Handy Hooker

12 in 12 Reduce the Mileage Goals

2012-01-27T09:36:00.002-05:00

In June 2011, I posted here about my current Reduce the Mileage Goals. Here is the update and at the bottom is the total mileage I knitted/crocheted for the year 2011!

Palm Readers in unknown yarn: 125 yards
Werewolf Hat in Cascade 128: 128 yards
Bella's Mitten in Lambs Pride Bulky hand dyed by me: 125 yards
Total yardage for July 2011 was 378.

Partial Fishy Sweater, 2 skeins of Knit Picks Wool of Andes: 220 yards
Second Bella's Mitten in Lambs Pride bulky hand dyed by me: 125 yards.
Partial Corona Sweater in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, 2 skeins: 430 yards.
Total yardage for August 2011 was 775 yards.

Tunisian Crochet Scarf tester, 1/2 skein of Cascade superwash sport hand dyed by me: 110 yards.
Ghey Hat in Lambs Pride Bulky hand dyed by me: 125 yards.
Vampire Diary Protector, 1 skein Full O'Sheep: 155 yards.
One Bella Mitten Arm Warmer, Lambs Pride bulky hand dyed by me: 125 yards.
Total yardage for September 2011 was 515 yards.

Zero knitting for October 2011, but I bought a pretty beaded scarf kit!

Toddler Tunic, Lambs Pride Bulky hand dyed by me: 155 yards
Red Granny Crochet Square Sweater, 4 skeins Cascade 128: 512 yards
Mud Sweater, Lambs Pride worsted, 3 skeins: 570 yards
Finished Corona Sweater, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece: 430 yards
Half of Beaded Scarf, Interlacements Tiny Toes: 92.5 yards
Two hats, Plymouth Encore worsted: 200 yards
Total yardage for November 2011: 1,959.5 yards

Finished beaded scarf, Interlacements Tiny Toes: 92.5 yards
Family Mittens, Plymouth Baby Grande Alpaca: 110 yards
Total yardage for December 2011 202.5

So in conclusion, for the year 2011, I knitted/crocheted 11,466 yards or 6.5 miles!

On Spelling Words

2012-01-25T19:23:00.002-05:00

James has spelling tests every Friday at school. From September to December his spelling lists consisted of basic words that were easily sounded out. In January, his teacher decided to leapfrog James to another group of spelling lists. So, things have gotten more challenging to help James learn his weekly spelling lists.

This weeks list was the following: best, green, mean, left, wheel, team, neck, sheet, deal, bell, street, reach, will and with. I took 21 popsicle sticks and wrote a single letter on each one, so that James could use the sticks to spell the words.

Despite him glaring at me, he does enjoy this "game" to learn his words.

As the challenges get harder, it is my job to be creative and keep James engaged and interested in learning. Standing over him and forcing him to do homework has never worked. We have to jiggle and wiggle and get his little mind and body moving to keep him interested.

How do you help your child with spelling?

Life Lessons

2012-01-24T19:45:00.002-05:00

Through the years, I've found there are a few truths. In life, the many shades of gray muddy the truths of many situations. But there is one truth, orange always makes me happy. If I was to pick a color that makes me smile, it is orange.

For 12 years I had an orange kitty...You can read about him and his many foibles here:

Whiz Beta Fishing

Whiz and Jesse and the Werewolf Hat

Whiz and Guy Counseling Session Swan Dive

Whiz and Jesse and the Easter Dress

Whiz and Momma and the Baby Hold

Whiz Helping Momma Dye Yarn

Whiz and Jesse

Whiz Makes and Appearance in the Snake Story

Whiz Doofus Look in the Flower Bed

Whiz and Jesse and the Case of the Giant Backpack

Whiz Saying HI! to Momma

Whiz and the Case of the Cheating Cats

Whiz lets Jon Talk Him Down After Cat Fight

Whiz Pink Tongue, Pink Rose Picture

Whiz's Story and How He Came to Be Mine

It was a rainy, sad day on Sunday when we took Whiz to be buried at Grandpa's. James fixed my breakfast and coffee and had it waiting for me when I woke up Sunday morning. He said he wanted to do something nice to make me happy because he knew I was going to be sad to bury Whiz.

For me and mine, I believe it is our duty to go with our pet, every step of the way. We didn't hide the death from the kids. Death is one of those truths, facing it, accepting it, and moving on is all part of the process. Teaching my kids this now is so very important to me. They need to know and we navigated this loss with my kids demonstrating empathy, sorrow and so much love. I'm proud of them.

Whiz will be missed. His twin gray brother is resting by my feet on my steel toe boots. Hopefully we will have many more years with him.

Much love and hope all is well with you and yours.

Tunisian Crochet

2012-01-18T10:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, my friend, Kelly of the Morris Tribe Homesteading blog, posted a video of her and I where I showed her the beginning ropes of tunisian crochet. Kelly has an enthusiasm that makes it hard not to just smile and laugh, so what you don't see is the intro where we laughed so hard at her misunderstanding my last name. She insists her kids (she has 9!) call me Mrs. Handyman and I've let it go on, but Monday for the video, she introduced me as Mrs. Handyman and I corrected her. She was floored and we got the biggest laugh out of the whole misunderstanding. So the video cues to us after the mishap. What I couldn't convey in that video was how much I love tunisian crochet because I have a small fear of camera's. Well, being in front of them. Below is some additional information, I've accumulated to get others started tunisian crocheting.

I've found several resources for designers, teachers and patterns for tunisian crochet. The tunisian crochet technique isn't very popular when compared to the crochet and knit community. I like to think of it as a bastard child of crochet and knit. When in reality it stands on its own as a wonderful technique with many possibilities.

My favorite tunisian crochet designer is Kim Guzman. I originally "met" her in Crochetville where I took her on-line class on tunisian crochet for her Butterfly Wing Afghan. Wonderful class materials and she is so helpful and always available for on-line help with any of her patterns. She just seems to be an energetic, wonderfully nice person in the crochet community. Check out her blog WIPs and Chains.

Chez Crochet (Arnie) is the guru of tunisian crochet, IMHO. She has compiled an Encyclopedia of Tunisian Crochet Stitches. I've purchased this book for $25 and read it cover to cover. Yes, I love to read pattern books. It is a wonderful book to have in your library if you are interested in doing tunisian crochet. Check out her blog Crochet Coalition.

Kim and Arnie have a Yahoo tunisian crochet group that is a wonderful resource and a compilation of resources, projects and tips, tricks and techniques of tunisian crochet.

Another designer that I've purchased patterns from is AG Mode. I purchased the Angel lace bolero, tunisian crochet pattern from her. While the finished product looks amazing, I have not been able to get past the second row in the pattern. So, I've set the pattern away and will visit it in a few years when my skills with tunisian crochet have advanced. Check out her blog AG mode...art to glam.

And the fourth resource that I have found is Sharon Silverman who has written Tunisian Crochet: The Look of Knitting with the Ease of Crocheting. She has many tunisian crochet pattern books that look amazing and they are on my Amazon.com wishlist. Check out her blog Crochet Sharon.

All pictures are projects I've done in tunisian crochet over the years. It is a fun, fast craft and I love having it in my crafting tool belt.

Purple Love

2012-01-15T09:40:00.002-05:00

This hat. This purple hat. This purple hat that everybody loves. This purple hat that I crocheted in Caron Country (merino/acrylic blend) with a small amount of Caron Spa (bamboo/acrylic blend) that everybody loves.

Fits me.

The angels sang whenI finished it, plopped it on my head. It has to be because of the genius of the pattern, luck of picking the right yarn, which means the hat has a nice stretchy characteristic to it. Which means it fits my head as well as Jesse's head. This is what I call Purple Love, a hat for the ages.

Hope your weekend is going well. We are head, hands and heart busy.

Wood Family Plaques

2012-01-13T15:19:00.002-05:00

On this cold, blustery day, I'm wishing for a quiet moment in the woods, surrounded by the sounds of the Earth breathing. Instead, I'm cooped in a house, in town, surrounded by the sound of school bus's, car engines and random shouts of children laughing as they walk home from school. I love this life. This simple life of schedules, video games and board games. But I want more. I yearn for the life of my childhood. No TV. Horses in the field. Hiding in hay bales. Making sand chairs to watch the clouds go by.

This is the life we have chosen for the moment, I accept that. But I dream of moments where a walk in the woods, means 10 feet out the back door. I dream of barn stalls to muck, ducks to chase, rabbits to plant gardens for, and the simple farm life. If asked where does my heart beat, where does my soul settle, I'd answer, "In the barn.".

Jon made this wood wall plaque as a Christmas gift for someone else. I commandeered it and claimed it as my own. Jon still needs to cut out the outer perimeter, but this scene settled something in me. So, for now, I'll hang this on my living room wall and when I look at it, I'll dream of the someday Jon and I will have with a barn of our own.

If you are interested in a family plaque like the one pictured, message me or comment with your email address, I'll send you details.

Much love!

Love

2012-01-12T17:55:00.002-05:00

Jon took this picture. I believe in the idea that what we see, when translated into art, reveals the true "picture" of how the subject is viewed.

Okay, let me say this. In the above picture Jon sees me through the lens of the camera. I edited the picture for color saturation, exposure, and temperature to make it look better. I assume that I looked similar to the edited version in Jon's minds eye.

As an act of love, Jon drew this picture of myself, my dad and sister and cut it out on his CNC machine. From a distance, it looks pretty indicative of us and the picture that Jon took on the beach of Florida this past summer.

A closer look at Janne reveals, that maybe Jon artistically sees Janne as a snaggle tooth, wrinkly woman with flowing locks of hair.

Apparently, Jon sees me as a wrinkly (wow! eye wrinkles!), snaggle tooth woman with a Charlie Chaplin mustache.

He tells me I'm beautiful every day. Either I need to have his eyesight checked or shave my mustache. Either way, he must love me a lot.

Knit Local

2012-01-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

Knit Local by Tanis Gray (Ravelry link) was a book I didn't let it sit more than 2 seconds on my Amazon Wish List (Amazon link). I saw it, bought it, LOVED it. Google the book and you'll see lots of reviews. For me, though, I bought this book to learn more about what companies are here locally and what local yarn stores carry Made in the USA yarns.

The book includes 28 knit and crochet patterns, that while all are gorgeous, only 2 of them popped out to me; Straits of Mackinac Vest that is knit in bulky yarn and big needles and Wildflowers Scarf that is crocheted in laceweight yarn using small hook.

I was super sad to see that the one Brown Sheep pattern was for an afghan made out of worsted weight Lambs Pride. I've worked with Lambs Pride quite a bit and LOVE it, but an afghan out of it is several things, 1. a labor of love 2. a hard hit to the pocket book and 3. a PITA to hand wash. Maybe when I'm older, kids are older, dogs stop slobbering, cats stop peeing and random body parts stop excreting, I'll consider making a hand wash only afghan.

This book is a favorite of mine, and I wanted to post an educational, link heavy blog to give me a place to compile everything in one spot too, that is easily accessible. Win win for all of us!

My goal is to eventually try each and every yarn that is made locally, here in the U.S.A.. I've included a few extra links to yarns I love that were not featured in the book.

Beaverslide Dry Goods

Bijou Basin Ranch

Briar Rose

Brown Sheep Company (Fiberworks, Fiberlicious, Main Street Yarns, Wooly Bully)

Buffalo Gold

Cestari

Cherry Tree Hill

Conjoined Creations (Fiberlicious, Wooly Bully)

Elsawool

Farmhouse Yarns (Katherine's Web, Wooly Bully)

The Fibre Company

Green Mountain Spinnery

Hazel Knits

Imperial Stock Ranch (Wooly Bully)

Juniper Moon Farm

Kollage Yarns (Fiberworks)

Kraemer Yarns (Fiberworks)

Lorna's Laces (Fibrege, Lambkins, Main Street Yarns)

Morehouse Farm Merino

Mountain Meadow Wool

Ozark Handspun (Fibrege)

Pagewood Farm (Katherine's Web, Wooly Bully, Fiberlicious)

Quince & Co

Red Barn Yarn

Solitude Wool

Stonehedge Fiber Mill (Knitwits)

Swans Island Yarn

And to complete my "Get it all in one place" theme, I'm linking up my local yarn stores (LYS) in anticipation of a yarn store crawl I am planning.

Katherine's Web, 174 South Main Street, Waynesville, Ohio 45068, Hours: Wed-Sat 12-4PM

Wooly Bully, 135 S. Main Street, Springboro, Ohio 45066, Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM

Fiberworks, 1350A North Fairfield Rd Beavercreek, OH 45432, Hours: Monday 10 to 8:30pm, Tuesday 10 to 6pm, Wednesday 10 to 6pm, Thursday 10 to 9pm, Friday 10 to 6pm, Saturday 1 to 5pm, Sunday 1 to 5pm

Main Street Yarns, 126 West Main Street, Mason, Ohio 45040, Hours: Mon-Thur 10AM-7PM, Fri & Sat 10AM-5PM

Fiberlicious, 8157 Camargo Road, Madeira, Ohio 45243, Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays
10am - 5pm, Fridays & Saturdays 10am - 2pm

Fiberge, 9901 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242, Hours: Monday: 11am - 6pm, Tuesday & Wednesday: 11am - 8pm, Thursday & Friday: 11am - 6pm, Saturday: 11am - 5pm

Lambkins Hideaway, 217 South B Street, Hamilton, OH 45013, Hours: Mon 11AM-7PM, Tues 11AM-5PM, Thurs & Fri 11AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 12-5PM

Knitwits Yarn Shop, 620 Buttermilk Pike, Crescent Springs,KY 41017, Hours: Tues 11AM-8PM, Wed-Fri 11AM-6PM, Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 1-4PM

WHEW!!! Research takes time! But it has been fun to see what yarns I want to keep my eyes peeled for when visiting LYS.

Have a good one!

Wood Knit Wall Hangings

2012-01-09T12:09:00.002-05:00

Jon made these wood wall hangings. I asked him to make me a "knit" themed wood plaque and this is what he came up with. I'm gobsmacked at how much I enjoy them.

Jon's style has always been simplicity with a touch of ornateness. (That is a skein of bulky Lambs Pride and Addi Turbo Needles Jon drew for the project.)

I took these to knit night to see if these wood wall plaques would be marketable to knitters. You see, I'm fascinated with wood, so I assume (sometimes wrongly) that others will "get" the interesting factor of these things.

Jon would like to start selling these, but with a bit of hohum response from real life knitters in town, it seems that maybe these wouldn't be marketable.

That is the tricky thing with markets. Finding a small item like this, that would appeal to a lot of people, is tricky. We need a small item to list in the Etsy shop, and knitters are known to love all things knit. So, it isn't too much of a leap to assume these would have shop appeal.

Would you buy? These are made out of cherry wood, cut out with a router, and sealed with a nice matte finish. Other plaques would be out of different woods, basically what is on hand in the wood shop. We reuse wood from cabinets, to pallets to trees we've sawed down ourselves. Whatever inspires Jon at the moment.

My absolute favorite part of these two wood plaques is the "Stick it in your YAM". It should be a new knitters slogan for "Shut up, I'm knitting!"

The texture effect of the routered lines make me want to continuously pet these things. I mean, yarn in wood?! That is a marriage of my two favorite things!

Whiz Beta Fishing

2012-01-08T08:58:00.002-05:00

Sunday's at the Handy Household are busy with cleaning. I know, I know, Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest. Through negotiations with my kids, since they now are responsible for cleaning some areas of the house, we agreed on Sundays as the day I would enforce cleaning regimens.

Oh, I know people say, "Clean every day and it won't be a big deal." "A happy house is a clean house!" *barf* and "I wasn't raised to leave dishes in the sink at night."

Well, this Handy Hooker has never had a shiny sink last longer than 5 minutes. I despise washing dishes, hate cleaning and at the end all this house is happiest when I'm happiest. So, Sunday's it is for cleaning. I had a few minutes before the timer went off telling the kids it was time to clean. Figured I'd get a leg up and toss in some laundry. As I'm going through James's room gathering dirty laundry, I caught Whiz eyeing the Beta fish a little too intently.

I dashed out to grab the camera, fluffed the pillows on James bed and settled in to see what Whiz would do. You see, Jon had told me a few days ago that if the fish came up missing I needed to check the cats for evidence. I laughed him off and just couldn't believe my little wooteedoo would actually try to catch the fish.

Oh! He looked so innocent sitting there.

AW! Look! They are kissing!

Then the paw swipe! Swiper, NO SWIPING!

Guess Jon was right. Once again. Whiz WAS fishing for a snack.

Misti Shrug

2012-01-05T09:50:00.004-05:00

The Misti Shrug was one of those projects that I saw and instantly loved. I didn't know if I could pull it off wearing it, but as a knitter, the big needles, big yarn with a lace pattern appealed to my "let's try new things" creative process.

Doing lace in bulky yarn is always an exercise of surprise and delight to me. Lace patterns typically call for small yarn, small needles and lots of time. I don't want to spend "lots" of time on a project. I guess you could say I'm a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am knitter.

I want it hard and fast. Still talking knitting, people. Control that mind of yours.

I'm not a fan of the name, Misti. Probably had a girl named that call me names in High School. Grow up already, Sara.

Anywho! The project went quick. The yarn is bulky Lambs Pride hand dyed by me. I am not too thrilled with the green in this skein. It is just a little too neonish???

I've also found the perfect hair accessory, a crochet hook.

To conclude this post, a gratuitous boy story.

James was dressed in layers of pants and shirts this past weekend in anticipation of us visiting a local horse farm. We stopped at Boston Market to eat. While sitting in the booth waiting for our food, James is rubbing his crotch. When suddenly he announced to the patrons in the dining room, "I need to take off some of these pants cause it is making my peepee long.".

Hope your week is going well. Have a good one!

Blessings

2012-01-04T10:20:00.003-05:00

Two thousand eleven was such a ebbing year for me. I didn't feel as if the tides were rushing at me, instead I felt as if the year was living in the ebb and flow of family. My family, this core unit Jon and I have. Looking back, time and distance has given us many travelers through our lives. Whether they are family, friends or coworkers, their imprint in our life over the years has been stark and bold, or soft and easy. Either way, Jon and I are blessed.

Whatever has come in the past, signals to me that the power of the past doesn't always dictate our future. As a survivor of, well, life, my optimism hasn't always been high. I was raised to believe in blessings and that God answers prayers in His own time. I'm not naive enough to believe it is just plain hard work that got Jon and I where we are today. No. We've been blessed.

Looking back is done best through the lens of my camera. Oh, I wish there were moments I had captured. Like the silly bunny yawn last night. Then I see the moments that have been captured, to forever live in the memories of the family photo album and I know ours is a blessed life.

We are hopeful and optimistic that 2012 will be a blessed year. The past tells me there will be blessings, but the future seems to harken dark with many unknowns. I've had an itching to stamp my foot and demand answers to the unknowns NOW! Which I'm sure God will simply laugh and I will figuratively shake my fist at Him and then head back to the grindstone of life.

All I know, is I live in the mantra of "Keep on Trucking". Whatever 2012 holds, I know without a doubt, we'll keep on trucking.

Things I'd like to accomplish in 2012???? Many question marks. I have no desire to set goals, to wrack my brain for creative impulses. January is a difficult month. The weather is dreary, the sun rarely comes out, people are hyped up on "GOALS!" and I want to just drink more coffee to make me functional.

I've copped out of doing "real" goals, focusing on the knit goals, which are fun and keep me occupied. I don't want to exercise more. I don't want to have a more active social life. I don't want to spend money. I don't want to change.

That is it. Change. Change sends me spirally and at the beginning of this year, I feel myself on the precip of a change. My thoughts are frozen. I'm functional in life, but there is a big part of me that is occupied with marking time. I am ready to stop marking time.

Maybe my Dad's wanderlust is hereditary. Maybe I need a road trip. But there is an itching in my hands, a yearning in my heart and while I don't like change, I want change.

I'm a complicated soul. Maybe this blog post is a bit cloak and dagger. I can hear what is whirling through my head and I know when the answer reveals itself, it means the road we follow is linear, instead of forked.

For now, I'm gathering my patience, living in the now and enjoying finding new friends, furry and clothed.

The Christmas Prayer

2011-12-24T22:11:00.003-05:00

Today, I went to my in-laws house. It was the second visit of this type. Not an "in anticipation" of Christmas visit. No. It was a vigil. A bedside vigil the Hardyman's have been holding for the past few days for Grandpa.

You see, he was released from Hospice on Dec 14th because he didn't "meet the criteria". For the last 10 days, Grandpa has rested peacefully at his daughter and son-in-law's house.

I prayed and oh, I prayed. A wish went from my heart to our God. "Please, Lord, let him stay for one last Christmas."

Maybe it was a selfish request. I don't know. I do know that Grandpa lived his life in the ebb and flow of family. I suspect Grandpa's heart is tied so intrinsically with those of his family, he has stayed for Christmas.

As I looked upon his face today, the deep gasping breaths, the body shrunk beneath the covers, it was in his face, in his eyes, maybe the heart was warring with the body that had decided that enough was enough...I don't know.

All I do know is that I saw Grandpa's past collide with my husband's future. A legacy of loyalty to family, a heart so giving, a strength of will to live.

So, I sit here 1.5 hours till midnight on Christmas Eve blogging because I've sent my husband to his last goodbye to his Grandpa. A Grandpa who I love so much my heart hurts. The nurse says it will be soon.

A night of Santa intermingled with a night of grief. I don't know what to do with myself. The house is quiet, kids are snuggled down, cats sleeping beneath the tree, Puppy snuggle away, rabbits flopping...

To you and yours, have a blessed Christmas.

CNC projects: Grandpa

2011-12-15T10:59:00.003-05:00

Many years ago, Jon spent an entire high school semester painting a mural on the weight room walls with fellow student. The fellow student was another girl. Later, I saw Jon driving out the parking lot with the girl in the middle seat of the truck cab. At that moment I felt a twinge of "I want to be in the middle seat of that truck with him."

I can't define what, why, or when Jon came on the radar of my high school crushes. But the artistic side of Jon has always fascinated me. Maybe that twinge was because I wanted to share creative, artistic with a guy. All the guys were hung up on football, drinking and being bullies in the hallways or groping the girls in the hallway during my high school years. Maybe Jon captured me a bit with that mural on the weight room wall.

Many years later, Jon's aunt commented after seeing my first crochet afghan, "Now I see why you and Jon were drawn to each other. You are both creative." Maybe I should have been offended, but I wasn't, because she spoke the truth. Jon did capture me with his art ability. The man he was at the time and has become over time is an amazing man.

I'm so thankful for that jealousy twinge of the middle seat of the pickup truck. It probably spurred me to be a little more aggressive in getting Jon's attention during high school.

I've been blessed.

Jon created a wood mural using his new CNC machine using a photograph I took. We make a good team.

Only good things can come in our future.

Weekend Yarn Dyeing

2011-12-13T10:37:00.003-05:00

A mission to match a skein of yarn I dyed a few months ago, led to lots of fun trying to come up with the perfect red and green.

James and Jesse were handy helping hands in the entire project.

The dye gets mixed up outside because I'm a safety person like that. Using ProChemical dyes means there are some fumes and minute amounts of dye particles that I may inhale. To be absolutely safe, I suppose I could have tossed on my respirator, but I didn't. The smoke you see is steam from the hot water.

The skein of Lambs Pride Bulky turned out NOTHING like I was trying to recreate. In fact after doing my rainbow dyeing I was not happy with it and dunked the entire skein in water to get these muted colors. I LOVE it. What can I say? My favoritest things are usually mistakes.

A bonus skein of Lambs Pride Burly spun kettle dyed a gorgeous Wedgewood blue.

Who doesn't love wool?!

The Sniffer

2011-12-12T12:55:00.002-05:00

Based on the ruddy red cheeks, beer bellies a popping and the smell wafting through the office today, I'd say the work Christmas party was a hit.

I've not come to this space to blog because work was/is super busy. It's not been busy.

I've not come to this space to blog because I've not been crafting. I have been crafting.

I've not come to this space to blog because I have nothing to say. I have had lots to say.

My thoughts have been inward and forward. For a while, we've known Grandpa was not going to be with us long. After the loss of Grandma, Grandpa has been in a slow decline. Family has been taking care of him for the past two years. Then things changed recently and Grandpa needed more help. After a month or so of Hospice at-home care, they recently had to move Grandpa to Hospice.

You see, Grandpa is such a representation of Jon. It has been said by family members that Jon is more Musgrove than Handyman. Which time and experience has proven to be true. Jon is so much like his Grandpa that I instantly loved Grandpa when I first met him so many years ago. In Grandpa, I see Jon. In Jon, I see Grandpa. Grandpa is Jon's future. So, to know Grandpa has always felt like seeing into the future with Jon.

So, I've not come to this space because I've have a lot on my heart. I've lost 2 Grandpas and 2 Grandma's. Anticipating losing Grandpa reduces me to tears every time. Typing this, I'm trying not to cry, which would make me a red eyed, sniffling soggy mess at my desk.

I've been head, hands and heart busy. Please pray for Grandpa.

The Corona

2011-11-29T20:27:00.002-05:00

As I knitted this sweater, I dreamed of fireside lounging with a wine cooler in one hand, crochet hook in the other, random marshmellow smears on the sides of my mouth, kids chattering about frogs, fish and fireflies in the background.

It was a small daydream tucked into each stitch.

The dream unraveled a bit when I tried on the sweater a few months ago.

I suspected I had a body dysmorphic problem. You know, that problem where what you think your looks like in your head isn't what you actually look like.

My knitting needles haven't gotten the memo on my mommy body. Where curves and lovely-for-kitties dough kneading belly are the reality. Not the slim abs and light curves of my teenage body.

It is okay. I'm okay with this body. I'm okay with this sweater. Knit on, I say, knit on.

Rabbit Bites

2011-11-26T14:19:00.002-05:00

I cast on this sweater a week ago or so. It is yarn from Sheep Shed Studio, which means the Brown Sheep Mill rejected the yarn for some minor flaw. Which means bargain yarn for me.

The sweater is called Mud Sweater and is found on Ravelry.

So, I slaved away, knitting until the wee hours, snatching knit time between sips of rum and chasing kids, animals and fighting poo.

Jesse brought the bunny in the house.

Bunny bit the sweater.

Sweater had big hole.

I fix hole. Me not happy.

Who cares? The kids will outgrow it in 2 months. I need to knit faster.

Red Granny Shrug

2011-11-21T10:26:00.002-05:00

This shrug reminds me of two of my favorite ladies, Grandma Jewell and Mary Lou. Both of them loved the color red and I think they would say I'm rocking the Granny Shrug look.

This pattern was featured on Tangled Happy, a favorite inspiration blog of mine. I immediately fell in love.

Polled FB, polled IRL friends and they all assured me it was cute.

See I do not have a lick of fashion sense, so I didn't know if the shrug was frumpy, humpy, dumpy or hip, cool and interesting.

What say you? Would you rock it?

And last but not least, gratuitous Jesse and Guy picture. He loves her a little bit. She carries him around like a sack of potatoes slumped over her shoulder. It cracks me up every time. The red dot on her eyelid is from a spider bite in September. Those things are no joke.

Here is a picture of a likely culprit. I smashed it soon after taking this picture after finding it in the rabbit room. Spiders are serious business.

Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway

2011-11-09T11:16:00.002-05:00

The NCIS episode last night had Dinozzo making a bucket list while McGee snooped using binoculars from the next desk over. Great scene and it tied in perfectly with the giveaway I saw on Skip to My Lou:

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.

Ever think about the things you want to achieve before you die? Are you morbid and wonder HOW you are going to die? Then you stuff those thoughts back and focus on the here and now present. Here and now present should include striving towards those dreams on the bucket list.

I rarely think big, because life has taught me that the only things that will happen in my life are the things I make happen. Rarely do out of the norm, fantastically awesome events happen in my life. My life has become a celebration of the small things. Slowing time by capturing the everyday happy moments that make this daily drive worth it.

But I'm going to think big, go out of my fear induced paralysis and dream BIG. Here is my list:

1. Go to New Zealand

2. Swim in the Grotto at Playboy Mansion (not naked but if I'm dreaming big...naked)

3. Buy an international vacation home

4. Drive a Dodge Challenger around a racetrack going over 100mph

5. Drag race on the salt flats of Utah

6. White water rafting

7. Drink a $1,000 bottle of wine

8. Visit New York

9. Horseback ride across Ireland

10. Get a massage

11. Party with Reba and Willie Nelson

12. Ride the NASA anti-gravity training machine

13. Learn to play I'm the Luckiest by Ben Folds on the piano

14. Train a rottweiler to pull loads, sleds and small buggies

15. Paint a barn pink

What is on your bucket list?

Iowa Bound

2011-11-08T12:26:00.002-05:00

Home of the Hawkeyes! Where people paint yellow and black bird beaks on rocks, mailboxes, houses and barns. Because seriously, people, there are only two things in Iowa, corn and football.

We planned on leaving Saturday at 2am and arriving in Muscatine, Iowa at 10am. I had emailed and texted my uncle a month prior, confirming we were coming. Friday afternoon, I, on a whim, called my grandma and said, "Hey, we will be there tomorrow.". She was stunned. Apparently, Uncle Mark never mentioned we were coming into town. Grandma canceled her plans and assured me she would see me, Jon and the kids when we got there. Love my family. Scatterbrain Uncle Mark, too.

James and Jesse met their cousin, Cheyenne and they became fast friends. On the drive home, all I heard was "Cheyenne was sooo nice. I can't wait till we go back.". Cheyenne is adorable!

But the reason for the trip was this behemoth thing. Back in April, Jesse and I traveled to Iowa for my sister's graduation. During that visit, my Uncle Mark showed my Dad something he had built in his garage. My Dad came and found me, since I was busy making the acquaintance of my cousin Mark and the two Malamutes, Odin and Xena.

Dad said to me, "I think you need to come see this. Jon would love it.". So I went and Mark showed me what it could do. I GASPED. I have never been able to get Jon something that he cannot already make or doesn't already have for his woodworking shop. But this machine, sitting in this little shed, was something Jon had dreamed of having. My uncle said he was willing to sell it to me at a price I could afford. I left with plans to return and surprise Jon with it. All I had to figure out was how to get the darn thing home.

Come October, I knew I would need Jon's help getting it home. So I spilled the surprise and begged him to take a weekend off work and help me get the darn thing home. I had to assure him that it would be worth the trip. So, we borrowed a trailer from a friend, loaded up the kids and went to Iowa this past weekend.

The trip was fast, and went off without a hitch. Literally. We are now proud owners of a CNC router woodworking machine, complete with the CAD program, computer, router and a table on wheels.

I cannot wait to show you guys what this machine will do. The fact that it is a homemade machine, built in my uncle's garage, complete with salvaged parts, makes it fit us and our personalities perfectly. We love homemade, creativity and resourcefulness.

Handy Halloween Pics!

2011-11-01T11:12:00.002-04:00

James is eye-ing the Skeleton Man and vowing to someday grow up to be "just like him".

Two brothers running "The Castle". Overheard and overseen, "That was Josh up top, right? The big forehead told me it wasn't you, Sara."

Good times were had by all. I heard "Let's go to The Castle before it gets dark." And random neighbors hollaring out "Tell Jon he did an awesome job" with lots of smiles and thumbs up.

It makes my heart smile that as a community, everyone has adopted "The Castle" as the go-to place to check out. We had several van loads of people come by afterwards just to walk around, shake Jon's hand and ooooo and ahhhh! over The Castle.

Jon is good people. We know a lot of good people.

Hope you and yours had a Happy, Safe Halloween. Much love from ours to yours.

Halloween Castle Video 2011

2011-11-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

I Wish Someone Had Told Me...

2011-10-27T15:20:00.003-04:00

That 2007 was just the beginning of fun times at the Handy Halloween Household.

That despite repeat appearances the costumes never get old, year after year. I cannot say much for the wrinkles, though.

That every year, the kids stare with wide eye wonder and a little gasp of "OH WOW!" that never gets old.

That these three people make me enjoy this time of the year more than any other.

That after four years of seeing Daddy in the same costume, they still regard him with a little sense of hesitation and good instinct of flight.

Hope you are getting excited about Halloween. Obviously, this weekend is an amped up time for us. Good times!

Castle Moola

2011-10-26T11:27:00.002-04:00

The Castle is a huge deal to Jon. He spends half the year planning for The Castle, new tweaks, new additions, new tricks, etc. Then he spends all of October working to make it happen.

He saves up a week of vacation and takes the first week of October off to get The Castle up. Then he spends the rest of the month fine tuning and making new things.

Last year, he made a Skull Chair and added a tunnel to The Castle.

This year, not too much has been added. That is how it works out sometimes. The weather hasn't been playing nice. The work schedule hasn't made Jon available when the weather was cooperating. Things just haven't jived to allow Jon to make or add anything new.

Jon also, has been restricted by my budget. Which is something people always comment on. We get the "Oh, if I had thousands, I'd decorate like you guys..." or "If I was as creative...".

Here's the thing, Jon and I know we've been blessed in the creative, handy department. We have NOT been blessed with unlimited moola. We both work. We have bills. We don't spend thousands on The Castle.

The average outlay of money each year for The Castle is about $200-300, including candy. We buy 5 gallons of smoke fog solution at $10/quart. Candy to hand out to the hundreds of kids that come by. Blue bulbs, candle lights, stake lights, and strobe lights to replace any that have broken during their year of storage. A few sheets of plywood and paint. If there is a good deal, Jon may buy more skeletons, but only if the deal is really good.

Since 2007, when The Castle first made its appearance with the painted plywood, we've spent less than $3,000. The plywood alone was $1,000, which we've bought over the course of 5 years. Some years were better than others, and we would spend a little more. We certainly don't spend thousands every year. We don't have thousands.

The Castle is a labor of love for Jon. It is a hobby he enjoys. He is able to invest little and create much. To me The Castle is a celebration of creativity.

Creativity...I'm all for it.

Building the Castle

2011-10-25T12:56:00.003-04:00

The Castle is stored 11 months out of the year in a barn on Jon's Grandpa's property. Years ago, Jon asked permission to build the barn and Grandpa said, "SURE!" and allowed Jon to build his barn.

Come October 1st, Jon is lining up time, borrowing trailers and off he goes to haul The Castle back to our house in town, trailer load by trailer load. Jon is a one-man, castle building machine.

The first day, the metal braces go up. This is some tricky maneuvering by Jon to erect these all by himself. I may have held one or two, but Jon does most of the building alone with the help of some trusty clamps and sheer smarts and muscles.

Second day, Jon starts screwing on the plywood. There are 120 sheets of plywood to be attached. Remember, Jon has loaded these all onto the trailer, unloaded them all off the trailer and now he has to manually lift and screw on each one. By this day, Jon was complaining of sore muscles and making noises that age is catching up to him.

This is The Castle this morning. Still lots of tweaking for Jon to do. We Ohioans have been blessed with lots of rain the past 2 weeks, so work halted on The Castle. We have increased foot and car traffic up and down our road and I'm sure they are itching to see things finished. There are two towers that still need plywood or something, but Jon needs help with that. My muscles are not up to the task.

If you look, you can see the Whiz, my orange kitty. He is sitting at the "doorway" to our house. Good times!

I'm off to help Jon. I'll be painting.

History of the Castle

2011-10-24T10:31:00.002-04:00

We moved to our current home in November 2003, so we missed the Halloween that year. By 2004, I was still a babe in the woods when it came to Jon and his enthusiasm over Halloween. It seemed ok, that an adult man dressed up for Halloween to hand out candy. I was 7 months pregnant with James and sat outside behind him keeping his candy bowl full and assuring little ones that the man handing out candy was normal.

Halloween 2005, I had to work Halloween evening, so I missed the festivities. Jon mentioned doing some decorations and I waved him off and he did his thing with his brother, Josh.

Halloween 2006, I realized I needed to um, well, step in and keep things under control. Someone, ahem, not mentioning names, got a bunch of metal. Metal like warehouses use to stack boxes of merchandise. Now I knew Jon was handy and his "decorations" that year went a little beyond my abilities to assure people we were normal.

By Halloween 2007, I'd given up trying to convince anybody we were normal.

And Halloween 2008, I embraced the fact that during Halloween, it was physically impossible to go out my front door to normalcy.

Halloween 2009, Jon was on a mission to get on the news. I set up the tripod and we sent in a picture of our house Halloween "decorations". He made the 10 o'clock news with a short blurb about fun Halloween happenings.

Halloween 2010, the Castle survived a storm with 60mph winds and gusts. A tunnel was added to the interior of the castle, taking up precious space in my garage. Jon built a skull chair out of 2X6's that is so heavy it take two men and a boy to lift or a dolly. Jon has YET to get on the news.

Halloween 2011...The Castle is up.

What else is there to say?

Peace and Jon is Beyond Help!

I've Been Knitting

2011-10-13T16:37:00.004-04:00

I've been knitting, I promise. Slip knot and knit pinky swear, I have been knitting. Only, I went to post pictures and my computer gives me Dr. PostMortem error every time I attached my camera. Which cannot be good.

So, I'm going to tell a story.

School let out early on Friday because the entire town had to prepare for the Sauerkraut Festival.

The festival is huge. I overheard someone say it ranks number 28 on the list of top 100 festivals to attend. I'm not sure if there is a caveat "in Ohio" in that statement, but pretty impressive figure either way.

You want sauerkraut pizza, fudge, sundae, hotdog, cabbage roll...you name it and somebody has figured out a way to put sauerkraut in it.

The kids and I attacked the festival on Saturday. We got sauerkraut pizza, kettle corn and cotton candy. That is 3 booths we hit and it took us 2 hours to walk less than 2 blocks, wait in line, eat our food and catch the shuttle home.

Crazy.

Only the Sauerkraut festival is not the story. The story is what happened on Friday at school with James.

This is story of a boy conducting Star Wars battles on the playground. He was immersed in the pretend world of starship galactic battleships, torpedo lasers and the sounds of R2D2 assuring him all is well. When out of nowhere a bogey boy torpedo smashed into him and the pretend world dissolved in a shower of stars.

The boy did what any normal short on "flight" and deep on "fight" does, he fought back. Shaking the pretend Star Wars battle from his mind, he took on the bogey boy.

I got the paperwork on Tuesday stating James had been sent to the principal's office and had lost a recess for "loss of control".

Knowing my child, all I could envision was this little 45 lb blonde berserker on the playground taking on some poor kid who didn't even know what hit him.

The only upside to the entire story was that James was jumped first. So, bonus that James wasn't instigating a fight. Which totally is possible. He's just THAT kid. I'm THAT mom. It is how it happens.

James informed me I know the kids mom. One text (small town USA) and I got the name of the mom. I do know her. She knows me.

The next 12 years are going to be long and challenging.

All this happened and Jesse's Student of the Month award got a little side note. Makes me sad.

Girlfriend advised James "Next time, run away and tell a teacher! That is what I'd do and cry. Crying helps.". James just looked at her and enunciated very clearly "He hit me first.". Because to him, that said it all. To Jesse, the world is about rules and rules say "Run away.". I love these two.

My children keep things interesting.

Santa Claus

2011-10-11T09:43:00.003-04:00

Mommy, you know Santa Claus isn't real, right?

What do you mean, Buddy?

Well, you know. He's not real. He's fiction.

How do you know that, Bud?

Remember last year? Daddy dressed up as Santa Claus, so I know he isn't real.

OH LOOK! Let's go play on the playground.

I replayed this conversation to Jon last night, since the conversation happened between me and James on Saturday on our walk home from the Sauerkraut Festival in town.

Jon was all "You told him Santa Claus is real, right?!".

But I didn't. I told Jon it has always been his thing and his family's thing to make a big deal about Santa Claus. I just went along because it was their family thing. I didn't want to push it and be all Sally Sucks Santa Claus's big toe downer. But in reality, I don't/didn't want my kids to believe in him, as if he IS a real being that visits our house at Christmas time. Ever. The few years they've played along, I've sensed they've played along because others were playing along.

So this conversation I had with James was a relief. I knew he knew and he was letting me know he knew and me knowing he knew means I didn't need to confirm what he knew what he knows.

That sentence was hard to write.

James is not/was not sad about his epiphany. He is categorically aligning things that he knows into fact or fiction and Santa is one of those anomalies he had to fit into his black and white thinking.

I'm going to give him a little time and the conversation will come up again. We will take it further and talk about beliefs and how we don't criticize what others believe. We will believe in a quiet way, what we want to believe. There is no harm in them not knowing what we believe.

I also suspect that come Christmas time, he will be all "SANTA CLAUS!!!" and be okay with pretending. Pretending is okay.

I have more thoughts on this, because I'm trying each year to make the "season" about home, family and hearth, than about material things we buy. What are your thoughts?

Stink Bugs, Drill Bits and Kitty Ears, OH MY!

2011-10-10T18:21:00.002-04:00

Mommy, look! We found a bug for you!

Holy moly, look at that spiked crest on his head.

Mommy, I love tools!

Oh my, what a big bit you have.

Mom, why are those people digging in my litter box?

Well, Guy, it is that time of the year. The Castle has arrived. More to come on its progress.

Much love to those who have checked on me. By the lack of posts, I'm sure you have surmised that I've been working a lot of hours.

12 in 12: Vampire Diary Protector

2011-09-25T17:10:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I did 12 in 12 project updates. The Fishy sweater is still in timeout. I've not fallen in love with other projects, but took the advice of my fellow knitters and did several small projects to get my mojo back. Cue this project.

Knitting a book cover never occurred to me, so when I saw this pattern I knew it was something I'd use. I have lots of books, love practicing my cabling skills and the entire vampire thing was a bonus.

I read a comment about the new Breaking Dawn preview that something like "RAWRR! I'd like to wake up to feathers in my hair from a vamp." and it made me realize why I like these books. Twilight books are fun, but I don't fantasize or relate to them in other ways in my daily life. I never thought of it like "OH! I want vamp feathers in my hair.". Books are a form of escape and many times, I read the book, forget it, pick it back up and read it again and the enjoyment is still there for the exact same book. Enjoyment of the moments of escape is why I read.

This was a fairly quick knit. I've knit the pattern and it said my "cover" should measure to fit a 5X8 inch book. Which it doesn't. My gauge is whack. It measures to fit a 3.5X6 inch book cover. So, I'm going to do maybe one or two more cable repeats, add the inner flaps that hold the cover onto the book and call it a day. I suspect I'm going to be cutting it close to my yarn yardage. Which if I run out, I'll fudge on that and call it a design element.

Go me! Hope your 12 in 12 is going like gangbusters. I'm finishing up a sweater this week and pulling the Fishy sweater back out to try to make some progress on it.

Jesse's Hearing Journey: Finances

2011-09-22T19:25:00.002-04:00

As a general rule, I don't discuss finances, but I shared with you all the costs involved with Jesse's hearing aids. So, I wanted to give you an update.

Today, I received our letter from BCMH (Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps). To which the result was "deny for the following reasons: blah blah blah Ohio Administrative Code, the applicant income exceeds the BCMH financial guidelines.

Which isn't a surprise. The good news is we were approved for Cost Share portion. Which basically means they calculated we need to expend $2,032.52 (in a 24 month period) before coverage from BCMH would kick in for expenses related to Jesse's hearing loss.

Because we are blessed, we have spent $2,020.00 on Jesse's hearing aids alone this year. The money wasn't ours, my sister, dad and an anonymous friend sent me money for Jesse's hearing aids. I will tell you I cried when I opened the envelope from anonymous. It was a note that said "for Jesse's Hearing Fund" and a $100 bill floated out. Who does that? Wonderfully amazing people, that is who.

So, I see a light shining at the end of the tunnel. I'm looking at bills from Jesse's diagnostic testing, $294.10, $254.14, $780.65, and $156.18 that have to be paid. I will be calling the billing department to understand completely how payment from BCMH is worked. I'm not sure if I have to pay the bills and apply to BCMH for reimbursement or if I submit expenses already paid to BCMH and call the billing department and tell them we've met our Cost Share for BCMH and they apply to BCMH for payment. It is all big people stuff and I just need to make a few phone calls and figure it out. Good news is that they will be paid some how, some way. I hate having those kinds of medical bills hanging over our head.

We are blessed. Money is easy come, easy go. My biggest concern is that Jesse has what she needs to succeed.

Jesse is making great strides in her school work. I have absolute faith in her teacher, who is wonderful. For Jesse, the future is good. She has a legion of angels, a fleet of wonderful people and the optimistic spirit to help guide her through life with hearing loss. I'll be over here managing the finances.

Many thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers.

Saturday Cleaning

2011-09-19T14:01:00.002-04:00

Saturday is our day of cleaning in the Handy Household. Friday night I asked Jon to bring home the Rug Doctor from Sears, so I could clean the carpets. Saturday bright and early, the kids and I cleaned up our rooms and I sent the kids off to occupy themselves while I shampooed the carpets with the Rug Doctor.

Two hours later, a few cuss words, 2 layers of clothes shed, I finished the three bedrooms. All I had to tackle was the couches. *ahem* Between cats and kids, there had been a few pee accidents, so the couches NEEDED cleaned.

I'm sitting on the floor wrestling with the Rug Doctor upholstery attachment trying to not say cuss words out loud when James walks by asking me questions. I knew I was at the limit of my patience, and I'm not a screamer, so I quickly took a deep breath and had the following conversation with James.

James: Mommy, blah blah blah blah???

Me: James, what does it look like I'm doing?

James: Cleaning.

Me: Does Mommy like to clean?

James: No.

Me: Do you think Mommy can handle answering your questions right now?

James: No.

Me: Then can you keep the questions to a MINIMUM until I get done?

James: Yes.

.........

I knew it was coming. I saw the gimlet gleam in his eye, saw his mouth twitch up and I braced myself for the inevitable question I knew he had JUST thought of...

James: What is minimum?

Me: As little as possible.

James: Oh. So I can ask a couple of questions.

I had to leave the room I was laughing so hard.

Love that kid. Sometimes he is better than rum and coke to get me out of a bad mood.

Preschool and Pee

2011-09-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

Flop went for her surgery on Wednesday. (She's fine.) So, Wednesday evening I did the mad dash to pick up the kids from after school care, drive to Dayton in 5pm traffic and pick up Flop before the Humane Society closed at 6pm.

I should plan outings like this more often. Car rides do something to my kids. They open up. They talk about things I wouldn't normally hear because our typical routine is to go straight home and start homework and dinner. We talk, but it is between Bakugan battles, My Little Pony horse corralling, feeding/petting all the real animals and just life in general. So, I know I'm missing vital information at times. Luckily, my kids shared with me during the car ride two important pieces of information about happenings in their life Wednesday. I'm so glad they shared with me.

Set scene: James has burst into tears because I've forgotten to staple 20 pieces of paper together at work for him. Jesse will spend the next 45 minutes occupying herself quietly during the car ride. Her bomb will come later.

James: Mommy, know how long me and Micah have been friends?

Me: Since kindergarten(?).

James: No! Since preschool.

Me: Buddy, you didn't go to preschool.

James: Where did I go?

Me: Meme's house.

James: Why didn't I go to preschool?!

Me: Daddy and I thought you needed a year to play at Meme's house rather than go to preschool.

James: But, Mommy! All the important things they learn in preschool I didn't learn. I'll NEVER learn them! I'm going to be so behind in school.

Me: ??????

I really wanted to say, "You are in 1st grade, you didn't miss anything you don't already know." I didn't though, instead I turned the conversation to the new rabbits in his classroom.

Through careful extraction, I learned the teacher is keeping bunnies in the classroom because "She doesn't want them to poop in her house." "She loves them soooo much!". I'm not dogging the teacher, it is just in general, I disagree with rabbits in the classroom. Actually, I disagree with animals in general in the classroom. Rabbits especially are typically not equipped with the temperament to deal with 20+ loud kids in a confined space for 8 hours a day. Rabbits are also not physically a good choice for young kids because dropping them could result in the rabbit's back being broken. Rabbits have thin skin that is easily ripped, torn and scratched. Rabbits bite.

BUT! Despite my attempts to persuade James to let me write a note to the teacher offering to help, James doesn't want me involved. James was upset that the teacher wouldn't let the kids touch the rabbits. (It is a mom and a baby). I agree with the teacher. I just wonder what she is going to say if the baby turns out to be a boy and starts humping the momma.

Now onto Jesse's bomb.

Set scene: We've gone through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru for dinner.

Jesse: Mommy, I have to pee really bad.

Me: Can you hold it? We are 5 minutes from the house?

Jesse: Yeah. I already peed my pants today anyway.

Me: WHAT?!!!

James: Sissy, you are wearing the same pants as this morning. Didn't you change?

Jesse: No, I didn't tell the teacher.

Me: When did this happen?

Jesse: At storytime. I left a puddle under the table.

Me: Why didn't you tell the teacher?

Jesse: I didn't want to get a red.

James: *smacks Jesse's arm* You tell the teacher when you have to go and if you have an accident, silly! She won't give you a red. I pooped my pants last year, I didn't get a red.

So, with a sniff of her pants and a note to the teacher, I'm so glad I made the drive with my kids. I need to do it more often.

Flop is recovering just fine from her spay. The humane society, through Dayton Area Rabbit Network (D.A.R.N.) and the Rascal organization provided the spay. Part of the spay included putting tattoo ink on her incision, so that if she gets lost and they try to spay her again, the vet will know at a glance that she's been spayed. White rabbit now has black belly tattoo.

Tunisian Crochet Tester

2011-09-08T10:10:00.002-04:00

It all started innocently enough, with a 10+7 formula for a tunisian crochet scarf.

The fan stitch was charming. The hand dye was popping. The white yarn was soft. The melody seemed in tune.

The tunisian crocheter said, "Husband, come and take pictures of my process."

"It is important I impart this vital knowledge to my legion of followers."

Fans, shells, pattern of 5, it was all a formula for success.

A simple design, a pop of a little extra with the color change should have made this project a success.

This is where I tell you color choices make or break this project. In theory, it looked like it was going to work....

But two feet in I knew it wasn't going to work. The scarf looks like it is going to chew my arm off it is so coyote ugly. Don't do what I did. Follow directions. Choose better. Go forth, be (less) bold. I've frogged the monster face and it is in timeout with my fishy sweater.

Guy Knitting

2011-09-07T14:58:00.002-04:00

Hey, Mom, what up?

NO! I do not want petted. Jeesh. Leave me alone.

Oh, all right. Just get the spot good.

Snack break!

Go back to your knitting, Mom, and leave me alone.

Fine. I'll play. Gonna totally chew your yarn.

Seriously, Mom, leave me alone. Yes, I see the Puppy. No, she can't come in.

I got important business to attend to.

Guy knitting...this public service has been brought to you by Handy Hooker.

First Day of School

2011-09-02T13:34:00.003-04:00

Lots of new happenings in the Handy Household. We are slowly finding our rhythm. J&J both had great first days of school. Jesse has been very zen about the entire experience. She is making friends, and has slowly settled into the morning routine. Jesse is by far a late morning sleeper. School should start at 10am according to her body. James is always up and bouncing at 7am. Jesse not so much. Dragging her from bed does not work, so I dress her in her bed in the morning, then go get a cattle prod. *I'm kidding* I go get a rabbit to put in her bed.

She listens so intently, yet I can tell she is still missing some of the instructions. Not that the hearing aids aren't working, I think Jesse is a visual learner, so seeing is what gets through to her. I relate because in many cases, I do not hear a person talking, I SEE them talking. Literally, my world is full of conversation bubbles. I suspect as Jesse gains reading skills, she too will view conversations as big comic book conversation bubbles.

The classroom and teacher are the same as James from last year. Which we are super happy to have her as Jesse's teacher.

J&J also have a new after school routine, which took James about a week to settle into. He spent one evening walking around the house carrying his baby blanket, wailing, "I hate my life.". Between the new after school care and not having his best friend in his class, life was rough for him. He has since settled in and when I pick him up, he is covered in sweat from running around playing and smiling from ear to ear.

Jesse is just happy as peach pie to go wherever Brother goes. It is also heartwarming that one of their caretakers is a former neighbor of mine. She has 8 kids, we were an 8 kid family, so lots in common. She is just wonderful, so I know the kids are in good hands.

Life is good. We are blessed.

Turtle Fishing

2011-08-30T11:23:00.004-04:00

We didn't go fishing for turtles, but sometimes turtles happen. Blue gill was our main goal, which the pond by Grandpa's house is full of hand-sized blue gill.

Jesse was fishing for bass. Thus, she knew she had to catch a small blue gill, keep it alive and rehook it onto her hook to use as bait. Which she did all by herself. She is the best little angler.

This guy, though, he took James blue gill bait. I'm posting a video of unhooking him. Pretty sure this is a red slider turtle which are common here in Ohio. J&J&J caught a snapper the last time they fished, so I was thankful this one wasn't a snapper. The video has highlights, one is James laughing. James has the BEST laugh and it slays me as well as makes my heart smile when he laughs. Second to note, is if you have little ones, they may find it interesting to see how a turtle is able to turn itself over if it lands on its back. I didn't know how they did it and caught it on video. Jon knew. The man knows everything.

Here is the video:

Bunneh Videos

2011-08-29T14:25:00.000-04:00

Bunneh, aka Flop McFlopperson, is slowly adjusting to life in the Handy Household.

Flop has met the other two lagomorphs and I'm posting a video of one of their meet and greets.

But first let me explain bunny socials. See, bunnies are in general pretty solitary, only coming together to procreate. A warden of bunnies living together in a small space is completely possible and lots of people do it. Here is the key though, start them out as babies together, they will usually live together peacefully for the rest of their lives. Sometimes moms reject babies when they become teenagers (which I TOTALLY understand), so the bunnies need separated.

Why do they need separated? Because bunnies fight. Remember that movie Summer School starring Don Knotts? There was a scene where the two students were mocking a fake bunny attack with blood? Well, it is completely possible for bunnies to attack. When they attack each other, biting, scratching, shoving, pushing, chasing, all occur.

In the video, my three bunnies are pretty much doing all of these. The bites are pretty restricted to the fur, with none of my buns having sustained a skin bite. I'm keeping the intro's short to make sure they don't escalate to full out biting, fur flying fights.

Bunneh, aka Flop, is an unspayed female, who sprays to mark her territory, mounts to show dominance and is in general the complete opposite of my two boy dumplings.

My two boys have lived with a female bunny before (RIP Spice), so I'm hopeful that after Flop's spay and her hormones settle the boys will settle in with her.

At the moment though, I'm keeping their meeting and greetings short and keeping Flop in an X-Large dog kennel in the bunny room. She is separated, but there is lots of desensitizing all three of them to the presence of an extra bunny in the bunny room.

Here is a video of Flop with a ball of yarn, because no Handy Hooker blog is complete without some mention of yarn.

12 in 12 A Little Fishy

2011-08-28T08:12:00.003-04:00

Harmony and Addi needles, size 6, with a tape measure I found, on A Little Fishy.

This is how far I'd completed as of last Sunday.

A Little Fishy (Ravelry link) is my first try at color stranding work. While I was pretty confident about the reglan portion of the pattern, I knew once I got to the color charted portion of the pattern, it would get harder.

This is how much I completed in a week of working on it.

I wasn't wrong.

It got harder.

It got more frustrating.

It got me yelling.

It got me cussing.

So, it is sitting in time out with the kitties. I'm a wee bit frustrasted with it. The fact that one tiny sleeve caused me to rip out color stranded work FIVE times (and still has mistakes in it), has me discouraged with the fact that I have an entire body's worth of THREE pattern repeats of fishies to complete. I'm going to need lots of encouragement, self-fortitude, and some rum and coke to get through this sweater.

Go me for trying to challenge myself. Hopping myself awfully close to the frog pond.

Saturday Shooting

2011-08-27T21:21:00.003-04:00

Jon came home laden with groceries and fired up to go target shooting. See, he asked me yesterday how I felt about squirrel for dinner. I told him, "They are better than deer.". Which is true. I've never shot a squirrel, but remember eating squirrel one summer in Texas. It was good. In preparation, I figured Jon would take out his .22 and go target shooting. But he surprised me by announcing tonight that we were ALL going target shooting.

Well, button me britches, the posse and I got dressed as quickly as we could and off we went. (Don't judge. We were all still in our jammies at 5pm.)

James wanted to know how we were going to target shoot, to which I told him we owned a gun. "You've been keeping secrets!" he cried. "We don't keep secrets!". Man, he totally got me on that one. While it is true, Jon and I grew up shooting guns, we've sheltered our kids from that aspect of life. Until today. Today, Jon decided they were ready to experience target shooting.

*small note here: James did go target shooting with his Grandpa James a year ago, but it was just James and his Grandpa. So I consider this the first target shooting experience, since I didn't get to see that outing.*

Off we went to Grandpa's, where we spent an enjoyable evening target shooting. I didn't do too bad for a girl who hasn't picked up a gun in 10 years. A gun that hasn't been shot in 10 years. Needs to be sighted. Yep, I still got it after all this time.

PING! PING! PING! PING! thunk thunk thunk PING! PING!

Kodiak cans are good for something.

Hope you had an enjoyable evening. We are lazy hands, hearts and heads, spending the day lazing about.

Fast Friday

2011-08-26T13:36:00.002-04:00

Grandpa's garden is always a source of happiness for the kids, Jon and myself. Dirt covered hands, tomatoes puking their seeds, frogs hopping from beneath your hand as you reach for green beans...the hours spent in the garden fly by in a whirl of "let's find more". Jesse is by far my child of nature and she spends most of the time in the garden with us, rooting through the vines, hauling buckets and cheering at each new find. James prefers to spend minimal amount of time and instead spends the time in the house with Grandpa. Which I'm positive Grandpa enjoys because everytime I say, "We're going to the garden. Is it okay if James stays with you?", he waves me off with a smile and reaches for the remote. Where he promptly turns it to James cartoon channel. Either way, days in the garden are memory makers and I'm thankful for them.

Overheard and Seen

2011-08-24T18:27:00.003-04:00

"Mom, when I went to the bathroom today, my balls were covered in black hair." says my blonde 6 year old child. "My new Transformers underwear smells YUMMY!". *note to self: wash new underwear*

"Mom, you are so nice to carry Puppy's poop!" says the child who wanted to hike at Ceasar's Creek with Puppy where Puppy promptly pooped 10 feet into the hiking trail. Meaning Mom had to carry poop for an hour. Flies are not friends.

"Look, Mom!" says my child in the bathtub where she is cleaning her vagina with her toothbrush.

Rabbit poop in Jon's shoes. Seriously, I spend a lot of time chasing down balls of rabbit poop. It is getting ridiculous.

Light bulb in my flower bed. I believe my shiRtless neighbor has struck again. Who changes their neighbor's light bulbs leaving our black bulb in the flower bed? It had to be him. The light is super bright. I'm totally considering messing with him and changing it back or to another color.

I dreamed about a fellow blogger (hey, Valk!) and we were on a school bus. She was in the front with her husband who was driving. He commented that this would be the last trip the bus will make, while trying to navigate a S curve in the road. The guardrail ended and the bus slid off the side of the cliff. I hear "OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!!!" all around me and think, "Lord, love a duck, we are flying.". Weird, huh? I'm even weird in my dreams.

Gummi Bear Brains

2011-08-17T14:10:00.002-04:00

Because I am fishing for the second day in a row...

Because I'm lying when I said I was fishing...

Because I'm actually knitting and observing fishing...

Because I have knitted almost an entire sleeve...

Because I have one more sleeve to knit...

Because I have FOUR packages to mail...

I'm totally slacking on giving you something of actual importance to read today. It's a gummi bear worms for the brain day! Hope your hump day is going like gangbusters.

12 in 12 A Little Fishy

2011-08-14T18:19:00.003-04:00

I know I said I was going to do the tote this month, but I have a need to do this sweater for James. There is a nip in the air and I want to make sure he has one sweater made by me before the cold weather gets here. When I posted my original 12 in 12 goal list, I did not have the yarn for this pattern.

I knew that I wanted Knit Picks. So, I ordered the Wool of the Andes this past week. It is a worsted weight yarn and is nice to knit with. At 1.99 a skein for 110 yards, I'm not complaining!

I'm also using Knit Picks Harmony needles in size 6 for this project. I've not used these needles before and after falling in love with Addi needles, I questioned whether I'd like them.

I do. They have great tips on them, a nice length, a cord with great flexibility...Yep, I think I like them. I'm going to order the size 6 in a 24" cable. I've knit to almost the armholes and I'm pushing the limit on the number of stitches this 16" cable will hold. This is a top down sweater reglan sweater. The biggest bugaboo for me is going to be when I get to the fishies. I'm a little scared of that part of the pattern. So glad I have you guys here cheering me on!

I posted about the new bun. Today, she has humped the cat, peed down the register, chewed off the wood door frame and followed me around like a puppy dog. I LOVE this bunny!

Hope your week goes well! Catch you on the flip side!

The Bunneh

2011-08-12T18:54:00.002-04:00

This bunny was found hopping along old St Rt 73, here in Whoville at 3am this morning. I was on my way to work and only two thoughts were on my mind: Why did they pave the road with rocks? and Where is my coffee?. When a white flash caught my eye and I braked hard, saved my coffee from spilling and came to a stop. In my rear view I could see it was a flop eared bunny, so I suspected it was tame.

Popped the flashers on and spent the next 15 minutes trying to catch him. He, I'm calling him a he even though he has no balls, is a bit thin, but definitely was somebody's pet. Based on how assertive he is, I suspect he may have been too much for a little kids to handle. I'm hoping he wasn't just released because someone got tired of caring for him, but if he was, then God answered my prayers and I've got another bunny.

Sweet is not the word I'd use to describe him. This is one fierce bunny. I love lops, so hopefully he bonds with my boys when I introduce them in 2 weeks. I'm giving the owners 2 weeks to claim him.

There is a move I use on bunnies that sometimes works. My vet saw me do it with Spice and was a bit concerned she became so complacent, but it is a favorite position of mine to use when a bun is getting upset.

I call it the Bunny Death Sleep Move. Here is a short video of it:

And this is what happened just prior to trying to catch the bunneh to demonstrate the move:

Corona

2011-08-10T19:03:00.003-04:00

The name of this pattern is called Corona. It is a seamless knit sweater with a v-neck, cabling and a hood. I could totally see myself wearing this next to the campfire with a cool alcoholic beverage in my hand, yarn in my lap and my Kindle in my other hand.

The pattern says it is written with 5 inches of negative ease, which means "tight". Definitely is that, but using Lambs Pride Cotton Fleece means there is a lot of give and drape in the fit. I've knitted to the small measurements and worried that um, certain parts wouldn't fit. So, I put the whole thing on a lifeline and tried it on for size. Super pleased with how it is turning out.

Jon is trying to get a nipple shot and I'm yelling at him, "Don't shoot the boobies!". He's a goon. So glad I married him. ;)

Knit Lesson: Fixing a Dropped Stitch

2011-08-09T11:28:00.003-04:00

Last night around 6:40PM, my sister texted me a picture of her knitting and a message saying something like, "Aw Hell! I gotta rip it out again. Something went wrong."

Unfortunately, I was asleep and didn't get to the message till 2AM this morning. Much too late to save her knitting.

She had dropped a stitch. Dropping a stitch is an easy fix. So drop away! In fact there is a whole fad going on using dropped stitches as a design feature in scarves, sweaters and mittens.

In the case of my sister's knit bag, a dropped stitch needs fixed. Here is how you do it:

Once again, I use my trusty crochet hook to manipulate my knitting. There is a tool out there specifically made to pick up knit stitches, but a crochet hook works almost exactly the same.

12 in 12 Book Update: Bella's Mittens Finished!!!

2011-08-07T08:13:00.004-04:00

Bella's Mittens were fun to do. As if you couldn't tell that with how many times I blogged about them! But this baby is put to bed and done. I have another skein of Lamb's Pride that I'll make another pair, but it isn't part of the 12 in 12.

Overall, I'd rate this project as an “easy with skills” project. The mittens took me about 8 hours each. Each mitten has 1 mistake in them. I follow that rule of always making a mistake in every FO. I showed them to a friend that knits and asked her to find the mistakes. She couldn't find them, so I feel good about sending them onto the Giveaway Winner, Summer.

I'm ready to go on to the next 12 in 12 project. Which I believe will be the Vampire Tote. Overall, this 12 in 12 is going like gangbusters. June I did the Werewolf Hat and Palm Readers. July I finished Bella’s Mittens. Doing a purse for August will be completely doable, since I’m on a 4am-1pm work shift. Know how much knitting can be done in between 4am and 8am when the rest of the world wakes up? LOTS!

Kids have been busy fishing. Based on the number of chigger bites and poison ivy breakouts, they have spent way too much time pondside. Jon finds himself exhausted after these fishing trips. You’d think fishing would mean hours of sitting waiting for the fish to bite. Not with the kids. Jesse will line fish, which means she has a line with a hook on the end with a worm and she hand tosses it out near the bank and trolls for blue gill. James spends his time checking the blue gill bucket, taking the fish off the hook for Jesse and doing a little line fishing also. Jon has to contend with 6 poles in the water, kids fishing in the shallows, hungry tummies, biting fish and well, he comes home a tired, happy man.

I’m blessed they enjoy the activity together. Momma goes to bed early and gets some sleep.

Hope your weekend has gone well. I got several “tell me more” button pushes on the videos. If you have a specific request, let me know. I’ll video the technique for you.

Knit Lesson: Horseshoe Cable

2011-08-03T14:01:00.002-04:00

The Bella's Mittens (Ravelry link) are made using the horseshoe cable stitch pattern.

The horseshoe cable stitch pattern is worked over 12 stitches. The rest of the pattern is knit and purl stitches.

How simple yet genius is that?! (Subliminalrabbit link)

So basically, you can make the Bella's Mittens if you are able to knit, purl, and work in the round.

I'm going to show you how to do the 12 stitch horseshoe cable. Seriously, if cables scare you, read the previous sentence again.

12 stitches are scaring you. Be bold! Go forth and conquer! I thought cables were super complicated. They aren't. At the simplest, cables are moving stitches. Can you move stitches on your knitting needles? Well, then. There ya go!!!

Here is the 2 minute video. I try to do these in the evenings and Jon is taping. Unfortunately, we live in a neighborhood with teens and their cars are loud. AND the cicadas provided the perfect crescendo music for the conclusion. Good job, bugs!

You'll notice I use a crochet hook instead of a cable needle. Crochet hooks are always in my knit bag, thus the reason I use them. They are also great at "hooking" onto those dangling stitches. Hope the video helps!

It's a Jamie Thing Scarf

2011-08-02T18:23:00.006-04:00

In January I bought this gorgeous yarn.

It is just divine to knit with. The colors just kept drawing me back.

Which was a good thing because I have a confession to make...

I hate to knit scarves.

I've been asked and realized I hadn't posted, but Jesse did get her hearing aids.

Many thanks to the wonderful people who helped make it happen. Because we are blessed with wonderful family & friends it meant we were able to buy the hearing aids before school starts.

One of my friends commented that she didn't realize I wore hearing aids. So here is a picture of mine, as well. :) Jesse has been very zen about wearing the hearing aids. Which is a blessing. I personally do not like to wear mine, but do so when I have work meetings.

12 in 12 Book Update: Bella's Mittens

2011-07-31T07:25:00.003-04:00

If I could rate my love of knitting, it would be about an 8, with obviously family and food being 10 and 9. You'd think with all that love percolating in my body, I would have knitted more in the last 2 weeks. So, this is just a WIP update.

I did finished up the body of the Bella's Mitten on July 20th at Unwind, The Yarn Shop, which is located in Fort Walton Beach. They were having a knit night and despite the poor treatment I'd received the previous Saturday, my sister and I decided to give the shop another chance.

Let me give you the back story. I posted this on Ravelry and did NOT mention the LYS name:

I generally LOVE every LYS I go into and had heard rumors of kids not being welcome in LYS looking at you LYS etiquette kids thread

I’m on vacation this week and the first stop was the LYS. I went in alone and sent Jon and the kids to another store. They got done before me and came to the yarn store. I greeted the kids before the LYS worker did (she was working on her knitting). When she looked up and realized there were 2 kids in her shop she said ”I’m sure there isn’t anything in here that would interest them.”

I looked at her and pointed to my 5 yo and said, “She crochets.” and pointed to my 6 yo and said, “And he wants to learn to knit.”

The lady just pursed her mouth and glared.

I took the kids hands and headed out the door. Jon meanwhile had found some of the things I had gone into the store to get (Addi needles and whatnot) and asked, “Aren’t these what you were looking for?” and held up the needles.

As I sailed out the door I said, “Yes, but I’m not buying here.”. *Flounce is in good working order*

I was pissed about the comment. You DO NOT imply in any way shape or form that a potential customer is NOT welcome in your store based on their age. Pretty sure it is called age discrimination. Jesse is definitely a potential customer. Girlfriend feels the need to supplement her yarn stash every time we go to the yarn store. As a good momma, I do enable her to do so. Yet after thinking about it and getting Jon's thoughts, I decided I'd give their knit night a chance.

The treatment was worlds apart. The lady was so gracious! Though she did say when I walked in the door that night, "Oh! You decided to come back after all." Which leads me to think she read the thread in Ravelry. Oh well, my a$$ is always getting me in trouble. The knit night ladies were vivacious, full of laughter and so much energy in the room, it was great.

So, my suggestion is to NOT take your kids to this particular LYS, but acknowledge that they are a pretty spectacular group otherwise.

The store carried Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn, which I've been lusting after for a while. I had a $100 bill in my pocket to specifically spend on yarn at that store, but didn't after the poor treatment. It was for one of my 12 in 12 Book Projects, too. *sad face* Now that I've felt it, I do feel more confident buying it on-line. It is a wonderful yarn and I can't wait to get my hands on some.

Hope your week(s) were more productive than mine. I believe I'm getting back into the swing of things, recovering from vacation and catching up at work. So, next week it is ON like Donkey Kong!

Finding Yarn

2011-07-29T14:02:00.002-04:00

Sandra's Fiberworks asked in the comments section earlier this week about where to find good yarn on-line.

Short answer, Sandra, is Ravelry.

Long answer is my journey and I'll share it.

When I first started out with this fiber thing, I went to Walmart and purchased Lion Brand Jiffy and Lion Brand Homespun. At the time I was high on "I'M CROCHETING!" "I'M MAKING THINGS!" "SEE WHAT I CAN DO!".

Time has been kind and at some point I was made aware of the fact that there are Little Yarn Stores (LYS) all across America. Which I promptly map quested my way to as many local ones as possible and plotted to someday go to the LYS.

LYS visits opened my eyes up to the possibilities of yarn. I was feeling, touching and seeing the myriad of colors and yarns out there and LOVING IT!

It also made me aware that there are tiers of yarn: cheap, workhorse, nice, gorgeous, spectacular. I've slowly made my way up to a lot of workhorse yarns and a few nice yarns.

Workhorse yarns to me are brands such as Brown Sheep, Knit Picks, Cascade and Plymouth.

My nice yarns include Briar Rose and Malabrigo.

After LYS visits, I graduated to fiber festivals. Lordy almighty, get thee to a fiber festival!

I'm always open to try new yarns, but there is a price point to which I can try new yarns. So, I know what I know, but the world of yarn and fiber is so diverse, I'll spend my lifetime trying new things.

As for the Ravelry answer, here is what I have done in my quest for the perfect yarn for a project:

There is a tab called Yarn and from there you can search all the yarns in the Ravelry database. It is extensive, since there are over a million Ravelry users.

Type in what you are searching for and it will give you the yarns listed by popularity (ie. in the most stashes/used in projects)

For example: I wanted to use a bulky cashmere yarn for Jesse's Easter dress. I typed in cashmere and it gave me the listings. From there I selected "bulky" from the side list. Then to narrow the search more I clicked on "wool", thinking maybe I'd find a nice blend. Bulky didn't have any that caught my eye, so I selected super bulky. Como by Debbie Bliss was the top yarn. I then clicked on the name and that took me to the page where I read the reviews on the yarn. Several of the reviews mentioned knots in the yarn. Knots drive me crazy, but I like the yarn and the colors, so I figured I'd buy a few extra skeins.

Where to buy the yarn came next. I just Googled the yarn name and searched what came up. I ended up buying at Jimmy Beans Wool.

I understand it is hard to buy on-line without seeing and feeling, so I did and do regularly make trips to YarnMarket in Columbus, Ohio. Basically, they have a warehouse of more yarn than I'd ever dream of trying. I go in and just sniff, smell, and feel all the yarn in their show room.

My current love is wool. Bare wool I can dye. My favorite place to purchase my wool and a place that is cheap is Sheep Shed Studio. Carol and her husband sell the mill ends from the Brown Sheep Mill.

I've focused on most of the on-line sources by linking to each of the brands I've mentioned. Through the years, I've found most of the yarn in LYS's, but have found I get a better price on-line.

Aren't you glad you asked, Sandra? I could go on and on, at the end all though, talk to other yarnies, check out Ravelry, visit yarn shops and Google the heck out of the word "yarn". :)

On the Bunnies

2011-07-28T20:47:00.005-04:00

"I'm coming to eat yer grass"

"Sniff yer ...." "Never mind."

"I'll sniff yer leg"

"Run fer yer lives! He's gotta a knife."

"Dodge is my name. Yous ain't catching me."

We still have these two bunnies. Out of all my pets, these two take the most work and attention. They were rescues and it is now 2 years later and they are finally bonding with me. Rabbits take patience. They are NOT like cats. My two are litter box trained, but that is the extent of the similarities between the two species.

Tonight we let them out in the front yard. It is hot hot hot and the buns wore out quickly. My goal was to slowly work them around the yard and then work on catching them. We used to let our other buns out all the time without supervision in the backyard. The key with these buns is I can't reliably catch them, so they take a lot of supervision. I'd like to eventually be able to let them out in the backyard to get some outside time.

Don't let anybody tell you bunnies are easy. They are work with little in return as far as snuggles and kisses go. My two buns are super soft with loads of attitude. They fit right into my home.

Knit Lesson: YO, Knit & Purl Stitch

2011-07-28T08:17:00.002-04:00

The basis of ALL knitting is three skills, in my opinion.

I'm no expert, just a crazy lady who loves to knit standing in her driveway. I did that yesterday...went to get the mail, saw my knitting sitting in the front seat of the car, grabbed it and stood there and knitted in the driveway.

Totally forgot to get the mail.

Anyway, the three skills are yarn overs, knit stitch and purl stitch. If you know how to do those three things, you can knit just about anything.

I've attached two videos, the first one is the knit stitch. I apologize for my base humor. Jon was videotaping and well, we are silly people sometimes.

The second one is the purl stitch.

In both videos I do yarn overs, which is how you wrap the yarn around the needles. For some reason, this skill took me the longest to get comfortable with. I suspect it is because I'm a crocheter and my knitting reflects that since I'm considered a "thrower" in the knitting world. As in, I throw my yarn over around the needle. Other knitters are considered "pickers", in that they pick up the yarn over.

Do what is comfortable to you. How you hold the needle, hold the stitches on the needles, yarn over, etc. is a completely organic and individual hallmark to each person. You are not going to knit like me because everyone knits different. Do what is comfortable to YOU. If you hold the needles like handle bars or resting on your palms, it doesn't matter. What matters is the basic skills. HOW you achieve it is unique to you. I encourage you do just DO IT! ;)

Knit:

Purl:

Knit Lesson: Joining in the Round

2011-07-27T16:33:00.004-04:00

After casting on however many stitches you've decided to cast on, the next step is to join the stitches in the round.

This makes a joined circle, basically creating the basis for the large knitted tube that will eventually be a felted bag.

I've suggested Janne knit a couple inches in a dark color for the bottom of the bag and after the bag is complete, I'll have her go back and sew the bottom seam of the bag closed. So, she is working from the bottom of the bag up.

After the couple of inches of knit for the bottom of the bag, I'm going to show her how to change colors from row to row. Which is a later post. Janne wants a striped bag and they are super easy.

I'll post a video tomorrow on how to knit stitches for those of you following along and considering dipping your toe into knitting.

Here is the video on joining in the round. Remember the key is to not end up with a twist in your circle, because then you have to start over. If it is twisted, you'll end up with a spiral in your knitting, thus you won't have a nice knitted circle.

Taping these videos occurs after work and during our evening rush. The kitty you hear meowing at the end is actually Jesse. I promise my kitty was not upset. He was lounging on the sidewalk wondering what the heck we were doing. ;)

Knit Lesson: Backward Loop Cast On

2011-07-26T19:48:00.004-04:00

My sister purchased yarn on our trip last week. I piled 7 skeins of Cascade 128 bulky yarn in her arms, then we discussed needles. Typically, most people pick cheap items to start knitting...acrylic yarn, aluminum needles...and this gets them started with little investment. From there they can decide if they actually like to knit.

Not my sister. She wanted the nice yarn, the awesome needles and whatever else I have that makes me so addicted to knitting. Then she pointed to a felted bag hanging on the LYS wall and said, "I want to do that.".

HOOBOY! Girl wants to be baptised good. A purse is basically a large knitted hat, so I figured, "Why not?".

We did a cursory knitting lesson in the shop, I sent her on her way with her supplies and come Saturday evening I had a text: "Um, I need you to show me how to do that thing again".

Problem is Janne is in Texas and I'm in Ohio.

I suggested YouTube and gave her the key words to look for: cast on, knit, backward loop.

She looked and then called and said, "It looks different. Their stuff looks different from what I'm using and it is confusing. AND the lady keep talking about what NOT to do. I don't care about that, I just want to know HOW to do it."

So, I told her I'd post a video of a backward loop cast on using the same needles and yarn she currently has. The needles are the same except mine are Addi Lace and she is using Addi Turbo. The yarn is the same except I'm using Cascade 128 Superwash and she is using Cascade 128.

I hope this helps, Janne! I'll work on the next step of the project, joining in the round.

The Vacation

2011-07-25T14:17:00.002-04:00

The kids, Jon, myself, my dad and sister spent the last week at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We stayed at a condo at the Emerald Isle complex, which was nice and cozy. The complex is located near the more west end of Okaloosa Island, which is a quieter area than Destin and the main area of Fort Walton Beach.

I've culled the pictures from over a thousand to these 16 to tell the story of what our 7 days of vacation included. Don't be surprised at the amount of sand, surf and sun you see, because when we vacation, we literally take the lazy definition to the extreme. We sit, sun tan, surf and just generally enjoy each others company.

On the way down, we stopped in Nashville to meet Julia and her husband, Mike for dinner at the Santa Fe Cattle Company restaurant. Julia & Mike had flown in from California to visit the area and we coordinated schedules to meet up for the first time. It is a testament to making blog friends, that we met up and had a great dinner. The guys even seemed to get along famously, swapping stories of slaughtering pigs, heavy equipment and fishing. I kick myself for not getting a picture, but Julia is wonderful. Her book Bingo's Big Adventure (Amazon link for the book) is a favorite of ours and Jesse and Julia discussed Bingo, since Jesse was worried about him and his big adventures. I can't wait for the second book to come out and based on the sneak peek I've seen, it is gonna be another favorite.

Arriving at Fort Walton Beach, the weather decided to dump 10 inches of rain on the area resulting in flooding and seaweed laden beaches and surf.

Which did not stop us.

I did make a foray to a yarn shop, which was 2 minutes from the condo. The visit left a bad taste in my mouth after the lady was rude about my kids being in the store. I posted the story on Ravelry, which sparked quite the conversation. When my sister and I went to their knit night on Wednesday, the lady was quite gracious. I suspect she had seen the post in Ravelry because when I walked in the door she said, "OH! You decided to come back after all." and lots of mention of Ravelry was heard by my sister and I among the conversations. BWAHAHAH! Me and my big mouth.

We did the dolphin cruise Thursday morning and Jon and I celebrated our anniversary that evening with a meal at the Black Pearl and went to see Transformers 3 for the second time. I had Mahi Mahi, sweet potato casserole and asparagus with a margarita for dinner. Best meal of the vacation!

Jon and Dad spent quite a lot of time surfing the kids over waves. Boogie boards are nice, but those inflatable lounges are awesome for wave fun.

Janne had a great time. The kids enjoyed the uninterrupted Nanny time and I enjoyed spending time with my best friend and sister.

Janne's main goal of vacation was to sit on the beach, which lined up perfectly with our goal. Perfect vacation partner. Dad and Janne drove from Texas to meet us in Florida. Dad brought his motorcycle and spent quality time driving around the island on it.

Janne also takes some pretty awesome pictures. Jon is, as usual, trying to throw somebody in the ocean. *ahem* Good thing I'm flexible.

We were able to get these shots in the ocean by using a waterproof bag for our DSLR cameras. The bags are great and I recommend them to anybody going to the beach. Sand in the camera is no joke, much less water. The investment repaid itself on this vacation with amazing shots and cameras that survived. Well, almost. We did break one lens. Which sucked donkey balls.

A bugs eye view....

On departure day, God sent a rainbow. I LOVE rainbows and living in Ohio, I rarely see one. They settle something inside me. Whatever is rattling around in my head, quiets and the rainbow just captures me.

Vacationing was awesome and we can't wait to do it again. James and Jesse's first experience with the ocean and extended vacation has hopefully left them with great memories. It is why we do vacations, to gather those peaceful moments and store them against the daily trials of daily life. We went, we settled, we enjoyed. Exactly what a vacation should be all about. Settling into the sand and relaxing.

Winner Winning!!!

2011-07-24T10:48:00.003-04:00

Summer!

Summer! is the winner! Based on what I know of Summer, she is squealing and dancing around like a crazy woman. She is that crazy about Twilight. I'm pretty sure she even sleeps with an Edward cutout when her man is gone on business trips. Am I right, Summer? ;)

Anyway, check out her blog at A Chapter a Week dot com.

Check out her books, Move Along MacKenzie and With a Shake of Her Hair.

Buy With a Shake of Her Hair on Amazon Kindle and With a Shake of Her Hair on Nook. Great summer beach time read.

Congrats, Summer! You will have a pair in your mailbox before the November premier of Breaking Dawn. :)

Dear Jon,

2011-07-21T08:21:00.000-04:00

Babe, we are 10 years into this marriage gig and I still feel like we are newlyweds. Every day, I see the look of adoration in your eyes and feel the same melting sensation I felt the first time you gave me the look.

The years have been kind to us. It was just the two of us and along the way, we added two more.

Two imps who are a little of you, a little of me and a whole lot of themselves.

Last year, I wrote you a letter celebrating our love. The mushy love, the times-are-hard love, the I'm-going-to-squish-you-in-adorableness love. It was an epic letter in my mind. I didn't think I had much more to share with you, but I do.

This year, I want to talk about the stuff we don't talk about. Things that we've compromised, accepted with grace and in many instances we've dealt with for years in silence.

I'm talking about the hair issues.

Now, I've put up with you plucking your white beard hair and leaving them on the bathroom mirror for the past couple of years. Yes, I'm aware of where, when and why those white beard hairs showed up. Trust me, honey, you're gonna look like Santa Claus by the time our two are through their teen years.

Because you put up with me shaving my rabbits' butt with your clippers, I don't comment about the hairs on the mirror. Not sure why you insist of sticking them to the mirror, but I clean it with love every week.

Thank you for the new set of clippers completely dedicated to the use of shaving my animal hairs. Yes, I do realize it was a little passive aggressive of me to use your clippers in retaliation. I won't use your clippers any more. Best $30 you spent, right?

It was a testament to your patience or my poor eyesight, when I confronted you in 2009 about the fact that I had a mustache. A fact that I hadn't been aware of until I decided to wax my eyebrows and really investigated the state of hair on my face. You calmly looked at me and stated, "Honey, you've always had a mustache. I've loved you despite of it.".

Thank you for talking me down off the ledge when I found nipple hairs.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about this picture you took the other day.

Remember our honeymoon in Key Largo? You took a similar picture then. I don't mind. In fact I think it is a great representation and a round (there are so many butt jokes, but I'll restrain myself) about way of ending this letter. You see, this picture speaks to me about the fascination you still have with me. Just me. I hope you see the same reflection of love and adoration in my eyes when I look at you. Because, babe, I love you so.

12 in 12 Bella Mitten Update, Showing the Love

2011-07-17T17:16:00.005-04:00

Because I've been busy, am going to be busy and it took me three hours to convince Blogger to upload my pictures....

Because I've finished the thumb gusset on my Bella Mitten...

Because I love you. Because I love Twilight. Because I know you love Twilight. Because I want you to wear a pair of Bella Mittens to Breaking Dawn in November...

I want to knit you a pair to be mailed to you before the November premier.

So, tell me how goes your week in the comments by Saturday, July 23rd, 11:59pm (Ohio time, you're gonna have to figure out what time that is on your end) and I'll pick a name next Sunday, July 24.

Sorry, only U.S. mailing. Love you internationals too, but I can't do the shipping.

The mittens will be knit in the hand dyed by me purple, Lambs Pride, which is wool/mohair blend, hand wash only. You are totally going to LOVE them!

Much love, this Handy Hooker is lazy for the the next week!

Sweet Tea

2011-07-12T20:45:00.002-04:00

Sweet tea is a staple in our home. My kids love sweet tea. I love sweet tea. Jon despises sweet tea. Actually, he despises all tea. Something ain't right with the home boy. Any good country upbringing should include sweet tea.

My mom probably put it in our bottles. Which in Texas in the late 70's, early 80's this would be completely normal to put sweet tea in a baby bottle.

The picture above is a glass from an old friend, Mary Lou. July is a difficult month with so many highs and lows visiting from July's of the past. I've missed this space the last few days. I've not come here to type, to talk to connect with others, because I felt I needed to find laughter, happiness, love to share about.

The best I came up with was my love of tea. Sweet tea is such a southern thing. In my soul, I'm southern. When I go to Texas, I fit. My weird shaped peg fits seamlessly in the lives of family down there. I went to Iowa recently and felt the same "fit" with my family there. Not that I thought they loved me more than other family, just that they accepted me more. Because I'm like them. Like appeals to like. We seek out those who are physically similar, have similar interests, similar life paths, these similarities create a basis for a strong relationship foundation. Probably why God made families have similar traits. He wants strong family relationships.

Sweet tea represents my love of the south.

I'm longing to truck on down the road a bit. Connect with my family. Settle into my skin a bit. Seal the ragged edges of my psyche with the balm of love and acceptance from family.

Ohio is always the right place for Jon and I. I understand Jon's need to be close to family. Jon understands this need I have to truck on down the road to be with my family. He sees it in my antsy pantsy cleaning freak outs. He knows my mind is going and I am feeling the pull. Always, always, he's encouraged me to go.

So, I do. I truck on down the road. In two days, Jon will truck on down the road with me and the kids. Our destination is a week of relaxation with my dad and sister. My heart cannot wait. I cherish the initial moment when we meet up. The quick grab and long hug. The whispered "I've missed you.". That moment I hold onto, because it is the later moment, the quick good bye that I chose to forget. I'm always looking towards the moment of "Hello! I've missed you so.".

Bella's Mittens-12 in 12 Book Update

2011-07-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

The plan for Bella's mittens was to dye 2 skeins of Lambs Pride Bulky a "Twilighty" color. Since I didn't have a specific color in mind and would have been happy with brown, I took a bunch of dyes and dumped them into the dye pot.

Where this burnt orange/brown came from I don't know but it is EXACTLY what I had envisioned in my head for a "twilighty" color. It's woodsy with a nice hint of vampire.

I've gotten to the thumb gusset on my first mitten. There is some M1 instructions at this point in the pattern, which means "make one stitch". Typically, I'd just zoom through it, but I'm using 2 long circulars and one short circular.

The short circular is doing some wonky things to my stitches, so I want to buy ANOTHER set of size 8, 16" circular needles. This requires a trip to the yarn store. It's a hardship, but I'm going to bite the bullet and buy more needles.

Can you see my mess up with the first cable? It is pretty glaring to me, but I'm not willing to correct it. I'm sticking to my rule of making a mistake in every project.

I'm thrilled with how easy these are working up. I've been avoiding this pattern since the first Twilight movie came out because I thought I couldn't do it. I'm just surprising myself left and right with this stuff. *hand pun intended*

Werewolf Hat-12 in 12 Book Update

2011-07-09T16:27:00.003-04:00

The original plan was to dye this skein of yarn, but I change my mind and used a skein I had in my stash.

Jesse is getting these poses from somewhere and it ain't from her momma.

Something apopros about a little girl wearing a werewolf hat and holding a kitty cat. Whiz wants nothing to do with it.

This project literally just jumped off the needles. I sat down Monday and did it among all the 4th of July activities, parade, party, fireworks, etc. I used Cascade 128 wool on size 11 needles. The pattern calls for size 10.5 needles, so I modified and cast on to do the small adult size and then used J&J's heads to adjust the height and placement of the ears.

Completing this so quickly means I cast on the next project in my 12 in 12 Book Project list. Specifically, Bella's Mittens. Which I'm super excited to show you tomorrow!

Wrassling

2011-07-07T20:45:00.004-04:00

On raising a boy and a girl, I'd like to think I'm getting the dance down. I know the difference between a "I'm hurt" wail and a "I'm gonna get you!" fun wail. Body contact, wrestling, tussling, are all acceptable forms of play in our home. James is learning to respect that Jesse is smaller and easier upset and it is enlightening to see the dynamic between the two develop each day.

The fact that Jesse can give as good as she gets, points in favor of a self-confident little girl who has a great older brother to teach her the ropes. We've been told we should NOT allow them to do things like they are doing in the picture above. It isn't acceptable behavior. Which is correct IN SOME places, the play above is unacceptable. J&J will learn and we as the adults are here to teach them when and where certain behaviors are expected.

Score one for Jesse. James looks a little stunned and wondering why he is on the ground.

As long as there is smiles and laughter, I'm gonna go ahead and let them play wrassling. There is still time in their young lives that this form of play has a role. A role to teach them about the agility of the body, resilience of the sport, understanding, compassion, competiveness...Yes, I do believe wrassling has a lot to teach them.

Mostly, the appropriate victory dance...IN YER FACE!

*no children were harmed during the wrassling*

Head, Hands, Hearts

2011-07-05T10:35:00.003-04:00

Jon and I opted for an easy, relaxed weekend.

Each day bringing better rhythm to our home.

Each of us learning the ballet that is home life.

Each person pursuing their own interests within the security of each other.

Each with thoughts, hopes and dreams.

Each encouraging, loving and giving the hand up to reach those dreams.

Much love to those who are serving and have served in our military.

Palm Readers-12 in 12 Book Update

2011-07-03T08:35:00.002-04:00

The Palm Readers were a definite favorite of mine. I loved the dye colors in the book, loved the challenge of trying to match the dye colors, love the easy, pleasing pattern. With all that love, you'd think I'd actually do the project. But I didn't.

It went down a quick slippery slope. Dyeing the skein of yarn was fun. The colors were perfect, when all the sudden just before I went to put the skein of dyed yarn in the oven, the brown bled red into my white spaces. I took a deep breath, cussed a bit and grabbed some red dye stock and covered the brown bleed areas with red, telling myself the red represented the blood of vampires.

Unfortunately when the skein was dried, it looked a little too cotton candyish for me to even convince myself this was "vampire" dyed. AND the Plymouth Select worsted weight yarn was a very light worsted after going through the dye process, that it was almost DK weight. I couldn't use this yarn for the Palm Readers. *sad face*

Took out a WIP, I started in November that had been languishing. It is almost the same pattern as the Vampire Knits book pattern lacking the thumb. I saw an article on crochet steeking and knew I could use this technique to put a thumb in the arm warmer. Took the plunge on crochet steeking and I've posted a video of me cutting my knitting.

Cutting knitting is a scary proposition. Basically if you get a hole in a knitted garmet the hole tends to run. You've seen this with your favorite sweater, a tiny hole and ZIP! the whole thing has a giant run in it. With crochet steeking, you crochet the stitches around the hole you intentionally want to put into the knitted fabric. The crochet stitches act as a stopper, keeping those stitches from running. I crocheted a circle around the area I wanted my thumb hole and VOILA! Palm Readers in Jacob colors.

I LOVE IT!

I LOVE Pickles!

2011-07-02T16:24:00.002-04:00

Pickles are my favorite, after banana peppers. Banana peppers are more versatile, since they will go on pizza, and pickles and pizza is just a nono.

So, it is a good thing I like all pickles, sweet, sour, hot, cold, crisp, big, little, I don't discriminate.

I would though, like to have had Kosher Dill Spears instead of Bread and Butter pickles. The jar is clearly labeled Dill Spears and I really wanted Dill Spears. James really wanted Dill Spears. Alas, we got Bread and Butter slices in a Dill Spear jar.

It's funny!!! Should I email Vlasic? I'm sure they'd do me a solid and send me coupons for more pickles. Doesn't solve my immediate problem, though. I do think I'm going to chop them up and make relish.

Vampire Knits Book Projects 12 in 12

2011-07-01T07:00:00.004-04:00

The Blog-A-Long group on Ravelry presented a challenge: Pick a book and knit from that book for an entire year.

Now this goes along with my 12 in 12 Reduce the Mileage goals, so I raised me wee hand and said, "Sure, I'll play!". A friend RAKed me a gorgeous book called, Vampire Knits, and I'm going to use it.

Based on a few facts: 1. I'm easily distracted by shiny and new 2. I have vacation and holidays to contend with 3. It would mean buying more yarn (hardship, I know) and 4. I have to blog on Sundays, I decided I could make a few adjustments, buy a tighter belt, invest in Icy Hot for my hands and I'd be good to go.

Here is my synopsis of my 12 in 12 Book Project Goals. Only a few require me to buy yarn, and I'll do that as the budget allows. Budget is tighter than a washer with a nut and bolt tightened by an impact screwdriver. Getting creative is going to be the name of the game.

1. Bella's Mittens-I need to dye the yarn

2. Vampire Diary Protector

3. My Beating Heart Capelet

4. Head Scarf-yarn is Caron Spa

5. Black Veil

6. Vampire Tote

7. Werewolf Hat-need to dye the yarn

8. Palm Readers-need to dye the yarn

9. Lore Hoodie-need to buy the yarn

10. Shapeshifter Shrug-need to buy the yarn

11. Imprint Pillow-need to buy the yarn or dye up yarn, not sure.

12. Briar Rose Sweater-this is a substitute project, not out of the book because I didn't have the yarn or like the sweater projects in the book.

13. Little Fishy-another substitute project and I need to buy the yarn. James insists I make him a sweater and this is right up his alley.

14. Web Spinner-need to buy yarn-this is for James Christmas present

Fourteen projects in total, only because I'm sure several of those projects will be done quickly. Lots of sweater projects and I'm super excited that I'm able to do them now after the Hoodie gave me such a boost.

There you have it! Think I'm going to do it? Are you gonna be here to cheer me on? Sundays are the days I will post my weekly updates on the projects. Check back then!

12 In 12 Reduce the Mileage Goals

2011-06-30T10:06:00.004-04:00

Total Yardage Year To Date Is: 7,636 yards or 4.3 miles

In January I told ya’ll that I had 22 miles of yarn in my yarn stash. That was January and I confess, I’ve bought more yarn. So despite the fact that I’ve knit like a crazy woman, or felt like I did, I’ve barely made a dent in my yarn stash. It’s okay, I’m okay with this, Jon is okay with this. Though he did call me earlier in the week and said, “I noticed the closet is cleared out pretty good. I mean, it was great I could walk in there and I was quite impressed. But can you tell me why there is now yarn in the deep freezer?”. I’m pretty sure I flubbed a little and mentioned something about moths in my wool and I was worried they'd eat my wool so I put it in the freezer. When in fact, I was hoping he would not notice the yarn in the freezer. Darn man.

Here is a wordy, picture-full synopsis of the knitting and crocheting I’ve done for the last 6 months. I’ve set loftier goals for the next 6 months and I’ll share those with you tomorrow.

June 2011 was such a busy month and I felt I got a lot done, but in fact only finished 4 projects total and dyed skeins of yarn.
Baby 6-9 month tunic dress @ 125 yds= 125 yards
Two Child Shoulder Shrugs @ 170 yds*2=340 yards
Hoodie for ME!!! @ 110 yds*7 skeins=770 yards
Total yardage is 1,165 for the month of June 2011.

May 2011 was a good month, but actual yardage knit is a little buggy since I finished up 2 WIPs and I’m counting their yardage for this month. I’m a cheater, I know.
Two 6-9 month tunic dresses @ 125 yds*2=250 yards
Felted Handbag with flowers @ 125 yds*4 skeins=500 yards
Dinosaur Baby Bib @ 120 yds=120 yards
March Sisters Jo Pinafore @ 400 yds=400 yards
Jesse All Heart Hoodie @ 137*3=411 yds
For a total of 1,681 yds completed for the month of May 2011

April was a good month
Two 2T tunic dresses @ 185*2=370 yards
Three 9month tunic dresses @ 125*3=375 yards
Capelet @ 128*2=256 yards
Felt Bag @ 125 yards
Jesse tunic @ 46*4=184 yards
1/2 of Jesse's hoodie @ 185 yards
Total yardage is 1,495 yards for April. Not bad not bad!

Slow month knitting and crocheting, since I did a lot of yarn dyeing.
Rose's Five Spice Hat in Lambs Pride Burly Spun, hand-dyed by me: 100 yds
Lucas's Divine Hat in Vanna's Choice-140 yds
My mittens in Lambs Pride Bulky, hand-dyed by me-125 yds
Purple Dress in Lambs Pride Bulky, hand-dyed by me-125 yds
Mobeious Scarf in Malabrigo Rios-210 yds
For a total of 700 yds knitted/crocheted March 2011.

Honest to God, I do not know when I did these things, they just jumped off the hooks and needles.

Jesse Dress, Debbie Bliss Como-4 skeins 45 yds=180 yd
Alpaca Divine Hat-120 yds
Blue and White K2P2 Knit hat-125 yds
Crochet Mittens Greenish Lambs Pride Bulky-125 yds (frogged and currently knitting mittens)
12 Month Pink and Blue Baby Dress-125 yds
12 Month Green Baby Dress-125 yds
12 Month Blue Baby Dress-125 yds
Pink and Brown 128 Cascade Knit and Crochet (2 hats)-128 ydsX2=256 yds
Red and Blue Brim Crochet Hat-120 yds
Purple Vanna's Choice Divine Hat-120 yds
Green and White Cotton Ease Crochet Baby Hat-100 yds
Sunflower Felted Knit Hat-125 yds
1646 yds knitted/crocheted in February 2011

January 2011 was a bit slow due to traveling to Tennessee.
Jesse bamboo silk arm warmers and scarf.
Zack knit hat in Cascade Superwash 128.
Worked on hoodie in Knit Picks Cadena, got the back done and first repeat of front two panels done.
Cabled knit hat in Cascade Superwash 128.
Total yardage is approximately 949 yards for January.

So there you have it, my yardage for the first 6 months of the year. I'm quite proud of myself for banging out the miles. Now, on to the bigger challenge, bigger projects and more goal seeking. I've found travel and holidays mess with my mojo, and the second half of the year is gonna have a bit of both, so we will see how it goes.

Lemon & Lime Haiku

2011-06-29T06:36:00.001-04:00

I woke up saying haiku's and counting the syllables on my fingers:

Powdered sugar loves
Butter, mix em together
And a crust is made

Encourage the child
to lick the lemon without
a puckerface lip

Lemon and Lime are
Yellow and Green Mix with Blood
and Gore, you get Pink

Let the children help
If knuckles get scraped it's fine
Just wrap em up tight

Lemon Lime Squares are
palate cleansers, you should try
them some day, says I

The Hoodie

2011-06-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

Labor of love.

Gratituous cat pictures.

I'm in love.

So, in love, I'm wearing it right now.

*takes a bow* My first sweater is FINISHED!!! Who knew a year ago, I'd be knitting a sweater and ready to cast on my second one?

Edited to add:

The sweater's blog journey:

January 20, 2011: Casting On

January 24, 2011: Working Through It

May 30, 2011: BAM! Progress!

June 17, 2011: The HOOD!

Fast Friday

2011-06-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Jon and Jesse went fishing last Saturday. After 8 hours of fishing they were packing up getting ready to leave when Jon noticed Jesse's line had been pulled all the way across the lake.

The sucker was running. Jesse reeled and reeled and reeled and finally landed her fish. It was good, we had him last night.

Lightning Strikes, Zombies & 6 YOs

2011-06-23T13:16:00.003-04:00

Last evening we went camping, fishing, fishing while camping, trying to fish while camping, camping while fishing or some version thereof. Fishing was happening when I showed up at 6pm. The tent was set up and Jon was getting the fire going for hotdogs and Smores. The weather seemed to be holding, but it was a pretty dicey with clouds rolling through the area. About 8pm Jon hollars, "GET IN THE TENT NOW!".

A wall of water was coming across the field and boy did it look ominous. We all hustle to the tent. Well, they did, I was already in the tent knitting. The kids flopped around throwing pillows and blankets for the next 15 minutes while we waited for the rain to blow over.

It did and fishing resumed. A dozen or so blue gill later, I see Jon intently watching the horizon. The kids and I were setting up blankets and snuggling down to start watching for lightning bugs, when Jon hollars, "Don't get too comfortable! We've got lightning coming!". James and I stood outside the tent and counted ONE ELEPHANT, TWO ELEPHANT, THREE ELEPHANT....BOOM!!!! Jesse wailed, "I wanna go home RIGHT NOW!".

Fishing and camping were over and we tossed everything into the vehicles, abandoned the tent where she stood and hightailed it home.

On the way home, James asked me why lightning strikes were so bad. To which I told him lightning strikes can kill a person. The conversation evolved:

James: But on that show it shows the guy getting hit by lightning and all we see is his bones.

Me: That is fiction, buddy. You know, make believe, a story, a cartoon, things that aren't always the way it is in real life.

James: OH! So like those lines. That is why they have something wrapped around them.

Me: What lines?

James: You know, those lines. *points outside*

Me: ?????? *it is pitch dark, what is this kid talking about?????* OH! The power lines!

James: Yeah. duh.

Me: Oh, well, yeah, those are covered, but if they broke and were laying on the ground then they would zap you like lightning will zap you.

James: ???????? *where is she going with this?!* You said they were safe as long as the squirrels and birds didn't touch two at at time.

Me: I'm talking about if the line breaks in half and falls to the ground, there is still power going to them and it will zap you. Remember when you stuck the scissors in the TV and it zapped you?

James: Yeah

Me: Well, think lot more zap and hurt and it will kill you.

James: Is that what happened to Grandpa Jewell?

Me: No, she just died.

James: Yeah she got whacked on the head and it didn't work right any more and the doctors couldn't help her, so she died.

Me: Yes, she died and sometimes doctors can't fix what is wrong.

James: Can you come back from the dead?

Me: No, once you die, you die and go to Heaven with Jesus.

James: What does Jesus's place look like?

Me: I don't know. Nobody knows because nobody comes back after they die.

James: I need to find some Zombies.

Me: What?

James: Zombies come back from the dead.

Me: You know they aren't real, right?

James: *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

Little Girl Shrugs

2011-06-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

A week ago, Wednesday, I looked at my calender and realized a birthday party for J&J's cousins had snuck up on me.

I had three days to make two shrugs. I figured it could be done, worsted weight yarn with size 9 needles should make for a fast shrug.

Then I realized I had to do two and as of Friday night, I had not finished one. I was close, but it was going to be down to the wire. Why I hadn't gotten further along on the shrugs can only be attributed to the fact that I'm easily distracted by shiny objects.

Namely my hoodie. Which I will show you on Monday, cause that sucker is done!!!!

Back to the shrugs. I got up early Saturday morning knowing the party was at 5 and cast on the second shrug. Texted Jon at 2 and said, "Are you sure the party is at 5 and not 6?", to which he replied "Yes.". Measured my shrug, counted stitches and chugged another coke and keep knitting.

It was close. I finished with an hour to spare. No time to wash the shrugs, but it is family and I know the two girls aren't allergic to cats. Which was a big consideration, because I'm positive the black shrug is knitted with cat hair, my hair, Jesse's hair, dog hair. I mean, when I give gifts of love and labor, I make sure a piece of everybody goes in the product.

I am kidding, you know. The shrugs were clean as clean-gone-through-my-hands-once can be. I assume the girls liked them. "I give handmade gifts" should either be a t-shirt I wear with pride or a warning I have stamped on my forehead.

J&J asked why I always make things and there are a variety of reasons, but until someone tells me "Please don't make me anything." which I'll interpret as "Your stuff sucks.", I'll continue to make handmade and continue to teach my kids the value in handmade. Hopefully along the way, other kids will learn too.

This is just me, a one-woman knitter, trying to change consumerism one child at a time.

Tee Ball

2011-06-22T08:25:00.002-04:00

James had his last game on Friday and I took my camera to capture a few pictures.

I remember my first year of softball. It instilled a love of the sport that only got surpassed by volleyball in high school. James LOVES the game and really focuses on the field. I actually expected him to play in the dirt most of the season, but he didn't. He was always into the game.

Speaking of high school, during the game, Jesse snagged my camera and captured this picture, along with a few others. But this one, I glanced at and history and future collided. See, in this picture from left to right is Jeremy, Becka, Amanda, I-don't-know-his-name, and D.J. & Renee's boy. Jeremy, Becka, D. J., Renee and Amanda are former high school classmates of ours. Seven Whoville alumni among the parents on just James team. I know for the next 13 years, we will gather more and by the time our kids are in high school, the majority of the team will be our alumni's kids. Kinda crazy, huh?

The man I do not know the name of was a regular at Jon and my baseball and softball games from elementary through High School. The fact that he looks exactly like I remember him looking 20 years ago is mind-boggling to me.

Jesse took several pictures, five to be exact, of D.J. and Renee's boy. I do believe she may have been crushing on him a little. It was adorable!!!!

From the glimpse I see on the ball field, all is good in Whoville.

Forgiveness

2011-06-21T10:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday on Twitter, Oprah Magazine, posted a link to an article on Forgiveness titled "How to Forgive Anyone—and Why Your Health Depends on It". The expert is Fred Luskin who has been studying forgiveness and its effect on peoples health for close to 20 years.

The take away synopsis of the entire article for me was the following:

The content does not matter. Whatever happened to you is irrelevant to your journey of forgiveness. The key is how to make yourself safe. Once you figure that out, forgiveness happens.

He tells us that despite what we may have heard about forgiveness "journeys," there are really only two steps in the process: grieving and letting go. Grieving, after you have been wronged, means letting yourself feel the anger, hurt, and trauma in all its original pain—but not indefinitely. "After about two years, most people have had plenty of time to process," Luskin explains. "Then they're ready to move on."

While reading the article I flashed to a conversation I had with my brother. We were talking about the counseling we did as children. We both felt it was unproductive. What was unproductive was gathering everyone in a room for a family meeting and working to hash out all the issues. This environment required the participation of everyone and its success was intertwined with everyone relying on everyone to validate, respect and accept what everyone was saying.

Let me say it this way: We were taught in counseling that our emotional healing process SHOULD involve relying on someone else.

When in reality what worked was relying on ourselves. Finding out who we were as people. What our souls needed to be content. Learning about forming boundaries. Figuring out what is okay and then when the boundary was crossed, defend that boundary like a pair of snarling rottweilers.

When I've found myself in the position where I am upset, I need time and distance to process through the emotions. The forgiveness comes pretty quickly. But the second part comes harder, and that part is keeping my heart open to continued slights, wrongs or hurts. This is where keeping myself safe comes into play, thus where boundaries have been my resource.

People step on the line of my boundaries all the time, and I continuously work within myself to have patience, love and acceptance guide me. It is and has never been about the other person, it has always been about me. Things I need to do to keep my inner self safe.

And that is what Luskin is teaching, how to forgive and keep yourself safe. "Yourself" being that piece of your soul that is instinctual and is the true you.

Think about forgiveness and how it plays into your life. Remember the content does not matter. It is all about forgiving and opening yourself up to living a healthier life. How often do you mentally touch those old hurts? If living in the now means letting it go and forgiving, do you want to live in the now? Do you think forgiveness is a trainable skill?

P.S. I'm not preaching! Just processing and I look to others for their insights about the forgiveness journey. So, what are your thoughts?

Jon's Fishing Rod Holder

2011-06-20T11:44:00.002-04:00

From Handy Hooker

A while back I mentioned Jon was working on a fishing rod holder. I gave him some tips and tricks for a minor part of the creation, but this baby is all him.

From Handy Hooker

Basically, we were unhappy with toting 2 kids with 6 fishing poles inside the Trailblazer. I'd make Jon tape the hooks up and pray nobody got jabbed in the eye. The fishing poles didn't break down and it is a pain to rehook, line and sinker (or whatever you do when you go fishing) each and every fishing trip.

From Handy Hooker

Jon and the kids are bigtime into fishing. As in, they go at least once a week for a 8-10 hour day of fishing.

From Handy Hooker

Jon invented/created/made/crafted/welded/drilled/jerryrigged this contraption up.

At its simplest, it is a 6 fishing rod holder for the top of the Trailblazer.

Go ahead and Google "fishing rod holder". Now try to find one that will go on top of your vehicle and hold six rods. I'll wait here.

Didn't find any, did you?

This thing is a testament to Jon's ability to make and create useful things. I'm quite proud of him and J&J's eyes are now safe.

From Drop Box

The entire contraption feels a little Beverly Hillbillies to me and I'd never complain. I'm quite proud of Jon. My only complaint is the hitch wagon holder is heavy as heck and I can't remove it by myself. Then I forget it is back there and WHOOPS! try to back out of a parking spot in a parking garage and get myself into all kinds of trouble.

Here is a 1 minute 10 second demonstration of how quickly the fishing rods are transferred from wagon to top of Trailblazer for easy transport.

Hope your weekend went well! We were head, hands, heart busy! Tired babies makes for a happy momma.

Jean Needle Holder

2011-06-19T11:36:00.004-04:00

I saw this webpage this morning and thought AHA! Easy peasy quackameasy! I have a lot of knitting needles and crochet hooks and have needed something that would be quick and easy for me to make to hold all the tools.

Grabbed my favorite pair of Levi's that were no longer safe to wear outside of the house and cut a leg off.

Set up my sewing machine with white thread. I chose white because I wanted to be able to see the slots. Spent a little time sewing each slot lengthwise across the pant leg.

I decided an inch apart was good for my purposes. Marked with a piece of chalk, sewed and reinforced the edges with extra backwards stitching.

The pants legs ended up being the perfect width for my smallest needle, which is 9 inches long.

The back pocket is perfect to hold my crochet hooks and needle measuring thingie.

Overall, a quick and easy project. I didn't sew the selvage ends because these pants have a nice elastic aspect to them and I didn't feel like fighting the material and my sewing machines. I'll have to trim the edges over time, but that is preferable to me than launching my sewing machine out the window because I'm so mad it it.

I've got to figure out a creative way to label each slot, but at this time, I've got them written in chalk. I'm not sure if I'm going to do several needle holders, one for 16" needles, one for 24" needles and one for 32" needles, thus the lack of decision on my part for the slot labels.

There you have it, a quick Sunday project to get organized in the yarn closet.

Have a good one!!!

Fast Friday

2011-06-17T16:53:00.003-04:00

How goes your week?! I've been busy working, knitting, cleaning, cooking, laundrying, etc. What have you been up to?

You should follow me on Twitter, because I definitely will keep you up to date on the status of my rabbits butts, my toe hair, and cussing at my washing machine (synopsis of the latest).

The hoodie is thisclose to being done. I've got 2 inches of hood to finish and then the dreaded 200+ stitch button band to add. THISCLOSE, people! I'm positive I'll be done by July. Which is I lived in the Southern Hemisphere, would be perfect timing to start wearing it.

Surprise, I knit another baby dress. Hand dyed yarn by me. And I read those two books and one other on my Kindle. Seriously in LOVE with my Kindle. I have all my patterns on there, plus my books. Only Christine Feehan's 20some books aren't on my Kindle, since I've got most of her books in paperback.

I've got to make two of these by tomorrow. What is this, you ask? It is a shoulder shrug. It doesn't make any sense until the very last bound off stitch and then I hold it up and everyone goes "AHA!! that makes sense now." This one is about done, just lacking an inch or so. An inch will go quickly. Then there is the second one. I'm enamoured with the pattern, but not thrilled to be so behind schedule getting these done. Tonight there is going to be some quality time spent with my couch and TNT.

Have a great weekend!

Yarn Dyeing & SITS

2011-06-14T00:01:00.002-04:00

Today is my SITS day! AWESOME!!! The Secret to Success is Support is an online community for women, teaching how to blog and social network. HIYA, SITS girls!!! I'm Sara and I'm gonna dip you into a little yarn dyeing. I'm just a wee bit addicted to yarn dyeing. The smell, the colors, the wool, the yarn, it all wraps me up in its yarny goodness and my kids and I spend all day dyeing yarn.

We find inspiration in our under-roos! Not really. Jesse just happened to be wearing the exact same shade as her yarn dye color. Yarn dyeing with a 5 & 6 year old means lots of loosey goosey and fun times.

James always goes for the dark boy colors. His perspective is welcome, since Jesse and I tend to gravitate towards bright colors, especially purple, pink and orange. It is serious business! See the Handy tongue? It is an inherited family quirk he gets from his Dad's side of the family.

The yarns are listed in my Etsy shop as well as baby dresses/tunics I've dyed and knitted myself. My husband and I are currently saving up money for our daughter's hearing aids. We are lovingly calling it the Jesse Hearing Fund. She was recently recommended for bilateral hearing aids and we are trying to get them before school starts in the fall. Every dollar helps, every kind thought, every prayer, every little bit helps us as a family as we navigate this trodden path with Jesse. You can read about her journey by clicking on the Jesse's Hearing Journey links under my blog tags to the right.

I'm alway happy to make items for people. I am passionate about the handmade movement. I knit, crochet, tunisian crochet and sew. I will give a handmade gift over store bought every time. I encourage others to sit, settle, stay quiet and let the busy hands bring peace to the restless heart.

My 5 year old learned to crochet when she was 4, and it is a great calming tool for her.

She recently had to undergo a CT scan for her hearing loss. Know what she was doing up until it was time to go in? Crocheting. She had brought a ball of wool and crochet hook and we pulled it out to calm her. Try it sometime. Sniff the wool.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! Much love to you all! Just for fun, click on the header tabs at the top for some of my fun and favorite blogs!

Eighteen Dollars

2011-06-08T13:46:00.003-04:00

The evening dash of this working mom is fraught with mines and all manner of bugaboos that is just gonna put a kink in my mad dash for 8pm TV show and knitting time.

In an effort to streamline things in the past year, I've instituted a "No chat, grab the kids and go." policy at the childcare home. I started in June of 2010. After a lot of thought and soul searching and evaluating my comfort level, I felt it was within my rights to be able to pick up my kids without having to sit down for 30 minutes to an hour to chat with my childcare provider. It has really worked well, and when other stops are added to the evening dash, I am thankful I'm able to get in and out quickly.

So, yesterday, I got the kids and we talked about what was for dinner. It was decided we would stop at the local grocer and get a few things.

On the way into the store James and I had the following conversation:

James: How much money do you have?

Me: Eighteen dollars

James: How much can we get with that?

Me: Well, we are going to have to add it up as we go, but I think we can get a few things.

At checkout James asked me for Sunkist and I told him that the groceries were going to be close to $18 and I didn't think we had enough.

Total was $15.61

James mind is just too quick and he calculated it should be possible to buy him Sunkist.

I held firm though and we left without the Sunkist.

James continued to whine and throw a red faced tantrum and rant about how he never gets anything.

Needless to say he got a long and harsh talk from me about being thankful, appreciative and kind in the things we say. Especially when "I know we do so much for you and this is how you show how UNthankful you are." were my exact words.

Sitting here remembering the conversation, I'm appalled at myself. Did I do the right thing? Should a 6 yo be told his behavior is UNthankful?

This parenting gig is not for the weak. My children bring me joy each day. Some days it is a challenge to defend them from others. Then days like yesterday and it is a time to shoot home some hard life lessons. I even threatened to take away his beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch. What kind of mom am I?!

All I know is he was the model child the rest of the evening even going so far as to tell me that he peed all over the bathroom floor. "Aren't you so proud of me for telling the truth, Mommy?" "Yes, buddy, I am. Thank you for trying so hard to do the right thing."

Hertz Journey Continues

2011-06-06T13:25:00.003-04:00

I received a call from Dayton Children's Audiologist/ENT department last week. I spoke to a wonderful lady named Karen. She eloquently and patiently explained the next step in our navigation to getting Jesse's hearing aids.

Basically, Jesse has been approved for hearing aids. The ENT doctor must have cleared her, which to me translates into no news about the CT scan means good news for Jesse.

The audiologist has recommended Oticon Safari 600 hearing aids for Jesse.

The average cost I'm seeing across the Internet is approximately $1,200 per hearing aid. Jesse needs two.

But Karen, wonderful Karen, kindly explained to me that because Dayton Children's is affliated (which I forget the acronym now) they are able to offer the hearing aids at a reduced cost. Which means the hearing aids are brand new, but more affordable. So, through Dayton Children's the cost of the hearing aids are $945 each with a $130 each fitting/molding fee.

Totaling $2,020 due immediately if we want Jesse in hearing aids before school starts.

Did you know most insurance companies do not cover the cost of hearing aids? We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Jesse's hearing aids are not covered.

So far it seems like all bad news. The out of pocket costs alone under insurance is $1,200 deductible, which we are getting close to meeting with all the tests and such. Then add in the cost of the hearing aids, well, it adds up quickly. Not sure about you, but we don't have $4,000 laying around.

The good news is that Ohio has a program called Children with Medical Handicaps (BCMH) that is, according to Karen, targeted towards middle income Ohio residents with children with medical handicaps. Basically, if we qualify for the program, all costs associated with Jesse's hearing aids will be covered under the program.

This program, if we qualify and continue to qualify, will cover Jesse's hearing aids and all costs associated with them, until she turns 21.

I'm praying we qualify and hoping we'd at least qualify for the cost share portion of the program. Just having a little help in the cost of the hearing aids would be beneficial. Because Jesse will need hearing aids almost every year or two for the rest of her life. It is a lot of financial investment.

The bad news about the program is there is a 4-5 month wait period for approval. Which means Jesse could not get hearing aids until November at the earliest. Which to my way of thinking is too late.

We are asking family for money and praying they have it in their hearts to give to the Jesse Hearing Fund. I think they will, I'm praying they will. I will let you know how it pans out.

This is the Hertz update for this week. I've been asked via messages and phone calls about the status and appreciate all the encouraging words from each and every one of you.

Bunny Caravan

2011-06-03T20:27:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago a fellow Ravelry member posted in a bunny forum about a rescue in Nashville that needed help after 35 bunnies were dumped after Easter. One of the ways to help was to assist in caravanning two bunnies from Nashville to Michigan. I offered to help in the caravan.

Honestly, I figured people would drive an hour or two and we'd form a relay between Nashville and Michigan. Well, not so much. Caravan included myself and the fellow Ravelry member.

We talked and I decided I could make the trip to Nashville, pop in to see my friend and her new baby, stay overnight with my friend and skiddleboobop back to Ohio. It all went to plan. Not a hitch and I was heavy two lagomorphauts as of 9am this morning. By 4pm, I was back in Ohio, syringe feeding a bun fresh pineapple juice and green bean baby food and sending the fellow Ravelry member and her two new buns on down the road.

She gave me 2 skeins of yarn, bunny treats and this bunny necklace for my help. Isn't the necklace just ADORABLE?! It was good to help out and I'm thankful that the Internet allows me to meet some awesome people. God Bless bunny moms.

Lauren LOVED her Girl Scout quilt I made her. It is a tie quilt using Moda Dea Girl Scout print quilt squares and the backing is a vellux blanket purchased from Walmart.

It was perfect size for her. Now I gotta make her baby brother one too because he tried to take this one to bed with him. Lauren was not having it.

But this, this smile. Gosh, this baby. Wow. I held her a lot. She is just the cutest little chunky monkey ever!

She spent quite a bit of time sleeping on me. Warm babies make me sleepy too. I'm off to bed. Couch surfing is for the birds and this birdie ain't so spry anymore. Hope you had a good week!

The Halloween Tie Quilt

2011-06-01T08:00:00.003-04:00

My absolute favorite pattern square of the whole bunch is this one pictured above. I love stripes and the spiders just make the whole thing work for this tie quilt.

My sewing is a bit wonky. My knots are perfect and the whole thing just screams "Sara made". Not perfect, not big enough, not in style, but for a month a year, the angels, or rather witches will scream and this quilt will be perfect, big enough and totally in style with the season.

This quilt started last summer. I sewed it all together, then got to the part where I either should add the backing or add the packing (?). For some reason the name of the fabric in the middle escapes me...bunting? Anywho, I went to Iowa and spent a couple hours with my Grandma at a tie quilting bee at her church. It was a fast dunking in tie quilting and I came home positive I could do it.

I did do it in my style and it is an ever evolving learning process. See, I cannot tell you what I did right and what I did wrong. I suspect the back is wrong, but it totally works. I believe the front is perfect, but I could be wrong.

My next tie quilt is currently on the floor being sewn together. I have a vellux blanket that my dog chewed a hole in many years ago, rest in peace Daisy and Duke. We've continued to use the blanket, but it gets kinda sad when you snuggle down underneath and your feet pop out of one of the chew holes. It is time the vellux blanket is reincarnated and I believe it will work perfect as a backing to the Girl Scout tie quilt I'm working on.

I'll report back later on how it goes. The tie quilt is being delivered to a special little girl in Nashville tomorrow night. I can't wait to see her face and her momma and her sister and her brother, too!

Blog brought to you by me and my "just winging it" projects.

God said, "Let there be air."

2011-05-31T19:36:00.002-04:00

And the Handy Household now has AC again. Just in time for the massive heat wave that has hit the southern Ohio area. We are talking 90's, people! NINETY THREE degrees today. AC has been out a week and even poor Guy, above, is saying, "It be hot, Momma.". AC guy showed up and $145 later, which is the best money I've spent today, we are good to go.

I don't know what to say about this picture. It speaks to me on so many levels.

Mah boy was the only one to get muddy on the tug-o-war today at field day. He was on a mission to get dirty. No surprise there, huh?

Hope your week is going well. This Tuesday has just been crazy busy. I'll be scooting down to Nashville later this week. I love road trips!

The Hoodie

2011-05-30T11:05:00.004-04:00

In an effort to clear out my WIP box, I set a deadline of today to finish this hoodie. Unfortunately, I got distracted. Or fortunately depending on where your priorities lie.

I've been busy....

Counseling two cats takes time and patience. They been having issues lately. This session ended with Whiz taking a swan dive off the top of the open garage in an effort to lay in sabatoge for Guy.

I'm trying to decide if I will fall off the roof if I loop a piece of rope under the vines and climb up on the roof to tie it off. Jon says he is going to build a trellis, but I'm 5'3" and have to duck and dodge not to get eaten by this thorny rose bush to get into my house.

Code F-21. What the hell? Ever sucked on a water hose to try to drain a pool? Well, apply that method and the is me sucking on the end of a the drain tube trying to unclog the stupid washer.

Ah, but this is time well spent. Wearing my kids out so I can tuck them in under my latest quilt. It's pretty, isn't it? The quilt. Baby girl is always pretty.

So, for the month of May, I cannot count the hoodie as complete. I still have to knit the hood and the button band. Which will take 2 more skeins of yarn, which equates to about 20 more hours of knitting. Bugger it all, but I gotta go clean the garage. Kids and Jon are fishing and I'm taking advantage of the quiet house to clean, knit, eat, watch Criminal Minds....The last may not be a good idea after it gets dark.

Hope your holiday weekend has been amazing. Mine has been home busy, hand busy and mind busy. Just the way I like it.

Saturday Somnolence

2011-05-28T11:47:00.003-04:00

Sitting on the couch yields a baby bib.

Sitting on the bank yields catfish.

Sitting with James yields a lesson in compound words.

Sitting yields a blob....

Sitting yields kitty butt on my sewing.

I hope you spend some time just sitting this weekend. I know I will be sitting this weekend. Hopefully my butt doesn't end up looking like the gooey blob of purple.

Have a great weekend!

Contacting Me

2011-05-25T15:29:00.002-04:00

I've gotten a few questions about how readers can keep up on this blog. Some of my readers are not Google readers or Blogspot account holders, or whatever else makes it easy to get to my blog.

You could google Handy Hooker, but if you do that enough times your IT department might come looking.

One easy way I connected to readers was through NetworkBlogs on Facebook. That connection is no longer viable. It may resurrect itself at a later date, but my FB is gone for now.

What I have done to make sure you are able to continue to read my blog on an easy accessible basis, is added an email subscription to my side bar.

Look to your right...see it? Well, fill it out and my handy dandy little old blog will pop right into your email every time I post.

If you've been following me for long, you know I post pretty regular, but I don't bomb the blog world just to fill space. If I've got nothing worthwhile to say, I don't blog.

I twitter. Find me on twitter rottnluck.

Another way to keep in touch is through my Etsy shop, which currently does not have anything. But ties into a big reason why I no longer have FB. FB is a time suck. Time I need to spend knitting, crocheting, tie quilting and continuing to learn and know my kids. Kids come first and beyond the Zuma addiction, I really don't miss FB. I miss my friends, but it is hopeful they will find me here, on Twitter, on Ravelry (saraOH) or even Flickr (rottnluck01).

This ends this Handy Hooker public service announcement. Keep on hooking!!!

Frisky Sheep Yarn Tunic

2011-05-24T20:17:00.004-04:00

Many moons ago, I knitted this tunic out of Frisky Sheep yarn I purchased during the Ravelry Sock Summit Dye For Glory. Which further investigation tells me the yarn was purchased in 2009. I distinctly remember working on this tunic during a 31 party I attended in 2010.

It has sat in the WIP box all finished except for the straps and buttons. The straps took forever in the double knitting the pattern called for, thus the reason it got tossed into the WIP box. I hated the double knitting. Loved the look, hated the tediousness of it.

This little stretchy knit feature on the back between the shoulders blades is pure pattern genius. Love it! So very clever of the designer to put it in.

Back to the straps. Sunday night I ripped out all the knitted straps and crocheted the straps. Seriously, I had literally FEET of yarn left over, I was cutting it thatclose to running out of yarn. I love the crocheted straps and they striped pretty even with the knit portion of the tunic.

Pattern is a purchased e-book by the March Sisters and is the Jo Pinafore. It was a great little pattern and I'm so glad that the project is finished. I'm going to blink and Jesse will have out grown it. I have two choices, knit faster, have more kids. I think I'll try to knit faster.

All Heart Hoodie

2011-05-23T10:56:00.003-04:00

In April, I cast on this hoodie. Last night, I finished it. Loved this pattern and the finished object.

It took some begging and wheedling for me to convince Jesse to put it on for a short photo op.

While I think she likes it, she was reluctant to commit to wearing the hoodie. She says, "I'll think about it."

She has yet to wear anything I've made her on a regular basis. The pattern had some interesting features and one is this occipital bone increase for the back of the hoodie. Typically hoodies are made by knitting a long rectangular stripe and then sewing a seam down the top of the head. This hoodie was made by adding the back increases for the curve of the back of the head while making the sides. Then making a panel for the top of the head. It results in a nice hoodie. I just need to figure out how to get rid of the points at the seams.

The heart pattern is adorable and repeated on the hood as well as the body of the hoodie.

What I do like about the hoodie, is how it lays when it isn't pulled up. Bonus points for this pattern for having this flat hoodie that lays well.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the pattern. Below I've made my notes on how I will modify this pattern. It was published in Creative Knitting magazine, Child's Play, Designs for Tots to Tweens, Spring 2011 Edition. I purchased my copy at Kroger and paid $9.99.

What I love about the magazine was the usefulness of the patterns. Tots to Tweens is a lot of usage out of one pattern. With growing kids, it is vital to have versatile patterns that will grow with my kids. I made this hoodie in a Size 6 and I suspect Jesse will outgrow it quickly.

Here are my modifications for my next project:

Circular needle pattern for All Heart Hoodie

Back and Front worked in the round

Caron Spa yarn, using a size 8 16” or 24” circular needle for Girls Size 6

Cast on 108 stitches. Join in the round without twisting.

Place marker at beginning of join and place marker at stitch number 54 to indicate front and back.

Work Knit 2, Purl 2 for 1.75 inches, ending with row that increases 1 stitch at beginning of row and increase 1 stitch at stitch 54. (55 stitches front and back, 110 stitches total)

[Work Rows 1-4 of Horizontal Lace] 4 times.

Horizontal Lace (multiple of 2 sts + 1)

Row 1: knit across

Row 2: purl across

Row 3: knit across

Row 4: k2,*yo, ssk; rep from * to last st, end k1

Repeat Rows 1-4 for pattern

Knit 1 row, purl next row, knit 1 row, increase 12 stitches evenly on last row (61 stitches front and back, 122 stitches total)

Set up row: *Knit 4, place marker, k15, place marker; rep from * twice more, end with k4 and repeat for back. (total of 6 k15 sections for front and back)

Follow pattern for heart panel except knit all even numbered rows.

I suggest skipping the shape armholes. For my hoodie it left a funky point at the underarm. Work St st up front and back until measures bottom of arm. Place front stitches or back stitches on holder and work front or back. Back will measure 16 inches in St st until shape neckline. Front will measure 13.75 stitches until shape neck. Follow pattern for the shape neckline on back and shape neck on front.

Add armhole trim.

Hood

Follow pattern, except for length, make hood 7 inches before binding off to work center panel

These are my modifications for the next pattern. Overall, great pattern, I hate seams, so as seamless as possible is preferable.

Teacher Appreciation

2011-05-21T18:56:00.002-04:00

James' teacher has been amazing with him this year. I couldn't have asked for a better fit for this wonderful child of mine. She has been extremely patient, positive and caring towards us and James. We have been blessed to have her as his teacher.

Many moons ago, ahem, 2 years ago, I crocheted the purse and flowers.

It hung out in the WIP box all these years, lacking handles and felting. See, I gave away the yarn I was going to make the handles from. Didn't want to purchase handles. Thus, tossed it into the WIP box till I got some inspiration for the handles. It happens like that sometimes. Things get thisclose to being done and one little bugaboo snarls the whole project.

Last night, inspiration hit. I originally planned on making a scarf for the teacher, but no yarn or pattern jumped out at me and I was floundering trying to come up with the perfect teacher appreciation gift. I actually tossed a skein in a box and muttered to myself, "I guess I'll bite the bullet and get her a gift card." Which made me sad and mad at myself. I'm clever. I have tons of yarn. Tons of patterns. Yet nothing wanted to be Mrs. F's gift.

Then this little girl hollared from the box, "PICK ME!! For the love of God, I'm pretty, useful and almost done. Just finish me already!!!". So, I grabbed some wool/cashmere bulky weight yarn from the box and made the handles. Sewed everything and tossed it into the washer. It took a few cuss words, but I finally got it all felted and finished.

I hope she likes it. The handles are actually my favorite part after the flower blobs. The handles are super sturdy and hello, cashmere!

Hope your weekend is going well. I guess I missed the rapture and if you are reading this, then you did too. Yer a sinner, too.