I belong in Rome :D

You Belong in Rome You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better? What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

I absolutely love this one!!! Of course I already have my gorgeous Italian, so this one is an easy fit ;)

Mom's in town, so I've been enjoying her company, loving that she gets to play with Grace and give me some time to knit :happy dance: I'm busy plugging away on a gift for a friend...details and pics to follow in a few weeks - surprise gift and all, you know how it goes.

Got my hair shaped today (fancy term for hair cut) and I love it! I havent had a hair cut since a month before my baby was born - yes, way too long. But it was less stressful to just throw it in a pony tail than try to find a decent salon out here (still feel new in town) My mom was a willing guinea pig for me and tried one salon...they did ok on her, but she recommended I try somewhere else, so I finally stopped by Elegante and I love this place...they do nails and massages too [guess what's going on my Christmas list]. FYI: Elegante can only be found in the Chicago area.

OTN: Surprise Gift, Smartly Shaped Tank, Grace's Blankie, Grace's Cardigan

Technical [photo] Difficulties

Ok, so I'm having an issue right now with my photos...no, I'm not stealing bandwidth, but I did just merge my flickr and Yahoo account and that may have changed something...if you click on any of the "blank" photos, it will take you to the flickr photo so it is half working, hopefully it some snafu at the moment and will be fixed shortly. I am too tired to investigate any further at this very moment. Any suggestions are welcome, otherwise I'll wait it out/figure it out later :)

~back to knitting, g'nite :)

Hmmm...

still dont have photos for you...keep forgetting to get the batteries out of Gracie's room when she is awake. Not that it matters too much, the progress I made on the Honeymoon Cami is about to visit the lily pad as my gauge is way off. Does anyone else have the problem that their gauge swatch and actual knitted piece dont necessarily match? I use the exact same yarn and exact same needles for both and I'm generally in the same mood whenever I pick up this project - I have baby blankets to knit when I'm feeling stressed and need to relax, or when I'm too tired; I just dont get why my gauge swatch seems to be different...I guess I'll figure it out some day ;)

I am so unsettled over the Katrina disaster I dont know what to say...I am thankful that I have no family in the region and I have been praying for the survivors and the families affected by the situation. I wish I could do more...

Well, I'm off to get a few rows in before sleep takes over - have you seen the new version of the Tivoli? here's the Picovoli! I am so glad that I have been too busy to get to starting the Tivoli, I like the updated version so much better!

I have a few pictures for you

Because my digital camera needs new batteries again, I dont have an update on my latest endeavor. But I have a few pics of my little monster sweet daughter, and I just cant remember if I showed you where I left off with my now stalled lace project; since I'm so proud of both here you go:


My sweet little girl striking a pose.


Quite a mouthful of animal circus cookies, not sure how many animals she's crammed in there...half the circus probably


Must have been a lion or two, now she's roaring :)


She really likes having her picture taken.


And here is some knitting content for you, I'm actually starting to want to get back to this one, now that I've looked at the pictures again...

I'll try to get some pics of my newest project up...soon

Oh, I nearly forgot! Thank You Brianne!!! I love the pattern book you sent, I cant wait to check my stash and make Gracie one of those beautiful dresses - they are soo cute! (I'll get a pic of this up soon too)

I'm off to knit some!

Just cant resist these

You're Jane Eyre of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte!

Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?

[sorry about the broken credit to quizzilla, I tried to fix it and lost it]

This one actually fits me to a tee, so now you know just a bit more about me :)
Good read too, by the way.

I have no excuses this time...

No more promises either...

The funny thing is I really do like blogging, I like clearing my head of whatever happens to be rattling around in there, and I like the sound of the keyboard doing its thing while I think - it's actually been doing a better job of obeying my desires lately too :)

So I guess I should start where I left off ~ we had a fabulous time at my Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary. I am so glad that we were able to make it after all (even if we couldnt afford it - it is one of those "once in a lifetime" events after all). Just about the whole family made it and a few friends from California, and Grace (as if on cue) took her 1st steps that evening back at their place. [For those new here, or who may not have a calendar marking each of Grace's landmarks ;) she crawled for the first time there too when we visited back in March - at least her daddy was there for this one] I really loved seeing everyone, I miss my family very much and cannot wait to visit San Diego again - this is the longest I've EVER been away.

The top I made for my sister came out much to small (as I figured), so I got to bring it back with me and play with it some more (Dr. Frankenstein time)...a few tries later, and after sitting down with a calculator I think I've come up with the closest formula that I can get without corrupting the design - I wanted to try short row shaping, but dont know how that works in a lace pattern yet, but all is well now I think :) I'm quite proud of myself, actually. And big props to Paton's Grace yarn - it has been through the wringer with me lots of visits to the frog pond and still looks good to me!

Now I'm juggling attempting the Honeymoon Cami from knitty.com with the Sirdar Duet yarn my mom got me for my birthday - I am going to attemt a striping pattern in peacock (blue) and lime (green). I'll keep you posted on that progress...so far I'm finding the yarn really likes to snag on the shiny part, so I'm having to really be diligent during those sections, otherwise, I really like it and I think it will have a very nice drape.

OH, last weekend we were watching the Bears game, and they did the 85 Super Bowl flash-back and I noticed Mike Ditka's sweater vest and casually mentioned if DH would like something like that and he got totally excited about it!!! So far, when I've brought up making something for him, he's been like "nah, I dont need anything, make something for yourself" but I finally found something he wants! I am sooo excited, now I just have to figure out what I've gotten myself into: am I ready to employ fair isle in my knitting or should I just duplicate stitch B-E-A-R-S across the front, I think I've figured out the basic shape and styling, but I'm still looking around.
Now I just have to get more yarn ;) - I certainly dont have any Orange just sitting around, and of course the other colors will need to coordinate, Knitpicks Wool of the Andes is a little "thin" but I gues I could double strand or look for a base pattern that will be happy with that gauge...

Things are definately looking up around here, Grace is a tornado, but she's having fun and that's what she's supposed to do at this age so I guess I'll hold on tight for now :)

Of to get a couple rows in, unti next time, Happy Knitting!

Hooray!

Hooray for Brianne!!! Knitting has finally clicked for her!!! I am very proud of her as she is one of my long time friends who I didnt know until recently was addicted to yarn too! I have successfully wooed her over from crochet only land and now she has two crafts to satisfy her yarn cravings :) Go over and congratulate her!

It is so humid/muggy/hot out here I am literally melting. And I just bought a bunch of wool yarn to make a cute sweater, but I cannot go near it, I must wait for the heat to subside :(

We also just got our first full summer month electricity bill, yikes! is all I have to say about that one...

I just finished the shawl I made for my Grandma just in time to take it to her as the family is all congregating in TX this weekend for their 50th Wedding Anniversary! Very exciting!!! The family is also stoked to get to see Gracie...she has grown so much since she's seen my family last.

I am also on the last row of my "potato chip" scarf...I'm not sure how I feel about linking this pattern with the copyright hullabaloo going on, so if you want it, go find it at www.knitpicks.com under their free patterns. I'm not sure if I'll be doing any more of these, cramming all those stitches in really made my hands hurt...and that's after extending my longest cord with the 2nd longest cord - I do not know how anyone does this pattern on straight needles, I wouldnt recommend trying it.

Now down to the final countdown to recieving my copy of The Half Blood Prince, my sister was so kind to buy it for me (she of course read it first...had to make sure all the pages were there and what not) I promise this will be a spoiler free zone.

Well, off to pack for TX, I've never been good at packing earlier than the night before ;)
Happy knitting, and I'll see you when I see you :)

Ha! I didnt forget you after all...

Gee, I really wrote a lot yesterday...sometimes it looks more intimidating because of the layout... but, you can tell I didnt get to talk to any "adults" yesterday - sorry about that :) Oh, and I hope I didnt hurt anyone's feelings that I'd rather knit than blog, I really care about anyone who happens upon my blog and hope to work out the regular blogging thing soon :)

Today was a lovely day, when Grace and I got back from our outing yesterday, I found a UPS tag on the door ~ not that it would matter if I'd been home anyway, our doorbell has only worked once since we moved in. So today I walked on over to the rental office to pick up the package - for John - and didnt think to put Grace in her stroller so it was fun trying to balance the baby and the box. Thankfully everyone made it home in one piece and now John has a bunch of cigars to keep him happy on the golf course. Oh, and while at the office, I mentioned the door bell situation (I'm tired of missing pkgs and we have Poker tomorrow night, so it was time to remedy the situation) and an hour later the maintenance guy had everything fixed - the connectors were dirty outside [like you really needed to know]
I took this latest arrival [John's cigars] as my "sign" that I do deserve to aquire the Denise set, so I finally made it to Kool Knits (my new fav LYS) and managed to resist scooping up some more yarn - very yummy stuff, but I was already pushing it - and I really love the set, I think I like the resin better than I like bamboo...I know blasphemy to some, but I love how light, slippery, and silent these are to work with.
While we were out, we made a quick stop at Trader Joes, and discovered Gracie loves blueberries! She is such a healthy girl, I'm very proud of her :)
Well, I'm off to dream about knitting ;)

Thought I Disappeared Again?

Well, I guess I did disappear again, sort of...it is amazing to me how much harder it is to blog during the summer. It probably doesn't help that the desk and computer are now in our bedroom in the new place, so I don't get much of a chance to be a late-night blogger anymore. Now you've found my secret, I prefer sneaking in knitting time to blogging, I'm sorry.

Honestly, I think the summer days just aren't as conducive to desperately seeking connection with others. Between the sun being out in all its glory, and all the vacations tucked in here and there, I've noticed many a blogger go MIA, I'm sure we will all be back to our regular posting once the weather locks us back inside ;)

Lots of knitting has gone on, along with some fidgeting with our "stuff" to try to get it to "fit" better into this place. When we 1st moved out here last year (yes, Grace and I have officially been out here in Chicago-land for a year now) I had no choice but to pull the "1st time mom" card, so we just dealt with our stuff being all around us at the old place and since the baby couldn't get into things, that worked out ok as long as we didn't really want to move around ourselves very much. Now with our 1 year old tornado, I devote much time every day trying to keep up with the wreckage in the wake of her fury of discovery as well as try to find "better" places to put things - ie: out of her reach, ha! Plus, we of course have poker night this week, and since they were the guys who helped us move, I want to show that I am making better use of this place than we were able to get out of the last one.
~but I digress again...

I finished the 2nd attempt at the Lace Up Camisole from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 05, and I'm not sure if I knit tighter than my swatch - honestly I swatched this time! - or if the pattern just wasn't written for a body that is not "flat chested" the measurements had me wondering in the first place, but I figured I was just not reading it right or it was a typo or something...and I'm still not sure, I now have a very pretty lace top that might fit if I had the proper "propping" undergarments ~ the intended victim does however, so I'm trying to be patient, figure I'll let her try it on and then go from there instead of rashly frogging something that may be just fine after all. My biggest concern came as I finished with a skein and a half left over. I had to re-read everything a couple times to make sure I didn't miss something somewhere, but nothing has popped out yet...so I guess time will have to tell.

Joann's is having a pretty awesome run of clearance yarn (in store) so I am finally accumulating quite a stash of cotton yarn...I have the rest of the week to decide if I'm going back to snatch up some more - if only I can find the justification for it, it is pretty hard to resist $2 skeins.

I've also recently become quite torn in the debate of continue to buy needles on an "as needed" basis (especially since my Grandma did help out greatly in the accumulation process), or whether to jump in on an interchangeable needles set which adds the great debate Denise Interchangeable vs Boye Needlemaster. There are so many pluses and minuses for both, I had nearly given up until I got home tonight, and got excited about starting Tempting or Lelah, and discovered that my size 8 circs are too long and I don't have either of the needles Lelah requires. Oh, what do I do, what do I do?

I'm really considering just working on some baby blankets and getting over myself - but that is no fun :)

I guess I'll just have to sleep on it - again! - and will probably wake up just as confused. I think I'm going to go to my LYS tomorrow and see what she suggests/and if maybe they have a Denise set that I can touch and feel and maybe then I'll be a little more comfortable with this decision...I've really been reading as much as I can find on both since I heard of them - well, first I was saving up for the Needlemaster set, and then I heard about the Denise set and that's when the frustration over the "right" choice set in. I am not much of a product snob, as long as I get the quality I expect for the price I spent I am happy, so the aluminum/plastic debate doesn't sway me much - my biggest deal is why did the Denise come up with non-conforming metric sizes, will this make much of a difference, and do I really need the convenience of interchangeability for my needles less than size 5 US?

ugh, well it is way too late (yes it is after 1am - DH is on a short business trip), I'm gonna get some much needed sleep so I can keep up with my tornado tomorrow.

Until next time, happy knitting! :)

I've been RAOK'd!!!

So, my mail carrier was late yesterday, and I didnt get my mail before DH came home so I havent had the chance to share my barely contained excitement until now...

Yesterday was just a normal day, running lots of errands and fairly tired, until my mail finally came and I found this on top of the pile:


~sorry it's blury, our camera doesnt have zoom - but the sticker says "Canada Post".

Now who could I possibly know from Canada?



no one other than the Yarn Harlot!!! I was so excited I floated all night - for multiple reasons, really:

1. I lovelovelove reading her blog, I may not comment, but that is generally because it takes me far longer (and in a very disjointed fashion) to do anything these days as Grace gets more mobile every day minute.
2. I of course (just like everyone else) love getting packages.
3. Inside this package was yarn - I am enabled to start yet another project!!!
4. This yarn is destined to be Grace's winter sweater...which I've been plotting for lately, and this neutral color is just what I'd be looking for if I was ready (and had the $$) right now.
5. I was real happy to get a birthday present :)

~By the way, there are 2 skeins, very exciting, I will probably add a bit of a "girly" color just for fun.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Stephanie!!!

---more knitting news to follow, but Gracie just woke up, Happy Knitting!