Here is a top view of the bag, complete with cell phone in the pocket, wheee! 

Sorry these are so dark, this is the outside view of the bag-where the pocket is sewn. I was able to sew into the felt without coming all the way through to the other side. When the phone is in it does pull a bit so you can see an outline of the pocket. 

I finally got brave enough to sew on the pocket, this is the inside of the bag-turned out-with the pocket. Thanks V for having confidence in me. ;) 

The Booga Bag is DONE! WOOHOOO! I love how it turned out, although I wish I had made the handles longer, rather than knit the piece for the cell phone pocket I haven't sewn on yet. 

Illness strikes again

I am way under the weather, whew. You'd think I would get more knitting or crocheting done as I don't want to be all up and moving around, but the lethargy has spread there as well. I have about 5 feet of i-cord done, not much farther to go! I cannot wait to get this bag done. Hoping to have enough yarn leftover to make a pocket for the inside, if not I may use some other wool I have, after all, it will be inside and not as visible.

Still working on the flower rug and dishtowel, I think I am going to frog the cloth I had started, I am not liking it with the pattern I am using. I also need to do more cloches and spring bags, they should work up quickly.

An i-cording we will go...

wheeee! Lots of i-cord happening here. :)

I've worked on a dishtowel I started-which I will need to get more yarn for-, the star rug, and the i-cord. Little bits of progress all around. I am not feeling all that well today, bleh, it's nice to have projects to distract me.

I made a lot of little headbands out of Sugar 'n Cream over the weekend, for family members who were visiting. They are so simple and easy, and work well. I kept trying to explain that they were really not that impressive. In big giganto news my aunt ordered SIX FELTED BAGS from me. WOOHOOOO! Very exciting. I have creative license on colors, should be fun. Can't wait to order all that wool.

Finally a break in the heat!

Seventy-two degrees today, aaaah. It's a rainy day, thunderstorms this morning. Perfect for crocheting and knitting. It is actually cool in my house! We aren't lolling around miserably today.

I've started the i-cord for the booga, and today am working on the star blanket. It is working up quickly with this ginormous hook. The chunky actually feels soft, instead of stiff like the other. I almost want to redo the other, but really.

Last night our friend opened his new liquor store. Mr. Blue and he did all the decorating, painting, flooring, etc. It really looks nice in there, they did an impressive job. Last night was wine tasting/sneak preview of the store and it went very well, a great turnout and really great sales! They set up the store well, in the back is the wine section, with tile floors, a few tall tables and lots of wine and champagne. I could sit and crochet there for awhile lol. They also added a front area, across from the counter, with a couch and a chair or two and tv for lounging. It's a comfortable place. I really hope things continue on a good path for him. We had a great time last night and tasted some really yummy wines. One, called White Lie, is apparently a low-carb wine. I was surprised to see it, apparently it's 2.9 carbs a glass or something like that. My father-in-law bought some for my mother-in-law, who is diabetic and has to be careful of her carbs. Should make her happy as she's had to give up a lot of the things she enjoys lately because of it.

I should be getting some things done today, but I am not motivated at all, and the kids are a little out of sorts due to a cold roaring through here. It'd be nice if I could just sit and crochet all day.

Here is the beginning of the star blanket rug I am making. Using Chunky USA and a P hook, we're off to a good start! So far it's working up pretty quickly and is pretty soft. I made a few mistakes in the beginning , but they covered up well and don't bother me enough to frog and fix.

Please help, if you can.

http://www.forkatessake.org/

This little girl and her family could use all the help they can get. Their story is heartbreaking, please visit and if there is anything you can do, please, please do.

So I got in a tiny bit of

yarny time. woohoo! Even if Mr. Blue took off on his bike for a quick ride that wasn't so quick. hmph.

I worked some more on the booga bag, and am only a few rows away from finishing the body and moving onto the i-cord(s?). I also started a new star blankie that I am planning to use mainly as a rug. This time around I am using a giganto P hook with the Chunky, and the softness is much more apparent. Hopefully this will make a nice laying on blanket for the kids, while doubling as a fun rug to cover up this gorgeous renter's carpet.

Nap time

I am in desperate need of a nap. What would be perfect would be a nap in a quiet, air-conditioned place. A soft, comfortable, quiet, air-conditioned place. It is currently 94 degrees here, humidity is at 48%. The monster window air-conditioner we have is not keeping up. At all really. My fan system is in failure. It's HOT in this house. It's a little over 80 degrees in here, opening windows does not help. The blinds and curtains are all closed to keep the sun out. Blech. I have picked up my living room three times and you would not know it. The kids broke a glass today, I cleaned that up. I scrubbed out the kitchen sink and am in the process of washing the monster load of dishes I put off. I have decided that while the finished dishes dry I will relax until it's time to put them away and start a new round. Oh for central air, a Dyson, and a dishwasher. Sigh.

I haven't gotten any knitting or crocheting done today. The booga bag is calling my name, I am hoping to work on it a bit tonight, if things ever settle down around here. The heat is definitely getting to the kids, who are grumpy and fighting, a lot, even more than usual. At the moment they are watching a video while I pretend to be doing the dishes. It's actually mostly quiet. I really wish I could just lay down for a nap.

I saw the eye doctor yesterday, apparently it is healing again. I woke up yesterday feeling a lot better, I could actually open it without dropping in a heap of excruitiating agony. Basically I am giving it another go, we'll give it another chance to heal on it's own. If it happens again I will more than likely be on my way to eye surgery land. *sob* I am terrified of any type of surgery, eye surgery completely eeks me out. Even the laser kind-which I believe is was mine would be. When the doctor explained what the surgery would essentially do I wanted to grab my bag and run screaming from the examining room. Thankfully I kept my composure and even managed a joke. I think I will see if they can throw in a complimentary vision correction procedure, in appreciation of all the business I've given them these last few months.

Here is the booga bag, I am somewhere in the 40 something row neighborhood. The pic is dark and doesn't really show off the colors, but I have been rolling right along with this. I am loving it so far, the straight knitting in the round is very relaxing. 

Here he is, the little nephew man! I am absolutely in love with him and his little serious man face. I wish I could fly out there and hold him right this very minute. My heart is bursting.  

A close-up of this sweet, sweet little face. 

Look at all this hair!!!! 

WIPs baby!

It's a booga bag!!! WOOHOO! Finally getting to use Noro, the first time I have, as well as my first time using circ's. This pattern was MUCH, MUCH easier than I expected.

Here is the beginning of a baby sock for my nephew. The first time I've used dpn's and cableing.  

I started this dishcloth/towel yesterday for some easy to work on.  

I'm an auntie!!

The little nephew man is here!!!! He was born yesterday, at a healthy 8lbs 4 oz, 18 inches long. He and my sister are both doing well and I am incredibly happy for them. :)

Hopefully I will get some pictures today, I've been told he has lots of dark hair and my sister's nose. I got to hear him crying and even a little man sneeze through the phone. I so wish I could be there to snuggle the little guy up. They sound so happy.

The finished spring bag for Abbie! Arenne's actually had an extra row of dc on it, by accident, and I think I like it better that way. I was close to running out of yarn so I didn't do the same on Ab's. I also needed to use from another skein for the drawstrings. 

And DONE! The spring bag is finished. I was slightly confused on the drawstring assembly, but Box helped me out, thank goodness! Arenne is now the proud owner of this bag, and I have another in a blue/green in the works for Abbie. 

Blech

The old eye injury is open again. It happened last night, I've been able to keep it closed a lot this morning-and the kids didn't even try to get away with anything-so it's a little better. Let's hope this heals up again like it did last time.

My grandparents are coming in from California tonight, and staying for a few weeks, WOOHOO!! I am very excited. They haven't been back here for a very long time and have been very much missed.

My flowers are actually doing pretty well, amazingly enough. The hot days just dry them up, but we've been keeping them watered well, they don't have the benefit of all of the rain we've had as they are under the eaves of the house. The kids love helping water them all, and I get a kick out of watching them heft the big watering can.

The biggest news is concerning the nephew man, my sister is scheduled for a c-section on SATURDAY! WOOHOOO! He is almost here. She's a week overdue and definitely ready for him to be born. I cannot wait to see pictures of him and really wish I could be out there for his birth.

Here's a shot of my progress on the spring bag. It really works up quickly, I just need to find more time for it! I am very close to abandoning the mil poncho and starting over with a new pattern. I am just not liking it and the frogging I need to do to it. I know I will probably pick it up again and want to finish. Sigh.

My next project is looking to be a cozy for my ipod mini. I've been looking at patterns all over the place, but thinking I will just make up my own.

aha! finally a better picture of the actual colors. slightly blurry, but you can see the real colors!  

It's totally FINISHED! Ends weaved in and all. The color is off in the pic, the colors are a bright green and blue, but I got tired of trying to fix them. 

Here's a shot to show the size, yes that is an ordinary wipe container laying on the blanket. 

A close-up view. 

Three posts in one day????

It's true! And all for a great reason, I am finished with the star blanket! Well, mostly. I still need to weave in the ends. Other than that, FINISHED! It looks very cool and Drew is continually asking for one for him. I will have to get started on it...soon. ;) Pictures to come, but the camera is not cooperating. Punk camera.

Too funny

So Colin (my 2 year old) and I are talking and singing and playing and in a moment of exuberance I hugged him up and said, "Oh you are so sweet and yummy!"

To which he replied, "I am not a snack."

A few rows left

on the star blankie. We'll have to see which comes first, the blanket or the nephew! The points are starting to curve a bit, I realized I wasn't doing the second slip stitch on beginning a row, and that I had been chaining 3 on the ends instead of two, but it looks fine and not worth frogging all of that work.

I haven't had as much time to work on any projects over the weekend, between spending time with my family, getting things done around the house, and the wedding we went to yesterday. The kids came too, and it's always(well almost always) fun to see all of the comments we get about all of our little people. The wedding was at a golf course, outdoors, and it was beautiful. The bride is gorgeous anyway, but she had a really beautiful dress. The bridesmaids were in multi-colored dresses, the groom and groomsmen in suits with matching brightly colored ties and flowers. Very cool all around. The girls were in awe of all of the dresses and flowers, it was really cute. Everyone was well-behaved and a good time was had by all. I got to see some old friends and that was great, a good reminder that I need to keep in better touch.

For some reason I've been in a lot more pain in the last week, and doing things-like the wedding-are really wiping me out. No good, but what am I gonna do? Hopefully get the blanket finished today!

Ohhhh laundry!

Oh how I love doing laundry, the endless laundry that comes with a six person household. Gazing at the ever growing pile of laundry that is overtaking the kitchen I am relieved that we decided four kids was enough, instead of the five or six I had originally wanted.

Whew. My main problem with laundry is getting it folded and put away. I start the laundry, get busy, throw it in a laundry basket or on a chair and plan to get to it later. Somehow I don't. Then it gets all wrinkled or tossed back into the dirty laundry and the washing process starts all over again. It also doesn't help that the kids are all about changing clothes numerous times a day, or thoughtfully pulling everything back out of their dressers and throwing it around their rooms.

I worked a tiny bit on the star blankie, and am doing the flower bag in bits, I usually carry it along with me when I go somewhere. I did have to rewind up the second ball of yarn, as the colors were going the wrong direction on it. That drives me up the wall, shouldn't they all be wound up the same way? Sheesh. There isn't too much more with the star blanket, I'm thinking about 5 more rows and it's finished. Can't wait to see it all done, with the ends weaved in.

Heat, thunderstorms, and rickety hands

The heat has come to Iowa. Along with its good Midwestern friend humidity and their other friends, the mosquitos. Hip hip hooray! It's been in the 90's and our window air conditioner is working its big behind off trying to keep up. Thankfully the front of the house stays cool, but the bedrooms have been a little uncomfortable. As a veteran window air conditioner user, I have an elaborate fan system set up, designed to move the cooler air towards the back of the house. I've only had a few fans set up, in the super hot weather I use at least four. It'sdefinitely time to break out the other two. Thunderstorms are a common occurance lately, but that's to be expected.

I've been busy the last few days, watching my brother in a golf tournament, and getting some really nice alone time. Can't beat that! My muscles have been a lot more sore and stiff lately, I've had a few more shake episodes, more close together. Wondering if this humidity is the culprit? My hands are not wanting to work very well so my yarn time has been limited. I have done some work on the flower bag, and yesterday was spent working on the star blankie. I am not nearly as motivated now that it takes me a little longer to get around those rows. The lace mil poncho is very neglected in my yarn basket. Poor thing, I just don't have the heart to frog and figure out where I am off. Soon, soon. I keep wanting to start some felted bags for my girls, but I am afraid to enter the too many ufo's trap. It would be nice to have some knitting to alternate with the crocheting, but then again I am guiltily remembering that poor poncho.

My newest project, this pattern and am using Sugar 'n Cream's Playtime. My friend Em asked if I could do one for her, so I figured I should do a test one first. My friend Box also recently made this pattern.

Ah, frogging again

This poncho, I tell you what. I have somehow jacked up my stitches on the lace poncho for my mil and need to frog it again, I decided to take a little break from it because I was getting too frustrated.

I started a new little bag, I will have to get pictures later. It's funny to feel the differences in my hands and wrists going from knitting to crocheting. It's looking to be a thunderstormy couple of days, so I'm thinking I will get some cleaning done and settle in to get some work done on my UFO's.

The kiddos and I and my mil planted a few flowers yesterday, they look really pretty and really brighten up the front yard, I can't wait to get some more in.

My eye is on the mend, still a little scratchy feeling, but not all swollen and painful, thank goodness!

Oh this eye

I need a trade-in, sheesh. Despite my best efforts of ointment in the eye every night, lots of eye drops during the day and being careful not to get anything into it, the scratch on my cornea has come open yet again. Sigh. I really sighed right there, while trying to think of what to say.

It was horrible this morning and now I have a puffy, swollen, yucky right eye and am having trouble getting much done today. Trying to continue the great laundry washing, and keep the kids from completely destroying the house. I kept it closed as much as I could earlier today, not an easy feat with four children running around. THANK YOU cartoons, you've saved the day.

We are also on day two of potty training the fourth child. I can't even begin to think of life without diapers, it's been 6 years straight with them. While I will seriously miss the cute little diaper butt, I will NOT miss cleaning that diaper butt. He's had some accidents, but also some triumphs and is way excited about it. A friend of ours brought him some new underwear, so he feels very important in them now. If we could only get him to put his legs in separate legholes we'd be off and running.