Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Well then.

The mouse was the least of my worries. We've now moved onto cramps and a sick little boy. Vomit and diarrhea oh my! A few Blue Moons for me tonight, well deserved, I might add.

I've been doing lots of book reading and listening, working on purses, needing to sew on a pocket and felt, and I started another star blanket, this one with Wool-Ease Sportweight. The others I've made I've used Lion Brand Chunky so this one is a slight bit more labor intensive. No worries it's just for us at home anyway so I can take my time. Mindless crocheting rocks.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

So I go back to use the bathroom off of our bedroom, flip on the light AND...

there is a mouse in our toilet. WTF?!?! I mean, he's not like a cat, he can't cling to the edge to drink the water! The mouse is swimming in the water, can't get out.

So, Joe said what are you doing? I tell him about the mouse, I am fascinated, just watching this mouse. A fairly good sized mouse, cute, except that he was swimming in toilet water. So Joe says FLUSH IT! Joe hates mice. HATES THEM. They really don't bother me all that much, except this one was impeding my ability to use my toilet. I contemplate the flushing, asking Joe if he thinks it will go down. After all, we don't need a mouse-clogged toilet. A mouse IN the toilet is enough. He says of course it will FLUSH IT! with a little more urgency.

I wrestled with this again, I mean come on, the mouse is cute with his big eyes and he's already stuck in the toilet. (I wondered if he was a stupid mouse who really thought he could go for a swim and get back out or if he was a mouse just prone to accidents, as I am, and was just having a really shitty day.)

His day got worse. I flushed him. Poor mouse. I then worried about him coming back up. No one wants to sit on a toilet and have a mouse come back up, right? So, I flushed a couple more times. (Of course I waited a little in between flushes as I really did not need to overflow the toilet and then have to clean up toilet water and a mouse.)

I am a mouse killer.

p.s. Thank you God for not letting this happen to me last night when the bathroom light was burnt out and I would've sat down with no warning.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

If you haven't been

to Ms. Venus' recently enlivened blog now is the time! You must go check out Fred the Stripey Frog who is on his way to my house as I type. Isn't he the best?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Apparently

sewing machine frustration makes for a renewed interest in i-cording. Who knew?

Monday, January 23, 2006

I just wanted to use my sewing machine.

I think I am cursed when it comes to sewing. Every time I try to use my sewing machine-we're talking 4 or 5 times over the past couple years I've had it-SOMETHING is or goes wrong. My latest problem is children who think bobbins are great fun to swipe and play with and break and lose.

This was the problem the last time I attempted a sewing project. So, I went to the store and bought a little kit with bobbins in it. I should've been set for tonight. I cannot find the kit. Anywhere. Did I imagine my trip to the then brand new Michaels store which had the same crappy service it did in the old building? Was I only dreaming that I studied all the bobbin options carefully before choosing the little kit with the most stuff for the best price? Or has the kit been officially sucked into the black hole that is my house?

Tonight I wanted to try to make one of those handy rice heating pouch thingies. Armed with fabric, rice, and some encouragement from Boxy I was raring to go. It should've been simple. My big worry should've been sewing over a rice grain (thanks again for that tip Box!). Instead I was back in the same awful WHERE IS A DAMN BOBBIN?!?! hell I had been in before.

I did not give up then. I was determined. I would have a picture of my little rice pouch to proudly show off in the morning, I had to! So we moved onto handsewing. Yeah, I suck at handsewing. I always always always tangle up the thread at some point and make a general mess of things. Where to go from there? I would sew/bind it with YARN! GENIUS! I can work a yarn needle people. Yarn is my friend. I may hate sewing in ends but I am proficient at it! I found some yarn, one of metal yarn needles and folded and pinned one side of the pouch. Things were looking good. I COULD do this! My new yarn binding of the rice pouch would be a hit. It would take off, showing up in blogs everywhere!

Yeah, right.

So the fabric is a little thick to be pierced by a yarn needle and it took me about fifteen minutes to do a couple stitches and suddenly I was out of beer. I certainly wasn't in the mood to pop open a bottle of champagne and the one beer I had consumed was definitely not enough to numb the pain of my fingers and thumb where I was pushing on that damn dull needle. Or to soothe my wounded crafty pride.

Everything is now packed up into the handy rubbermaid box I have decided to organize my sewing stuff in. If I do find that elusive kit I will promptly add it to the box so I know RIGHT where all sewing related things are. It's not like yarn and crochet hooks and knitting needles that need an entire corner of the house, right?

I will now soothe myself by continuing to work on a felted bag. Knitting in the round. Easy, soothing, and purposeful. Something I can DO! Unlike sewing.

Friday, January 20, 2006

More words

No new pictures today, although I do have some cute pics of the Blue Kids I need to upload when I get motivated.

Thanks to the loverly Boxy I have found a new resource for audiobooks, and once the kiddos are all asleep I will be knitting and listening and just plain enjoying myself. For now I am blog reading and knitting. Well except right now, as I took a break to type something here.

In the yarn world I am i-cording for the last of the six purses, and working on the bag for my grandma. It's funny how much I loved i-cording in the beginning and now I have to make myself do it.

Today the littlest Blue decided that he must make pancakes. Thankfully his cooking skills are limited to spreading dry pancake mix ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. His brother then decided to sweep up-all done while I was in the bathroom, of course-and spread things around just a bit more. I was extremely happy that no water had been added as I was able to vacuum it all up and the just a little wiping up of the leftovers. Ah kids, always surprising. ;)

My fil stopped by today and was PAID for the shawl I made that he gave to my mil. Of course I asked for pretty much just the cost of the yarn, but he gave me a bit more which was very nice of him. Wheeeeee! I also sent along the gift bag filled with the beach bag as we haven't had a chance to give it to ourselves. I hope she likes it. I am always nervous of what people think of the things I make them.

Now I am off to look at moving links (actual relocating, not emotional) with my friend V while I knit and eventually ipod away. Wheeeee!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Maybe I should

turn this blog into an occasional picture of knitting/crocheting filled with short asides blog? The body of the purse I was working on is done, it's just down to a pocket, a handle, and felting.

I just killed a spider. I know it's not exciting, except if you are a close friend, my husband, or my therapist and then you would get the actual gravity of this situation.

I'd like to thank my husband, my children, my closest friends who put up with all of my rambling and craziness, my therapist, and my medication. Thank you, thank you all so very much!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Why do the people

who make commercials think we want to actually hear people biting and chewing their food? We don't. It's gross. It's unappetizing. It makes me want to hurl my remote through the television screen except I control myself and just mute the fucker or change the channel.

Seriously commercial people, we.don't.want.to.hear.it.

Ipod & Knitting


Now that we have an XM Satellite Radio(thanks mom and dad!!) I am able to actually use the Ipod Mr. Blue gave me for Mother's Day. Aside from knitting/crocheting while watching Law & Order, my new favorite is to listen to the Ipod*, knit, and read blogs. I love reading blogs, especially yarny blogs. At the moment I am immersed Crazy Aunt Purl. If you haven't read this blog you really have to. It's what I wish my blog could be, if I weren't a midwestern housewife with serious organization issues and had better writing skills.

Yesterday it was in the 60's, today we got snow. Big giant flakes of snow, and it even stuck, except on the patio and sidewalks which is actually really great unless all the melted snow freezes overnight and then we are screwed. As if the school drop-off/pick-up line weren't enough of a crazy fiasco. My 3 year old was extremely excited over the snow as he thought it meant we'd get to have another Christmas soon. GAH! DASH THE THOUGHT! I gently let him down.

My sister's purse is all felted up, and dried, now I just need to assemble the handle and give it a little trimming. I REALLY like how it turned out. Pictures to come, I promise!! My mother-in-law loved the shawl and wore it out to dinner on her birthday. Apparently she kept saying "How does she do this??!" I am, of course, happy to pretend to be modest while in reality proud and gloating and impressed with myself. ;)

Now I am working on a repeat of one of the six purses as a friend asked to buy a purse for me for an emergency Christmas gift. After the big purse order reprieve, I was able to sell one and still have time to make another in it's place. You can see it in the picture above. I've worked with a lot of color combos that aren't necessarily my favorites, it's funny how weird it seems not to be making something in colors I really enjoy, or even mostly enjoy.

And now, back to the blog reading.

*In case you are a freak like me and interested in stalking, err.. looking closely at the details of other people's pictures/lives, Blink 182-I Miss You is what was playing on the Ipod at the time of the picture. Right now I am listening to Sheryl Crow-Strong Enough.
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, January 12, 2006


My other project of the week, a beach tote for my mother-in-law's birthday. I'd wanted to make her something and it dawned on me that a beach tote would be great as she and my father-in-law travel to the Caribbean every spring. It turned out pretty well and I am impressed with myself. ;) I made it with Sugar 'n Cream, using a Lion Brand pattern that I modified just a bit. Posted by Picasa

Here it is, the super secret SHAWL, who knew, right? I failed miserably at getting a good picture of it, this will have to do. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Finally!

After having to frog around 10 or so rows TWICE the super secret project is just about finished!!! Wooohooooo! Pictures coming soon.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Let's just say...

that unraveling 10 rows of ladder yarn after having to figure out where in the hell I had gone wrong was not the way I wanted to spend my late Friday evening.

Thankfully I took my kiddos out to dinner and for ice cream earlier and while slightly stressful as they got tired and crabby, overall it was a wonderful way to spend a Friday night.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

As revealed

in comments the super secret project is being made with a ladder yarn, Caron Fabulous. I really like how it feels, it's soft and filmy and just all over neat. The only trouble is that at times I get confused on stitches as it's not easy to sort it all out. I am also totally in love with the colors in it, I am using Mother Earth and the colors in it are gorgeous.

As far as the purse I am working on the i-cord handle and then a felting we will go! I need to throw in a swatch using the red, black, and light grey, to see if the red bleeds into the grey. I used the light grey on another purse and a blue color bled into it. I'd hate to end up with a red, black, and light pink purse. ;)

Monday, January 02, 2006

Happy New Year!

Why is that when I was a kid the years seemed to pass soooo sloooowly, and now as an adult they just about fly by?

I had a blast on New Year's, my sister's birthday is New Year's Eve so we always have a good time. With both of my sisters and their husband, boyfriend, and my little nephew man here it was great for our family, all of us siblings together. My sister decided she wanted to rent a limo to cart us all around for the night, we went out to a very good dinner and then to see a great local band. It was a great feeling to just hop into the limo when it was time to go all over and we all had a lot of fun. Yay!

The husband left very early New Year's Day for Florida to see the Hawkeyes play in the bowl game. I have been VERY jealous, and he called with lots of updates. In spite of Iowa losing he is having a blast, the punk. He'll be back tomorrow evening and I will be happy. Between Christmas and New Year's and all the family and going and craziness and winter break things have been NUTS! here. The house is trashed and I am tired.

Still working on the super secret project that it is great for variety and I love the way the yarn feels all knitted up. I still need to make the handle for my sister's bag and then felt it and voila! it's done. Wheeee. That's it for this very non-exciting post.