Bombshell

I wanted to post these pictures a couple of days ago, but I needed to wash and block the sweater. It always takes a while for things I block to dry because I don't have a screen. I have to flip things over and wait for the other side to dry.

Here is my finished Bombshell from Big Girl Knits. It is made from Debbie Bliss Angora Cotton in rose. I am totally thrilled with the results. The yarn is soft and light, the color is lovely, and the fit is fan-freaking-tasic!

This picture shows off what Sly likes best about the sweater. It is rather flattering to the twins. Actually, I have a really heavy duty bra under there that helps a bit. Still, the sweater doesn't hide the girls. It allows them to be seen in the best possible context!

Because I totally have knitting ADD, I cast on the Irish Hiking Scarf from Hello Yarn before I finished Bombshell. I have a basket full of WIPs, and I have to go and start another one! I need therapy. The picture doesn't really do the cables justice. It is made in some of my sale/birthday Philosopher's Wool. Just two odd hanks of this totally fabulous lavender color, but at $4.20 per hank, I think I am getting off cheap.


It isn't like I don't have enough knitting to keep me busy, but new ideas just pop into my head. These are some cute little wallets I made up this afternoon. I was avoiding going outside to hang the wash on the clothesline. It is freaking HOT out there.

These are just the proto-types. I used my credit card as the guide to make these. In the future, they will have three pockets. I still need to add snaps to the flaps as well.

That is about it for now. Happy knitting!

More of what I have been up to

Today I have some pictures of what I have been knitting. Nothing really grand, but I thought I should prove that I have been doing something.

These are the baby hats I did for the Harlot's WIC/breast feeding project. I think they look like candy.I have been a dishcloth knitting fool the past few weeks. Here are few; I gave 6 to my sister for her house warming.

Sly airbrushed another bag for me. It is a line from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: "I do love knitting patterns." Yes, that is a yarn ball with a magic wand through it!
My flowers that are in bloom at the moment. I love the purple color, but I can't remember what this little dude is called.

Well, I guess that is all for now. My Bombshell from Big Girl Knits will be done in a day or two, so look for that!

So, where have I been?

Frankly folks, I haven't been doing much of anything. It is the summer, and I am out of work. The hazards of being a substitute teacher. I just don't have much to report.

I spend most days reading, knitting, and doing house work. I am a regular Suzy homemaker. Of course, being out of work makes me very short on cash, so there isn't much I can do.

The big business around here has been the clog in our kitchen sink. The clog led to the discovery of holes (not leaks, HOLES) in our rather old plumbing. My house was built in 1893. I have no idea how old the plumbing is, but it is old. The rust is the only thing holding it together.

Poor Sly! It was dirty, smelly, and nasty. The gunk in the drain was black, and it smelled as if something died down there. Fixing the pipe was no fun either. He has to go down into the basement (a brick lined hole in the ground) and crawl through a hole in the wall to work on the plumbing. It is a small crawl space with dirt, spiders, and octogenarian plumbing (I doubt my house was built with the indoor verity).

I have been knitting. I need dishcloths, and I made some for my sister as a house warming gift (15 total). I have been knitting baby hats (6) for the Harlot. My Bombshell sweater is nearly complete. I just have to finish the sleeve and neck trim (in seed stitch).

I did manage to make it to the LaPorte County Fair (the oldest county fair in the state of Indiana). Sly, being a city boy, has resisted going to fair over the years. I finally got him to go this year. I like looking at the animals and other exhibits. I promised Sly the animals would all be clean and pretty for fair, and they were. He still insisted that they smelled bad (I didn't notice). He liked the horses and the dairy cows seemed to impress him. I did get to visit the sheep. They have been sheared, so I didn't get to see all the potential sweaters. I also saw angora and cashmere (I mean rabbits and goats). There were a few knitted items entered, not much. Frankly, after seeing what won, I am going to enter next year.

I'll post pictures sometime this weekend. Tomorrow is Family Fun Day at my uncles house, so look for more on Sunday.

I also have a pattern to share; as soon as I figure out what the heck I wrote on the back of that napkin.

I am a Friend of P

Several of my knitting needle rolls are now available at Piddleloop.

More needle rolls and two sizes of totes will soon be available. I will keep you all posted.

The Promised, but Very Late Photo Heavy Post

I am sorry I haven't written in a while. It has been very busy around the casa. Tony and Michelle (not to mention yours truly) are all preparing to attend college in the fall. Tony had orientation yesterday. After being a student for only 6 hours, he has managed to earn credit! What a nerd.

Anyway, on the the WIPs!

Here is my Bombshell from Big Girl Knits. I am working on it for the KAL on the Big Girl Knits Group. I need to do the bust short rows, then I do the middle ribbing. It should be done by now, but I started so many other projects, that I really haven't worked on in much this week.

This week has been all about *Cozy!* Remember the Philosopher's Wool I bought on sale for my birthday? Well, here it is again. This wrap should be perfect for fall with a pair of jeans.

Since I am talking about birthday yarn, here is the yarn I bought with the gift certificate from Erin and Jen, and some of my gift money from my mom. 4 Lorna's Laces for socks (which was 10% off) and more of the sale Philosopher's wool (I loved the color but they only had these two).

My Pie Shawl made from the discontinued Lion Brand Imagine (a mohair acrylic blend). Yes, it is very bright. I actually decided to make it a bit bigger than the pattern (since I am a big girl), so I frogged my first wedge, but mohair is a pain to frog. Now the cats have a fluffy new toy!

Sly's Denim Style sweater. Don't ask when the last time was I worked on it. I really don't remember.
Another sweater I haven't touched in AGES! The front is done, and I am just finishing the neck, so I really just have to do the sleeves and I am done.


Just some dishclothes I am doing for my sister. She just moved into a new house, so I thought I would knit a small house warming gift.

I will close with a glimpse of the needle/hook/dpn rolls that will be available for sale here.

meme from Jen

There will be a photo heavy post very soon. I have a great many WIP issues that I simply must deal with. In the meantime, I got this from Jen, and it seemed like fun.

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me
— it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

THANKS!

Birthday Surprises

Yesterday, I went to my LYS to meet some friends and then go to Barnes and Noble for an evening of knitting and goofiness.

My talent of finding sale yarn came in handy. Erin walked by the lovely Philosopher's Wool several times and never noticed that it was 40% off. Since Sly told me I could spend $20 on yarn for my birthday, I bought 5 hanks a really fabulous blue color. My plan is to make a wrap for the fall to wear with jeans. I am thinking of this one.

While Erin, Jen, and I were at the LYS, the other girls were acting a little odd. They were both trying to keep me away from the cash resister. I just couldn't understand it.

After making all our purchases, we all went to Barnes and Noble, and they surprised me with birthday treats, yummy chocolate truffles, brownies with CREAM CHEESE frosting, and a gift card to the LYS we were just in (they were trying to buy it without me noticing). Check out the totally goofy pictures on Jen's blog.

I am off to enjoy my 16th 22nd birthday!

Good Luck Tony!

June 11, 2006 Anthony Sylvester Cotto graduated LaPorte High School with an Indiana Academic Honors Diploma. Way to go Tony!

Open House

Today was my son Tony's open house for his high school graduation. So, I have a picture heavy post of the party.

Here is Tony on his big day with my mom.

Sly did a super job grilling burgers and hot dogs for everyone.

Tony and his friends play are rather intense game of Frisbee after the rain let up.

More Frisbee action.

Little Cindy stole many hearts!

Michelle (my daughter) and Randy (her boyfriend)

Aunt Barb, Mom, Uncle Carl, and Aunt Diana

Uncle Porter, Sharon, Aunt Dorothy, and Dad

Well, that was the party today. While the day started with rain, it did manage to get nicer in the afternoon. We all had a good time, and we are all very proud of Tony. Tomorrow is his actual graduation ceremony. See ya then.

More Blooming Socks

I am back and ready to share new photos (cuz, let's face it, no one READS blogs). I am now out of work for several months, and I should have loads of photos to share this summer. Don't worry, I didn't get canned; it is just the end of the school year. I am a substitute teacher.

Last week it was an explosion of pink, now it is red. My red roses are in full swing. The yard still smells amazing.

My Griffindor Stripe (from Sunshine Yarns) socks are done. Don't they look great next to my peony? It smell wonderful too. A softer and more delicate scent then roses, but just as nice.

Not to be out done by Griffindor Stripe or the peony, my Fortissima Colori socks had to join in the act (even though the second one is not done). I just have to do the heel turn, gusset, and foot on the second sock, which doesn't take me that long. Actually, I did the cuff, leg, and heel at work yesterday.

Sly says that the peony is a whimpy flower that is too stupid to hold its own head up. I think they are expending so much energy on being lovely that they need a nap. So, dear reader, who is right?

I had a student bug me all year to make him a green hat. Here it is; too bad I didn't see him in school today (last day). It is a pattern I worked out myself in green (the color the student wanted) Wool-ease. It didn't take me long at all, and I do have matching mittens. :)

Blooming Socks

While I generally frown on blogs that post every nano-meter of progress on knitted objects, I wanted to share some of the blooms in my yard. Since this is a knitting blog, I thought I would place the socks I am working on with the flowers to demonstrate how they have grown in the past couple of days. These are my second Griffindor Stripe sock and my Sockotta sock. I think they look beautiful with my rhododendron.


Every year, my back yard is a riot of roses. It smells so wonderful right now.

One single beauty all by herself. While the bush is burden with blooms, they are each lovely on their own.

My red bush blooms a bit latter than the pink, but there is a single rose to admire right now.

We also got down to getting our RV ready for the season. It should have been done a week or so ago, but we have been lazy. I plan to take it up to the Michigan Fiber Festival this August!

My Stitch n Bitch group will be going along with me, we should be very cozy!

WIPs and SnB

I have been lazy, so I have a lot of catching up to do in BlogLand. It's not that I don't want to post, but you see, it is the end of the TV season. There were so many end of season shows to catch. Actually, not really. I don't watch that much TV. I even lost interest in American Idol and didn't watch the last show.

I'll start with some sock WIPs.


Here is one sock that will soon be a pair of Griffindor Strips from Sunshine Yarns. I love how it is turning out. The blue stripe is Fortissima Colori, and there is a little bit of a Sockotta sock in there somewhere.


I have started my Bombshell Sweater from Big Girl Knits for the KAL. I am doing this out of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora. It is so soft! Should be great for summer. See my little Scrabble stitch marker? I got that from Jen over at Piddleloop.

Erin at last Thursday's Stitch n Bitch. Next, meet Jen! She is ALWAYS putting photos of me on her blog, so it is payback time!


So, hope you all have a great Memorial Day! I am enjoying the thuderstorms, but it gives me time to knit.

Harry Potter Yarn is Here!

Today I got my Mother's Day yarn from Sunshine Yarns! I am so excited to start making Gryfindor socks. Isn't it pretty? It was such a nice day, I thought I would take pictures outside. Too bad my legs are white as sheets.


These are my Trekking socks. I really am not thrilled with the yarn. It is fussy. It splits a lot, and I was dropping stitches like crazy. It is, however, a lovely yarn. I just don't think I'll be working with it again.

I wish I had written this!

I love Noro. I love the colors, texture, and feel of Noro. I have to say, it is one of my top three yarns.

I think this story really sums up my feelings for Noro. I wish I had written it.

Hey, I am not stupid!

Discovering Fire

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

from Sonnet 73 William Shakespeare

I love camp fires. Every time I sit by a fire, I think of those lines from Shakespeare, and I think of how important fire is to the survival of human beings. Without fire, hot meals, warmth and light would have been impossible for early people. It was the a primal element of life and evolution. Fire nourished and protected early man, since animals avoid fire, the night was no longer a fearful place. With the protection of fire, humans could relax just a bit and they could begin to dream.

Sly and I enjoyed the cool spring evening by building a fire. My mind wondered, and I started to dream. May you all have the time to dream.

This is me. I wear a lot of purple.

My dear husband, Sylvester

No knitting news. Enjoy your dreams. I dream of yarn; what do you dream of?

Totally steeling a meme from Steph

Six years and 2 days ago, I finished my BA! Just wanted to remember.

I am....so sleepy from being lost in Indiana
I want....time to do whatever I want
I wish....that there was no suffering in the world
I hate....stupid people
I miss....my grandmother
I fear....spiders
I hear....Sly yelling at the TV, 24 is on
I wonder....what it all means
I regret....not having more children
I am not....able to count
I dance....at gunpoint
I sing....all the F***ing time!
I cry....for no reason
I am not always....happy
I make....the best chicken soup you ever ate!
I write....to live.
I confuse...students
I need....to be debt free
I should....finish my certification
I start....conversations, then I sit back and watch
I finish....Sly's sentences
I tag....anyone who happens to read this.