Ah-ha!

Finally.... I have proof that I am not the messiest entity in the house.

For the past four days I have done nothing but get up around 8 or 9 a.m., go to my first job, then my new second job, return sometime around 9:30 p.m., have a bath and go to bed.

Yet, somehow, my house was an incredible mess when I got home today.

I will admit the dishes in the sink were mine, but it was only a handful.... a few bowls, some utensils and that's it.

I did not dig all the potting soil out of the Japanese Peace Lily, and then dance in the resultant mess so as to scatter as far across the floor as possible.

I did not take off with the yarn, and unwind it up the stairs, down the stairs, around the kitchen table and into the basement.

I did not attack my house mates, making them pee on the floor.

I did not throw-up my half-chewed breakfast on top of the TV stand because I probably ate a bad bug.

I did not push the cat food container off the table, sending kibbles all over the kitchen floor.

I did not laze all over the furniture, shedding as much as possible, making it impossible for anyone to use it without walking away with out a good coating of hair.

I did not open the pantry cupboard and pull out the plastic grocery bags to play with, just because I like the way they make noise.

I did not tip the basket full of freshly washed and folded laundry just so I could sleep in it and shed some more fur.

I did none of these things, but I know who did:I think they are a little miffed about the second job... what do you think?

I smell trouble

After posting that I had too many projects on the needles, what do I do?

I cast on another one of course!Fortunately, it came of the needles pretty quick. I started it yesterday and finished it up today. This is, of course, Fibre Trends' Huggable Hedgehog - pre-felting. This one is for the baby girl due in September who I've been knitting for.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can put it in the washer and felt it all by itself... it might get scared and lonely. I think it needs some friends. But they will have to wait a little while, I just picked up a second job and will be in training every night this week... that means all the time I had to get ready for the show next Saturday is now condensed into one day .... tomorrow.

I had today too, but the vehicular fates conspired against me, and by the time they decided to kiss and make up, I was too pissed off and worn out to do anything really constructive. I came home, had a bath, cooked some really greasy food, watched an insanely funny movie full of toilet humour and finished up my 'hog.

In addition, I also have this tempting me....
Mom bought this for me... I've been eyeing Hansi Singh's patterns for a while, and when we saw she had a whole book.... who could resist?

There is a special guy in my life who's getting crabs for his birthday! Hermit Crabs that is! (Good thing his birthday is in July, I ahve a little time)

But I should go...
Rocky says "If you have so much to do... why are you sitting on the computer?"

Gettin'er done...sorta

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, mostly just picking away at the Rose Shrug. A row or two here, a row or two there.. I've got one front done and am half way done the other. Then it's just the rest of the back and it's done. Depending on what happens this weekend, it should be finished by next Monday.

In an effort to get organized, I wrote down all the works-in-progress I have on the go.. there are 15.. yep 15 projects on the neddles... so no casting on for me. There are 10 projects in the queue too.. not my Ravelry queue, just my personal queue of "things I plan to get finished this year."

Part of the reason I haven't been doing much knitting is due to the fact that I have a show coming up on May 30th. It's the Brantford Pagan Meet and Greet at Mohawk Park. If you're in the area please stop by and say hello.

I'll be there with my jewellry items like these:
Also, if you see anything in the Etsy shop you like, I suggest getting it sooner rather than later. All the items listed will be going to the show with me, and with any luck, I won't be bringing them home.

Thank goodness it's over

Long weekends are supposed to be for kicking back, relaxing and maybe imbibing a little alcohol should the mood strike. While there was a little alcohol involved (man I love strawberry flavoured wine) there was NO relaxing.

Dave can't stand to sit still, and this weekend found me tagging along on a variety of projects including the installation of two doors (one for the parents, the other for the grandparents) the installation of back brakes, then two days later the front brakes (why we can't install them all at once is beyond me) , as well as an emissions test and a jaunt through flea market/garage sale land.

While I wasn't involved in any of the heavy work (other than running for the odd tool and some painting of door trim) just being dragged around was enough to wear me out.

I had full intentions of doing nothing but knitting ALL weekend. I did manage to get some done, but not as much as I would like.

Dad father's day socks are finished:I'm up to the armholes on the Rose Shrug:
This project should be going a lot quicker. I cast it on as an instant gratification project, but I just haven't had the time to work on it - thanks Dave.

And while I'm whining about my only-sometimes-better-half...

I love him.. I really do. He does my dishes, and we all know how much I hate dishes... but he NEVER puts anything in it's proper place when he puts them away.

Now it's no secret I'm not the tidiest person. On any given day, my living room looks like this:But other parts of my life are obsessively-compulsively organized. My beads, my books, my CDs.... and my cupboards. All my utensils are sorted by size, mugs go in one cupboards, glasses in another, plates are NEVER stacked on top of bowls, larger items are NEVER stacked on top of smaller items etc.

Dave however, just shoves everything in the cupboard willynilly. He's broken a glass casserole as well as my glass bread pan, both by making Jenga towers of my pots and pans (though he denies it and says it's my fault.) You don't even want to see my tupperware cupboard. In fact I'm scared to open it because I'm sure there will be an avalanche.

The other thing he did this week... filled up the cat food container, which normally would be a really nice thing - he rarely ever does things like that and prefers to tell the cats they need to skip a few meals (they are all pretty chubby). I'd be really delighted except for this:That round silver thing at the bottom is the scoop.. now buried under all the cat food because he didn't take it out before he filled it.

Now the question is.. did he do it on purpose? Or was he just being lazy?

Friday

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my cat?Okay... I know, there are plenty of things wrong with him.. but seriously... this is getting out of hand.

My regular readers might remember that I keep a trough a grass growing for the cats. Last year, both Rocky and Tux decided they wanted to sleep in it. It's the perfect size for Rocky, but Tux's fat spills over the sides. Eventually they killed all the flattened grass and I put it away for the winter.

Earlier this year, Dave and I were at Home Depot and I saw the lovely blue dish Rocky has his butt planted in. I thought it was perfect for cat grass because it was low, and heavy so they wouldn't tip it over like the do with taller pots, and small enough that they wouldn't be able to lay on it.

Boy was I wrong. While Tux hasn't bothered with it, Rocky thinks it's a little grass throne made just for him. He flattened and killed all the grass in it in less than two weeks, so I replanted the trough and put it outside to grow. I brought it in the other day, and intended on replanting the blue dish, while he works on killing the grass in the trough.

And I come home and find the above picture... sitting half in the blue dish, half in the trough, munching on the grass.

That's just messed!

On the knitting front, I did manage to cast on again for the Rose Shrug, this time with the correct amount of stitches.
I'm back up to where I was when I realized I had to frog it, but I haven't done much more. I have a really good book right now and it's keeping me from knitting. Normally, I read an hour or two every night before I go to bed, but lately, I've wanted to read during knitting hours too. I think I'll finish the book up tonight, and get back to knitting on the weekend.

Under the Weather

I am feeling soooooo crappy.... I have some sinus issues that flare up every once in a while, and well.... it's that while... and it's bad. I don't so much mind the runny nose and stuffy feeling, but the sore neck and headaches that have come along for the ride I could do without. I don't want to do much but close my eyes and nap -- but the floor needs mopping, the cats need disciplining and the knitting is calling....

Of it all the only thing getting attention is the knitting (well the cats are too, but only when they are really doing something they shouldn't)

I am pleased to say that my treatment for Second Sock Syndrome is working swimmingly so far. A few weeks ago I cast on for the second of my Father's Day socks and I'm making good progress.
I haven't been working on it steady because of all the baby stuff I've been doing, as well as working away on my own designs.

I also decided to cast on for another project (yeah like I needed one). I've cast on for the Rose Shrug

I really like the shape of it, and I love shrugs. I have a very short torso so anything that ends at my actual waist line makes me look like Erkle. I need long or short... and shrugs help elongate me a little... plus they are nice quick knits.

I'm using some of the blue chunky yarn that came from my Great Aunt.

I had some really nice progress to show you, when all of a sudden I realized I only cast on 105 stitches.. and I should have cast on 121.... I'm not sure how it happened... I counted three times... chalk it up to muzzy head.

So, it got frogged, but no worries, I'll cast it on again tomorrow. One of my college friends has just learned how to knit, and she's coming over tomorrow. I think it might be a good pattern for her too.

Well I'm off to read and rest my neck.

Back to knitting

Well... thanks to my lovely, perfect, most wonderful Dave.... I did get to dye some yarn after all yesterday.

After I finished posting, he came in and saw me moping... then he gave me money to go to the store and buy some saran wrap. (I think he just didn't want me whining because he was paying more attention to the computer than me) I also took some time to make some stitch markers... but no pictures.. I didn't take any... all will be revealed soon.

So, anyway, after Saturday's gardening-dying-beading-cooking-filled day(I made a nice roast chicken for us)... I took a much needed day to relax today. I finished up a set of slippers I'm designing (pics of those coming soon too) while lounging on the couch watching movies. When I was done the slippers I was thrilled because I had some left over sock yarn!!!
So yep.... that's three more squares for the afghan!

But now Peno is telling me it's time for bed... so I better be off...It's never wise to ignore that look... it usually means she'll retaliate if you do.

In the garden

I've only got a few minutes here, so it's gotta be a quick post. Dave gave up the computer to go clean his car (there's something like three dust motes in it so it must be completely detailed)

I've been out in the garden most of the day... finally chopping back my wild roses. (Thank you to dad for lending me a proper pair of pruners... so much easier than the kitchen scissors.)

Remember what it looked like a couple of weeks ago?

This is what it looks like now
I still need to weed, but it looks much better.... and in the back left corner, you can see my peonies are getting ready to bloom. Of course in two weeks the roses will be right back to where they were, but in the mean time I can get in, weed, throw down some mulch and they aren't taking over my lawn.

While I was out in the garden I went down the side of the house and discovered this:
A whole lawn full of tiny white violets
I've seen the leaves in my lawn before, but they've never bloomed... I guess they were just too young.

These, of course, will all get mowed down (like the grape hyacinths) so I dug some up and put them in pots for Mom and my grandma to plant in their gardens. And I put some in my back garden.
I only have orange lilies back there. The soil is really sandy and I've never bothered to amend it. I think I will this year, and hopefully these little cuties will take it over.

Now, I was going to spend the rest of the afternoon dying yarn.... but I don't have enough saran wrap and I'm flat broke so I can't even hop over to the store to by some. I guess I'll go read and enjoy the sun before the wind blows in another thunder storm

The dangers of narcotics

A strange thing seems to be happening to me while under the influence.... I've an almost uncontrollable urge to be crafty.... or at least more crafty than normal.

It's happened a couple of times, the most recent on the weekend. While relaxing on the bed with a book, buried under a pile of cats, letting the soothing numbness of the painkillers take over, I got the sudden urge to cross stitch.

Yes. Cross stitch. I have a house full of crafts -- Sculpy, pencil crayons, crayons, paints, beads, and yarn galore. I have several projects on the needles, and need to build some jewellry inventory for an upcoming show... but all I can think about as I lie there is embroidery floss and the perfectly aligned weaving of aida cloth. The stitch, stitch, stitch of making little exes all over the fabric.

And it's not the first time for this strange yearning, it happened a few weeks ago under similar circumstances.

The problem is, despite all the craft supplies I have in the house, I don't have one ounce of floss.
I rectified the problem on Monday, and went up to mom's and stole our box of floss.
I say our box of floss because I contributed to it a lot over the years. You see, I used to cross stitch all the time. Well.... not all the time, as a child with undiagnosed ADD (okay mom says it's just a short attention span, but I'm convinced it's ADD) I cross stitched on a semi-regular basis.

It started after a trip to the Needlework Show in Toronto when I was about 8 years old. Mom had just started knitting for Julie who had a booth there. I was totally against knitting at the time, (knitting kinda snuck up on me and sucked me in a few years ago) but I was quite content to pick out things for Mom to knit for me.

Fortunately for Mom, there was a kids' activity section. I don't remember all the activities I did, but I did get to use a serger and make my own tank top (which was three sizes too big and I used as a beach cover until I was 13) and I also learned to cross stitch... it was a Christmas themed project (I think it was a stocking but it might have been a candy cane) and we used HUGE holed aida cloth (6 count I think) and dk yarn.

But I was hooked... or as I said... as hooked as I could be. I crossed stitched pretty steady at first, graduating from yarn to floss and 14 and 16 count aida. Mom bought me several pattern leaflets, and slowly we built up the floss collection. Grandparents got simple cross stitched pictures for Christmas, one of the most complicated projects was a butterfly I stitched for 4-H. I made my dad a sampler of ducks and it took me several years to finish.

As the years went by I stopped for a while, but I started again when my Mom found a beautiful leaflet of cross stitch faeries. I stitched the Fairy Godmother for Sam when she had her first baby.

(Not my version.. this is the one from the book)

Both Owen and Lily have baby quilts with cross stitched centres, but I really haven't touched it since then.

But.. I want to start stitching again. I have a gorgeous pattern of a Sorceress done on black aida and I'm torn between it,and the forest faerie from the leaflet, which I've always wanted to do.

The Forest Faerie

While I'm deciding, Mom gave me a Debbie Mumm cross stitch kit she's had kicking around for a while:
I've been picking away at it:Definitely glad I started on this before tackling a larger project. I really need to get back in the swing.

Time Flies...

Would some one please tell me where the hell April went? It's seems like only yesterday I was knitting Easter elephants and now it's already May 2nd.

It was a pretty busy, crappy weekend, mostly filled with car-related issues... definitely not my favourite way to spend the weekend. Dave finally got his car back (which is nice because now I don't have to pick him up and drive him home... I love him, but I certainly won't miss being chauffeur.. I need a boyfriend who lives less than 80 km away)

His car is running good (new engine) but not perfect, so Saturday morning was spent wandering around a scrap yard .... definitely not my favourite way to spend a Saturday morning.... especially when I managed to try to ram a piece of re-bar through my foot while wandering through row upon row of wrecked GMs.I ended up with a nice sore purple bruise from my trouble. Lesson learned -- wear appropriate footwear to the scrap yard.. skirts are okay, but full foot coverage is a must.

We did find the parts he needed and hopefully the problem is resolved. He also took the time to do a much-needed tune-up on my car, so she's running a little happier.

I was also sick this weekend (no it's not the swine flu) which added to my general misery. However, I did manage to knit up a little bonnet to go with my Baby Janes.
It's the Lace Baby Bonnet by Heidi Sunday. It's a nice little pattern, though if I were to do it again, I would adjust the pattern for smaller needles.... 4mm is just too loose. I also added an eyelet band to the bottom. The lace pattern is nice an easy, and it may just end up in one of my designs one day.

Speaking of designs, I have one just about ready to come off the needles, so hopefully you'll see it in a week or two.