Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Trying to win free tix for my hubby & son

Want to win 2 free tickets to the Steelers v Rams game on the December 24th? Troy Polamalu is giving them away. Check it out http://ow.ly/834b5



Friday, December 9, 2011

Winter concert

The concert was great. The choir is coed and they sounded FANTASTIC! Christopher did such a great job. I am really happy with the schools my kids ended up with when we moved. I think it is closest to what we came from but they are both excelling and that makes me happy.

Tomorrow is Christopher's next wrestling match. The first one was so hard to watch. I imagine tomorrow will be just as difficult. I will be a nervous wreck AGAIN.

No more progress on Christopher's hat. Not sure what it is but just no motivation to finish it. Maybe cause Nicholas won't wear his hat and scarf that I made him when it was 24 degrees today. We are currently under a Winter Weather Advisory for lake effect snow. We shall see if it snows.

Also meeting up with a friend from a group I was a part of tomorrow for some much needed grown up time with someone other than my family! YAY! I may not have money to really shop but I can certainly use the friend time.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Slow going.

I am working on Chris' striped hat but it has been slow going. I am not sure why. It is fairly simple rib pattern. I have a lot of other projects lined up after this hat. I have another striped scarf and hat (Pink & Brown) for my bestie in Ohio. Two simple scarfs for her two boys and hats if I have enough yarn leftover. A scarf and hat for her daughter in soft pink and white. I have a scarf for my stepdaughter (pink with black accents) and a hat for her bf (red & black). Then there is the hat for my dear friend's daughter which will prove to be the hardest thing that I have ever made but I am up for the challenge. Also a stuffed ladybug pillow for her mom. I want to also make my mom something but I haven't decided yet. Oh yea and her boyfriend wants a hat too. And lastly something for my grandmother. I am thinking some kind of shawl. Oh and then there is me. I want to make myself a scarf and hat too. Whew.

There is no way I will finish all of that by Christmas and at this rate, I don't see it happening. We shall see. In other news, still trying to find a job with no luck. We need it so bad. Struggling in a new place is hard. Especially when you don't know a soul. Anyhoo... back to it. Tonight is Christopher's choir concert and he has a cold. :( Last night was his first wrestling match and he did well but lost and he took it hard. Didn't help that he was feeling bad.

Monday, December 5, 2011

I want.

What a cool idea this is. I want one!! It is not only cute but what a simple method to help count rows. I have been using an app on my phone called County to help me. Very simple as well but eats up the battery.

If you are a knitter too and want to check it out, they have a video on the page here.

New hat

So after taking a couple days off from knitting, I started on Chris' hat and Brian's. I ended up finishing Brian's hat first cause it is the easiest hat ever to make. It is the same pattern as the one I used for Nick's hat. Here is the work in progress:

It only took me a day this time to complete it. Here is Brian modeling the hat. Granted he looks like a tired beast cause it was bout 2AM when I took the pictures after watching a movie. Poor guy works two jobs and is beat.



Sunday, November 27, 2011

Finished the scarf!

So I finished Chris' scarf tonight. Will start on his hat tomorrow. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. He wants me to add fringe to it but I am not sold on that yet. Gonna finish the hat first and see how much yarn I have left. Then I am going to work on my husband's hat using the same pattern I used for Nick's hat. But for now...bed.

I have been a knitting fool...

I have about five projects lined up, at LEAST. :)

I love knitting! It is so relaxing and fun. I finished Nick's scarf and even though the pattern kept switching sides, it came out pretty neat! He loves it despite the look on his face!



Once I finished Nick's scarf, I started on the matching hat. Using a k2, p2 rib, it was the EASIEST hat ever. Took me two days to make. Nick has trouble when I use a flash! :D I am so happy with the way it came out.

The next project that I am working on is Christopher's striped scarf with his school colors. I was so nervous about alternating colors but it is SO EASY. I am using a simple K1, P1 rib. It makes a seamless color change too. It is coming out great and I am almost done with it. Once I finish it, I will start on the matching hat.


After that, I have a few more projects lined up. Making my husband a hat. A few presents for my friend and her kids and making my grandmother a shawl. I have a few other projects for my mom and her bf. Then myself. I want a scarf. It gets cold up here! :D

If I don't get a job soon, I will be knitting pretty much daily. I did have an interview last week. We shall see if that develops into something. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Well.. that's it for now. ;)




Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Finished first scarf and next project in the works.

Ok so I made a lot of mistakes and it was a GREAT learning experience. Brian loves it of course. He calls this his "Sears pose". The finished product was approx. 4 ft in length but on him it looks small cause he is so tall.

My next project is a scarf for my oldest son. He loves hunter green so I am using a medium yarn and a US8 needle. I started with a CO of 39 stitches. I knit 8 rows of straight garter stitch for the bottom.. then began a R1: K; R2: P1, *K1, P1* pattern for the rest of the project. I am currently about 70% done with it. This one is turning out to be way easier, less mistakes and my speed has increased greatly. I am having one issue with it and I am not sure what I am doing to cause this. Regardless, I like the alternation that is happening so I just am leaving it for now. I wonder if any other knitters out there can help me understand why this is happening where my pattern switches sides. See pictures for more.
 See how its flip flopping? Whatever is causing it, it hasn't for awhile now. It looks like I did it on purpose though.

It is almost finished but you can tell I am a beginner.


Monday, October 31, 2011

Knitting Frenzy

So I have started teaching myself to knit.I figure a great first project would be a scarf. So I am making scarves for everyone. I started one for my oldest but it was definitely practice and I will be starting his over. It looked wacky. So now I am working on another scarf for my hubby. Simple navy with straight garter stitch. I am using a US 6 needle and really soft navy wool yarn. I started with a cast on of 30. I am still learning all the terms and acronyms/abbreviations. So much to learn!

I started it cause I need to relax! Stress is eating me alive! This move was a huge adjustment for all of us but me sitting here at home was driving me nuts. The boys are doing great in school. My youngest joined the football team at his school and they just finished an undefeated season! The last game was this past Saturday. It was the BEST game of the entire season. Chris really played his heart out and made some good plays. I got a pic of him after the game. So far life in NY has been ok. It is really beautiful here but I wish I had a friend or something to get me out of the house.

SOO I am knitting and getting back to my crafty side. I used to make all kind of crafts and stuff so I am tapping into that. :)

I will be posting more about my crafts and share pics of my projects as I go along. Maybe I can start making things to sell on etsy or something.We shall see. If anyone needs a website or custom graphics, let me know cause I still do that as well. :)

TTFN

Thursday, July 21, 2011

New life in New York.

Brian's job transferred us to upstate NY. What a difference. Close to my family which is GREAT but it has been an adjustment. I miss my job and I miss my friends. My boys were NOT happy about this move either, especially Nicholas. I am bored out of my mind since I had to quit my job. I am not happy with where my husband chose for us to live (basement apartment) and I am just not dealing with it well. I have no friends here and my family is just not close enough to me that I can see them regularly. Trying to be positive but it is hard.

I have been working diligently on getting my freelance site redesigned and try to get that really going cause the job market here is dismal. Certainly nothing for someone like me. I would like to go back to school and SUNYIT is right here so that would be FANTASTIC.

It is just like we are starting over from scratch AGAIN... I am too old and tired of starting over. :\

Ok I am done whining. LOL