Where Did it Go?

I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. It is has been a bit of whirlwind for some reason.

My seminar was not as boring as I thought it would be and I did knit a little if you were wondering. I took this photo on the way there, it was taken on the way to Kelowna via Meritt.



I just finished these about 10 minuets ago. I like the socks but I don't think I would knit the pattern again. It seemed to me like they took forever to knit. They are a good fit and and not hard to get on at all.



I used a larger needle on the cables and did not pull them really tight. When I thought the socks were long enough I went back down to a size a zero and did about 1/2 inch of the ribbing pattern. Shannon told me her socks don't stay up very well, I think it actually paid off for me to have her finish hers first. I had the chanced to modify the pattern based on Shannon's feedback, I guess it is my turn for the second pair.

Here is the amount of yarn I had left:

Oh, they are not quite done yet. I forgot about this stitch marker that I accidentally knit right in to the sock. I just need to take some wire cutters or something and cut it so I can pull it out. I did it in the middle of a cable, a mistake I have never made before, and I bet I won't do it again!

The week flew by, our schedule was a bit of a schmazzle. We had observation day at school on Tuesday and parent teacher conference on Wednesday. That means the kids had no school on Wednesday and Paul, Gran and I went with them to school on Tuesday to learn about what they are doing there.

Gran came back from Kelowna with us and stayed a few days for a visit. We enjoyed visiting with her and the kids had lots of fun too. She went home on Thursday and will heading out to visit Lee, one of her sons who lives in Maple Ridge (Vancouver area) soon. It is great to see her so active and out being social after Harvey's passing. She seems to be doing very well.

This post is totally out of order, sorry about that, random thoughts here. I am working all day on Mondays now so Paul can have a little more time with the kids, he was getting pretty burned out at the office. I now work all day Monday, Thursday mornings and Saturdays. Paul works All day Tues, Wed and Friday and Thursday afternoons. I think it will work out well and give us a good balance. I am looking forward to the day I don't have to work Saturdays anymore, I will quit Saturdays when the kids are in full time school and I can work through the lunch hour to make up the hours. I think if we offer lunch hour appointments then we can close on Saturday.

The Barking cows are at it again, we lost our second game of the season on Thursday night, it was great fun!

I am dealing with Grandma Helen and all her Dr apts. she has quite a few going on right now. She is doing well, they are all about maintenance care except for cataracts surgery this coming Tuesday. I took her on this Tuesday for the eye measurements and I have to deal with the surgery next Tuesday and the follow ups on Wednesday. I have her to the dentist the following week. I find it a bit overwhelming sometimes just to remember where I need to get everyone, let alone getting them there.

I got the new sock kit from Blue Moon, I am not sure if I am ready to start my socks just yet. I think I need to do a little finishing before I can think about them, I would like to get the second thrummed mitten done. Who knows what I will do???? Maybe it is time to spin for a while.

Martini's and Monsoon's

I have been looking for some Martini glasses and I finally found some. I don't really love them, but they were $8.00 for 4 glasses and I decided I liked them $8.00's worth. I did not realize that the Martini glasses would create so much work. They led to cleaning out the kitchen cupboards. I wanted to put them where we stored the booze.



This means finding a place for all the booze:



It meant I had to move the spices and put the booze there. Which in turn meant that I had to move the cutlery...you get the idea: I spent two days cleaning the kitchen inside and out.

These are beautiful aren't they?



My socks that rock are coming along. I like the look of the pattern, but I have not loved knitting these. The foot had to be knitted so tightly that it made my hands sore. After talking to Shannon about the cables I decided to knit them on a larger needle and looser than the pattern suggested. I know this might make for shorter socks, but I can get them easily over my foot. Bonus.




This is what I have left of the yarn on the the sock that is further along. I can't decide whether or not I should go for one more pattern repeat; I have completed two and the pattern calls for 3; or if I should do some ribbing and call them good. The last of the yarn always goes further than I think it will but 20 rows?

I have a continuing education seminar on Sunday. I was thinking of bringing the socks I hopes of finishing them. Is it rude to knit at an incredibly boring mandatory seminar on x-rays? I don't want to be rude to the speaker.

We Found It!

After taking a lot of crappy pictures this weekend, I decided to crack down and find the camera. I asked the kids if they had seen it, and no one had. Q told me I should look in my 'drawers' I asked him where that was and he suggested I look in the dresser by the computer, "Where your knitting is." Q found the camera. I tucked it the drawer while the kids were using my computer so it was out of their way and would not get knocked onto the floor.

Thank you Q! I asked Sebastian to take some spinning pictures for this post. So I get to show you spinning from a 4 foot tall perspective.





See that brown fiber I am spinning? It is that woolly stuff I got such a great a deal on. I enjoyed it at first, but once I spun a nicer fiber I was tainted, now it is like spinning an old rams short wiry curlies if you know what I mean.



I have lots of it, which I plan to spin up bit by bit. I think it will be good for felted bags and the like. Also good to keep around for when the kids want to learn to spin, or any one else that comes to visit (Shannon).



But hard to work with when you have this 100% merino wool staring you in the eye! I have found I like to switch fibers lots. I get bored with spinning one fiber for a long time, if I have several on the go, I seem to spin more.



Here are some more fun pictures taken by Sebass today:



He made this helicopter out of K'nex all by himself:



And Lego's:

How Could I Resist?

Working Girl

I am working today and missing the kids. Makes me realize how much I enjoy having the afternoons to play with them.

I am still feeling a little resentful towards Paul. He never did say "Thank you" to me for making sure he had the time to play 3 games of hockey last week. Right now I am feeling a bit like his personal assistant rather than his wife (they aren't supposed to be the same thing are they?). If he said thank you more often I would feel good about helping out, instead I feel like a doormat.

I am just finishing up at the office and it is my running night; I am sure to feel better after a run.

I took this picture of PJ and Shmoo having a snuggle yesterday. PJ is Shmoo's favorite kid to snuggle with, she holds still and does not toss and turn like the boys do.




I did not find my camera yet, can you tell?

Camera Woes

As you know my camera seems to be MIA, this has kept me from blogging this week, I like to post pictures and just feel a little naked leaving you with no pictures.

I was pretty bummed to not have my camera for Easter, so I rummaged around and found a camera I had bought to give to the kids. It is a $16.00 2.1 mega pixel no name camera. Perfect for the kids. Paul put some batteries in it for me and off I went to capture some wonderful pictures to remember this special day forever.

Here is the first picture I took with the camera: It seems we were having some technical difficulties.



Picture number two came out only a little better. The Easter bunny got together with The Neighbours and put eggs all over both yards for all the kids to find.



Here is a lovely picture of Amanda:



And Sebass:



I was really impressed with Sebass and PJ, I saw both of them pick up eggs and put them in Maddie's bag when they noticed they had more eggs than she did. I did ask Sebastian to look for eggs that may be up high and leave the easy ones for the smaller kids, but I never asked them to give their eggs away. Honestly it brought a tear to my eyes to see them being so thoughtful without being asked. It was very sweet and I let them both know how proud they make me.

Maddie:



Easter ham:



I thought it was funny that the kids walked by this egg many times without seeing it, it was one of the last eggs to be found.

The Linfields came over for Easter turkey. I will miss them so much when they move at the end of the month. Here is Andrew's self portrait:

We have had a great family weekend, we got a lot done while having lots of fun with the kids. We had great weather for a couple of days and light rain yesterday and today. I plan on doing some knitting and some spinning today, looking for my camera and cleaning the kids rooms before leaving the house to Paul for the week.

There are no pictures of PJ, she has not been feeling good and slept on the couch all day yesterday. She is better today, but her tummy still hurts and she is running a mild fever, she did eat a little today and has already been awake longer than she was all day yesterday.

Burrito Boy

I don't have anything interesting for you this week. I am a dull girl!

It is a short week, we have no work tomorrow for the Easter weekend. I am a hockey widow this week, Paul played Monday night, Wednesday night and he plays tonight. I am feeling like I could use a bit of a break from everything around here. When Paul plays hockey he goes straight there from work and does not get home until well after I am in bed. This makes for longs days for everyone.

I plan to go for a run tomorrow morning and take a little time to myself. I don't mean to be whiner, but it has been all about accommodating Paul's schedule for the past two weeks and I will be working full time next week because Paul does not have enough time to do what he wants around the house.

I am a little tired of Burrito Boy and his schedule right now:

Goodbye March!

I have some finished goodies to show you for the month of March. First some spinning. This is the first instalment of my spinning opus. I am going to do my best to make a sweater entirely from my own hand spun. I have no time line in mind, if it takes me two years, I am fine with that. Here is the yarn: it feels like heaven, it is a tencel and merino wool blend and I am in love with it. That is good thing as this fiber and I will be spending plenty of time together.



Another picture, much the same as the first one, but I was excited:



One thrummed mitten:



I was really enjoying the mitten, but I want to finish my socks that rock before the next kit arrives in April. They have been calling me cast on:



I picked up this yarn for the Felted Clogs, the lovely spring colours are begging to be knitted:



Mother Nature is a serious task master. While my attention strayed today she sent me this message:



It seems I need a PAIR of mittens before she will bring spring, I was hoping one might appease her. I was wrong.



Sebass has been keeping busy on this mucky Sunday. I love the things the kids build, it kind of gives some insight to the way they think.