed to suck. We bought some clay and are going to make some clay caterpillar crayon holders. I hope it keeps the kids occupied.

Eyelet Baby Blanket is WIP no more!

I finished it today. It was just a matter of buckling down and getting that last bit of ruffle done. Then I needed to stitch up the corners and weave in the remaining ends. Oh it feels so good to be done with this one. This yarn sheds like crazy. I think I'm going to have to wash it before sending it off to it's new owner. My black pants are a mess after knitting on it today.
I started on the Presto Chango today. I'm maybe 1/2 way up the flat part of the back, before I add the sleeves. I'm using a color called Cumin (of the same Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed cotton I made the blankie out of). It's really a deep mustard color and I'm not 100% sure I like it. Oh well, too late. It will also go to the same baby the blankie is for.
I knit a baby sock today too, for the cute little sock blocker keychain I got from The Loopy Ewe. It only took about an hour and it matches the Saucy Socks in Jackie O. I made for my mom. I'm going to give it to her on Saturday when she comes over.
I've been a bad girl in the past few days and made some yarn purchases. I noticed that A Swell Yarn Shop had in some Cowgirl yarn, so I had to order that. I also picked up a skein of Blue Moon, and I see now that both of those are sold out. I know her Cowgirl colorway is one of her most popular. I also ordered some stuff from KnitPicks this week and 2 books from Amazon. I just can't help myself.
I got my Lisa Souza Sock! yarn today. It's really squooshy. The hanks look huge, like I could make 2 pairs of socks from each one. Maybe it's just an illusion. The stuff sure is pretty though. I got Lime N Violet, and Violet's Pink Ribbon. If I like knitting with it I'll get more.
The Saucy socks have finally been photographed. I'm loving the sock blockers, they look so much nicer than they did before their bath and air dry on the blockers. I know my mom will love them and she better wear them lots or I'm never making her a pair of socks again!

Blanket burnout

I'm now on the 4th side of the ruffle finally. I am bound and determined to get it done by tomorrow, as boring as it is. Today, instead of knitting like I should have been, I spent most of the day on Ravelry.
I've become a volunteer editor for several yarn companies and it's turned out to be quite a venture. I'm enjoying it but there's a lot of work to be done to get stuff in the database correctly. Right now I'm working on the Trendsetter/Lane Borgosesia yarns. Luckily I've made a good contact at the Trendsetter company who is feeding me information as I need it. It's amazing that on Ravelry you can enter as much or as little information about a yarn as you choose. Which means that the person editing it has either a very little, or a lot of work to do. Plus the editors have more leeway in what they can enter than the average user. Then there's the problem between yarn manufacturers and distributors. Then Lane Borgosesia names some of their higher end lines which adds in even more confusion. Now I just added a new pattern line to my already over gluttonous job. I may never get to knit again!
I made a cute little Hello Kitty for Hennessy. It was a test, if it turned out cute I was going to make some more. Unfortunately, it's a little lopsided and ugly and so I think I'm done making Hello Kitties. She seems to like it, but she has the taste of a two year old remember.
I'm trying to finish the Baglove's too, but I'm need to make I-cord and I just hate doing it. I bought a little machine to do it but it doesn't work well with the yarn I chose. So I'll have to do it the old fahioned way which means BOOOOOOOOOOORING. Wow, I'm not knitting on anything fun right now.