Back in the saddle again...

I got my very own horse when I was nine. She was a white faced, blue eyed, pinto horse. She was only 14.5 hands high, but I didn't let anyone tell me she was a pony. She loved to run and loved her for running.
We often got scolded for running on the far side of the house - 'so my parent's wouldn't know'. Come to find out, a galloping horse makes quite the ruckus that can be heard through the walls of a house if you happen to be feet from said wall - my parents were not fooled by our stealth.
I was allowed to walk Sarah around the house. But Sarah and I loved running so once we got past all the windows on the side of the house that contained the 'family rooms' (kitchen, living room, etc.) we would step it up a bit and always slow back down once we got around to the other side. One day, Sarah decided to make a break for it and took off at a dead run past the house. She came unnatrually close to a short tree that used to be in the center of the loop at the end of the driveway and in my head I looked like a trick rider hanging off the side of my saddle at a dead run. I made it past the tree without being swiped off and was rejoicing in my head at my trick rider skills when she stopped dead in her tracks and threw me over her neck.
She stood there next to me smelling me as if bewildered by the fact that I was face planted on the ground and not giggling with glee from her back.
It took me a second to get my breath back. By that time, my dad had collected the horse and my mom was helping me off the ground. "Well, back up you go," my mom said. It was the last thing I wanted to do. My whole body hurt from having the air shoved out of it from the instant stopping power of the ground.
I got back on and we WALKED around the house.
This was not the first time I fell off a horse and not the last. Sarah had a knack for attempting to ditch me on the surrounding natural growth - she dropped a friend and I off on a tree and clotheslined me on a grapevine just to name a few. What I learned from this first experience was that I had to get back in the saddle.

That's how it is today with this blog. I've been dreading coming back to my online world. I had a HUGE issue in high school and college with writer's block. As a result, I've convinced myself that I loathe writing. In all honesty, I don't loathe writing. I loathed the process that higher education wanted me to use in writing. Anyway, that's another can of worms.
So, today I was thinking about horses (as I often do during the coarse of my day, sitting behind a computer screen at a desk in an all white room thinking of the beautiful things I've seen and done from a saddle) and it came to me that I needed to get 'back in the saddle again'.

Here I am, entering back into the online world. I have been working on a project I was hired to do - christmas stockings! I have completed the knitting part of the first one. I'm working all the ends in and doing some finishing. It should take me WAY less time to get through the second one. Confession: I had gotten very close to being done and ripped the whole thing out two weeks ago because I hated the way it looked. It was messy.

My life was messy for a while during my adjustment period to a new job and crazy stuff that was going on this spring. It totally showed up in my knitting. I have settled a bit more into the swing of the new job and life is slowly returning to normal.

And so should this blog.

I'm back people.

Focus

I'm having a hard time staying focused. There is a LOT to do before this weekend. Things have been so busy lately. We've had bachelor party, bridal shower followed up by 'girls night/bachelorette party', we went to Houston in a day for a First Birthday party, and now it's nose-to-the-grindstone-week-before-the-big-event!
I'm working on a slideshow at the moment for the rehearsal dinner of Erica and Loren over the years. I freaking LOVE old photos. It has been great getting to thumb through our best friends' old childhood photos and put them in 'order'.
In my spare time, I've managed to get some craftiness done.
For the bridal shower, I went with crochet because of the limited time frame. I made some earrings...that I didn't take a photo of before giving them. Sorry folks. But they were these:

From crochettoday.com

Mine didn't look as nice as these, but I had to adapt the pattern for smaller hoops. I want to keep messing with the pattern to see if I can get a set to look as nice. They still came out pretty darn cute though!

I also am still working on this sarong:

From crochettoday.com

I'm using yellow because it matches the bathing suits Erica has better than turquoise. I'm hoping to finish that up this week too.

I have also resorted to carrying the socks with me everywhere in the hopes I'll have a spare moment to work on them. Don't mind the Marry Poppins bag - my husband HATES this bag. It's pretty neverending and is hard to find things in. But I have insider knowledge that I may be getting a smaller nicer purse for my birthday. ;)

I have worked a few rows here and a few rows there, but it still doesn't look like I've made progress. I am determined to finish these socks. And I'm currently looking for a scarf pattern for the rest of this same yarn in the stash. They are not destined to become another set of socks.

Additionally, I've cast on some Christmas stockings (yes Christmas in April - I'm working in advance) on my new circular needles! I've been hired to whip two up for a woman from Floresville. I'm really looking forward to the pattern - its vintage and cute. Plus it's going to use the intarsia skills I taught myself when making the nerd coasters. I'll be posting progress on these as I go - after the whirlwind of this weekend is past.

I also managed to try my hand at embroidery - Erica pinned a picture of a wedding date embroidered on the bottom layers of a wedding dress in blue. It was fun and came out pretty good! Something I'd never done.

I've also managed to get some burning done this past weekend and social time spaced throughout the last couple of weeks.

Alrighty, lots to do, not a lot of time to do it in. So, happy knitting!

-E

Yarny Products!!!

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!
I am still alive, well, and knitting/being crafty. It has been a month since my last post!
Things got a little crazy for awhile. The weekend after my last post was Jamie's birthday and his brother's future baby's baby shower. The following weekend we had a party to celebrate getting married.We had an excellant turn out and it was so good to see everyone! One of Jamie's best friend and Jamie barbequed the brisket and sausage and we had help from lots of family and friends on all the sides. My aunt flew down and it was great to hang out with her. Lots of my extended family was able to make it and it has been years since all of them have been at the same place at the same time. I didn't take any pictures at the party. :( But others did and I will get them.
Jamie's grandfather passed away that same weekend and the funeral was the Monday after the party. I took my aunt to the airport after the service - she was super good and went with us to the funeral. Wedding party and funeral all in one trip! She's a trooper!
That week Jamie became a brand new uncle (and I'm an aunt again!)! She was a bit early so we spent most of the weekend helping Jamie's brother finish up an outside pen for his dogs.
I crocheted her a beany. I'm thinking it's going to be a bit big for now, but good thing she's growing not shrinking!

The rest of that weekend we put the first coat of color on the boys' (Jamie and his brother) crib that his neice is going to use.

I have since added another coat on the solid panel ends and railings, but the railings need more. It was a very light blue, so I want to make sure it gets good coverage.

Last weekend, Jamie won a raffle at work for tickets to Bugs Bunny at the San Antonio Symphony at the Majestic Theater downtown San Antonio! It was lots of fun to get all dressed up and go to the theater! He had never been to the Majestic and I freaking LOVE that theater. It's gorgeous. We decided that if we ever won the lotto, we're buying a suite.
 
I had already made plans to go to a Painting with a Twist event with some friends. We had lots of fun painting while sipping wine. I think we're going to have to do another round soon. I'll confess I have contemplated picking up painting as another crafty hobby! What do you think?!

This is the 'Whimsy Tree'. It's way easier than it looks. Promise. They have lots of different paintings to choose from and a bunch of them are super cool!!

Oh the socks....I'm still working on the socks. I am going to finish them. One day.

Just a little further to go!


Other things that have happened:
We ordered more flooring for the master bedroom project thanks to our family and friends:

I must finish the crib project since there is a baby that is cribless at the moment and then I will think about laying flooring. It will happily sit there until then.

A certain someone (knowing my true passion) gave us a gift certificate to Knitpicks.com! I used it to invest in some much needed knitting supplies...I might have also used this certificate to leverage a little extra splurge on some other items...thank goodness my new husband already knows my weakness for yarny goodness!

There are lots of those blocking mats behind all this stuff - I'm looking forward to actually blocking like I'm supposed to now that I have the tools to do so! The yarn is a cotton linen blend...I'm thinking cardigan/sweater. The small double pointed needles are wooden...I will be taking them on my next plane ride. The small pouch in the front is holding metal tapestry needles and have already paid for themselves when I used them to finally sew in all the ends of the sweater project. It has been washed finally and nothing came apart. I'll have to take a picture of the ends all sewn in since it is officially finished.

I will do my best to blog more regularly now that things are settled...well, maybe after mid-April (after Erica & Loren's wedding) when things really do settle. But anyway I will make an honest go at it!

Have a great weekend everyone!
-E



Busy Life

I feel like a horrible blogger.
At the moment, I am a horrible blogger.
I have no pictures to share - not that I haven't done picture worthy things - at the moment.
I have not completely fallen off the deep end and given up knitting/crochet. I promise.
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I have just found a picture to share!! This blog is becoming better already!

This is the Birthday Socks, given to my dear friend Erica. She only received one sock originally. I have since finished sock number two and given it to her. She no longer has cold feet! I love this yarn (It's Kroy FX Sock yarn)

This is one of the Christmas socks, for my sister Heather. She only received one sock at Christmas, yes, December 25th 2011. Her feet are less cold because she owns my first ever socks, but she doesn't have fun, pretty socks to keep her feet warm. I am farther along than this - I have completed the leg and the flap of the gusset/flap heel. I have not started the foot, which is going to take me forever to complete. But I will.I promise.

I am a better blogger!

I also have some other news:

I do wear dresses...sometimes...when the occasion calls for it.

Like when you get married! Which is what Jamie and I just finished doing in the photo above!

We agreed a long time ago we wanted to marry each other.  Recently, we've been feeling.... paused. Everything was hinging on how we wanted it to be. We had created in our minds how things were going to be. To the point where it felt like we were just..on pause..waiting for the time when we could make things in real life match what was in our minds.
I know, it's a silly way to live. I was feeling like I was going to wake up one day and have missed life all because we couldn't do things like our mental snapshot.We started talking about missing life and he felt the same way. We decided this is what we needed to do. To just do it. It's not perfect and it's not really how we wanted it to be, but the end result is the same. We agreed we were tired of waiting for the end result.
So there ya have it. The big news.

And no. It's not any different than the other six years we've been together. Nothing has changed. We got all our knock-down-drag-out fighting done the first couple of years we were together - you could ask our friends - I'm sure they have some good stories that even I don't remember. We survived, worked through it, have learned a lot about each other, and more about ourselves. Our daily lives are exactly as they have been only now, our last names match.

I've been doing some redecorating in the house while getting ready for a gathering and once things calm down a bit I'll share some of that. Wish me luck in trying to get Heather's socks done by the end of February.
Happy knitting!
E

To Lace or Not to Lace

I have an urge to create something lacy.

You see, I received these absolutely beautiful needles for Christmas (from my fantastic significant other) that just beg for lace to be on them.

This picture doesn't really do them justice, but I am an awful blogger as evident by my lack of blogging. I'll be sure and take photo of them in person and post it, cause seriously, they're beautiful.


I have a ball of yarn that is for lace making and, if you'll remember, I attempted to cast on a scarf to no avail. Does all lace look funny until blocked? Should I just go for it?

I must get through the 'sock from hell' of infinate stockinette stitch made of the tiniest yarn ever which will never become another pair of socks in my household. One of the pairs of 'one sock gifts' from Christmas. This set of socks will be one of a kind - seriously. The remaining balls in my stash are destined to become some other object of non stockinette stitch nature. I had every intention of getting it done before the end of January, but I am not so sure about that goal seeing as I'm not even past the heel of the thing yet.

I will keep you posted.
-E

I survived...barely

Hi! I have been on holiday hiatus trying to be productive outside the blog-o-sphere. It's been a whirlwind of shopping, birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, New Years celebrations, and all around good fun.
It is really hard to post on a knitting blog when you're trying to ensure everyone has knitted goodness under the tree. So, I did not blog. Sorry, I'll be better next year, I promise.
I tried really hard to get my holiday shopping done early this year by early I mean not Christmas Eve and I did okay, except for one holiday gift that I just couldn't remember to pick up. I typically do most of the Christmas shopping by most I mean I do not have to shop for myself thank goodness because Jamie doesn't like people a whole lot and Christmas shopping is guarenteed large crowds - this year even though Jamie wanted to go with me, he worked lots of overtime up to Christmas and could not come along until Christmas Eve. I did however get to do a bunch of my holiday shopping with Erica and that was great fun since we do not spend time together as much as we used to.
It was during these shopping trips I realized there was no way in hell I was going to get my holiday socks completely knitted in time for Christmas. The weekends were booked and I was already running ragged trying to get sock knitting done in the evenings. I called my sister who I knew wouldn't mind and told her she would only have one sock under the Christmas tree. And my niece, Sam, also had only one sock under the Christmas tree. She did not receive the warning and thought I had totally lost my mind by leaving one sock out of the carefully wrapped package she opened Christmas morning. :)
We had a First Birthday party with Baby Luke - who received all kinds of fun toys. We wore birthday hats and had great fun watching the new experiences Luke had during a first birthday party. Good times.
I was given a batch of Amish Friendship Bread and just in time for New Years had a loaf to enjoy while we were out of town.
In all this craziness, we finally broke down and bought me a newer car. After lots and lots of looking like over a year, I had decided it was time to let my 2001 Ford Ranger (which has 235,000 miles on it, has never had any major parts replaced, and continues to run like a trooper) have a little rest. I have been driving this vehicle for ten years now and felt like I was cheating on the poor thing when I pulled into the driveway with my newer car! It has been the best vehicle one could ask for - never leaving me stranded except for the times I tried to drive 300 miles on a quarter tank of gas, but really that's my fault not the Ranger's but Jamie, being a mechanic, kept telling me I was pushing my luck, that when it decided to finally die it would be without warning and I would be stranded. Which anyone with a high mileage vehicle understands it's always sort of like gambling when your trusty transportation will become not-so-trusty. The Ranger will do some work at the house and occasionally transport me to work. It's been a damn good truck.
Christmas went off with out a hitch - the nerd coasters were well received. I was told I should write the pattern down and post it on ravelry. I'm throwing around the idea. The helmet liner was well received also. As were the single socks with the second promised at a later date. We had lots of laughter and fun.
We were invited/decided to spend New Years at Lake Brownwood with Kat, Heather, and Noah. We packed up the dogs and headed that way. I must admit, I knew we would be following my sister. Heather, who has been to Kat's family cabin multiple times, and did not bother to mapquest the directions to see just how far this place was. This is not a good idea if your other half likes to know just how far, how long, and what direction your final destination is. It also isn't very helpful if you have invited some other friends to join you and they need to know how far, how long, and what direction your final destination is. But everything worked out well, we played board games, ate good food, laughed - lots, and shot off some fireworks. It was relaxing and restful. Good times were had by all. Kat also received her socks since she told me I could hand deliver them and loved them! And she is a woman after my heart - she gave me yarn in return!
I went ahead and took yesterday off work because I figured I'd need some time to get things in order at home since we'd been doing all this running around before and during the holidays. And it's a good thing I did because all I did was sleep. Not very productive, but it was needed.
I also learned there is a new baby for the new year! Expecting mom #1 (or #2 from the blogs of baby blankets) is now a proud mommy with a little girl. I plan on visiting baby and mom after work today. Very excited for their family!

Well, that is everything in a nut shell. I will be posting finished socks as I work through them - so you guys can see what I was working on.
Happy New Year to you all!

'Coasting' along

I only have 18 days left to get all my Christmas knitting done! AHHHH! I did my best to stay up late last night and get the nerd coaster project finished. I got the last one started and almost halfway complete before my eyes and brain retaliated and forced me to bed.

Here's what we have so far:

The rebel ones have been blocked and even though they are all very different sizes - I am telling myself that it is okay and I can make a new batch of four after Christmas if required. They blocked out close to the same so they'll just have to do - this pattern was not my favorite.

The empire symbol looked very very intimidating, but has been way fun to knit. Probably because I'm using the same yarn for both colors and am not having the same issues with sizing because of that fact. Plus, it's interesting and that makes it fun.

Pretty close to finished!

I forgot to take a photo of the finished socks, but they are complete. I just need to package them up and send them west!

It's finally getting cold here so I've been feeling an urgency about knitting - I know why people who have long winters enjoy knitting so much now!

I'll keep ya'll posted on all the holiday projects!

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Today is a special day, not just because of Pearl Harbor although in my heart it secretly pleases me that the rest of the country mourns with me - that sounds way more horrible than I mean it - I promise but because fifteen years ago today was the most tragic day of my life. The day my mother was hit by a car and killed while out walking. Losing someone close to you is always hard, but it is so much harder when it is sudden and without warning. I also lost my father in 2006, but he was sick and I knew he was dying, so I do not say one with worse without knowing. She was a wonderful, caring, outgoing person and a fabulous mom. She cooked, baked, sewed, quilted, crocheted, knit, hung wallpaper, painted, stenciled, laid tile, hung trim, worked hard - gardened, could handle a chainsaw, pull brush, change a tire, drive standard, make ceramics, and was never afraid to try something new.
My childhood was innocent and sheltered as it should be. I remember with fondness all the fun things we did as a family and the wonderful opportunities my parents went out of their way to provide us. She was the driving force behind those opportunities and I cannot express how much I cherish the short amount of time I had with her. She taught me so many things, but the biggest lesson she instilled - before I was even a teenager - was that I could do anything - It might be hard, but hard work pays off.
I remember being told to look up words in the dictionary that my sister, father, and mother used if I didn't know what they meant. And we did look them up, together. She taught us knowing where to find an answer was more important than knowing the answer. A very important life skill that has brought me where I am today.
Everyday I carry her memory, but today, I share that carried memory, just for a moment, with you.