You miss me....

I know that you do. I have moved my blog. Movin' up in the world you might say. So please update your bookmarks so that you don't miss one second of the excitement that is me!

Tangled Fingers Diary

See you over there!
Movingly,
Dee

So I am back...

Remember how I said that the Princess was sick? Apparently she was a lot more sick than I thought that she was. She ended up very dehydrated and in the hospital for a week with an IV in her arm giving her fluids because she refused to eat or drink anything for that whole time. Very scary. We finally got out yesterday. The two of us were so happy to get home let me tell you. I didn't have my knitting so when the Princess was sleeping (which happened a lot those first few days I sat on the couch and watched tv or roamed the hall. It really was not an easy time for the wee one. Thank God that it is over.

Really bad cell phone pic but you get the idea. I tell you after that experience I have a lot of respect for the parents that have kids in the hospital for really long periods of time. By the end of the week I was starting to get very stir crazy.

Knitting:
So I finally gave up on the swap socks. I am hating the whole process and ready to get back to T's sweater. (He's ready for me to get back to it as well) so I am having a lady knit the socks for me to send to my partner and I got him a set of stitch markers, some chocolate, some Earl Grey (because you can only be cool drinking Earl Grey) and some hot chocolate packets. I really hope that he likes it!
I need to clean up the house now (5 days with no mom around is not good for the home /le sigh)
cleaningly
Dee

Winning is grand...

So I was reading the bazillion blogs that I have on bloglines a couple days ago and saw that Mim of Mimknits was hosting a contest to name her newest creation. (A beautiful camisole wow) I put in my suggestions and then promptly forgot about it because frankly I don't usually win stuff like this. But i did! She chose her friends name so she used a random number generator to give out the prize. *happydance* So I am getting a the Seraphim Shawl pattern from Mim and some yarn and soap. I can not wait to see the prize! I promise picture goodness when I get it.
Not much has gone on here as far as knitting. I spent the day yesterday cuddled up on my couch with the princess wishing for sleep. Yup we were sick. The flu hit us hard yesterday. I am feeling better today (except for the throbbing headache uuugh) but the princess is not doing as well. I hope she gets better soon.
Anyway off to take care of my headache and maybe snooze some more.
Winningly
Dee

Tranquility Tragedy...
I go to play with my beautiful tranquility and look! I have no clue what happened but the hook is WAY out of alignment. *sob* I am going to see if I can bend the hook back into proper place, if not then I will have to go get a new one and hope for the best.


Ahhh Miss Babs...

All plyed up. I think that there are roughly 15 yards there, approximately. Not sure of the wraps per inch have to check. Fairly even though! I am quite proud.


Looking quietly out the window on a cold day. She so loves the camera.

Jaywalker time...

Coming along beautifully! Just. very. slowly. I promise I will knit nothing else until they are done! I have to get these socks to their rightful owner. I feel bad about being so tardy with these but I have had nothing but trouble with these socks since day one. This is the farthest that I have gotten on the many different tries that I have done. I will finish!

And now for some bamboo pron...

I had a bumpy start spinning this stuff but once I figured it out I love it muchly! So pretty and a beautiful sheen to it. Honestly I have no plans for knitting anything with it yet although T would like something made out of it. So who knows, maybe a manly item is in order since the Sweater of Dooom is taking forever. (I will get it done, just maybe not in this lifetime. Just Sayin')

In other news...
I really want to learn to use my sewing machine. I am thinking about taking a class to get the clothing techniques down. Untill then I think that i will get one of those quilt top kits that have all of the blocks pre-cut and practice straight line sewing from that. (like I really have the time but T is very upset that I hardly ever use it. So I think that it is time to start.)

Off to teach Ol' Ziggy to write his name. He will be ready for Kindergarten even if it kills me!
Love and squishes!
Quiltingly
Dee

Yeah so there was some snow...

For once the weathermen got it right. Normally they say 8-12inches and we get 2 inches. Not this time. Whoooo boy. We got us some snow! Somewhere between 10- 11 inches. Very cool.
The kids had a blast outside doing all the things that kids do while I stayed inside and knit. Very cool.

She lasted longer than her brothers outside!

The man doing his job.

Look at the depth of the snow! Crazy-ness.

This is what the kids did for hours. They really will sleep well tonight.
Knitting news?
Not much. However I finally turned the heel on the first Jaywalker that should have been finished two weeks ago. I suck at deadlines. Seriously.
Snowingly
Dee

Of sweaters, socks and anniversaries ...

So T and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday! Yes the man and I have been married for 9 long years and I would happily do it all again. T happens to be the hardest man in the world to shop for so I have taken to buying him chocolates and letting him get what ever he wants. He, however, seems to enjoy buying me things (and really who am I to stop him?) so I had a pretty good Valentines/anniversary. First off he got me a cell phone (he's tired of not being able to get a hold of me lately hehehe) He brought this home a few days before Valentines day.

I love it! I have been a good girl and not gone crazy with the minutes either... so far. (complete with manly case. I need to break out the wool and felt me up a case.)
Then on Valentines day he brought home a beautiful blue i pod nano.

I use that thing all the time. Nothing like catching up on pod casts that I haven't listened to in forever. Now if I could only figure out audio books! Needless to say I am a tad spoiled.
Then on our Anniversary he brought home a dozen roses in a stunning red vase.

I love me some flowers!
Now for a whole different subject...
I finally got my hands on the IK Spring edition. (side note: I much prefer the old style. This new set up is annoying. I like to have the big picture next to the pattern so that I can say "ohhh I like that what kind and how much yarn does it take?" and then being able to glance over to get that information. Not have to flip through the pages to find the appropriate pattern. But I digress)
Well I decided that I am in mad love with the cable-down raglan sweater and the dollar cardigan. Since I am currently on a yarn diet and do not have the appropriate yarn for either sweater I went to Goodwill to hunt for a sweater to recycle. I found this one...

This is a handmade sweater. It looks like it was knit in pieces with the 3 needle BO at the shoulders. It was starting to unravel so I decided to unravel it and use it for a new sweater. I am really unsure of the yarn content but it feels lovely. So that is something else that I have been working on.
I leave you with a pic of Miss Babs spun up in a single. Soo yummy!

Anniversarily,
Dee

Okay so I know that you have missed me...

Hey what do you want?! I have been majorly busy with school and well... life. So remember that raffle I told you about? I know that I said I would do it on V-Day, however the woman that has to get me the bank information and the prize ended up in the hospital so I am currently waiting on her to get me that stuff and I will start it. Patience my lovelies!

Remember the Sock Swap that I am a part of? Remember that awful sock that I was knitting? It went to the frog pond. When the sock is knitted all the way to the heel turning part and can still stand up on its own when sat on the desk you know that it is too tight. Not to mention that I hated it throughly. I began a new pair of socks, size 2 needles this time and the Jaywalker pattern, and I have to say that I am enjoying the knitting so much more now. So my socks are late but I totally plan on making it up to my partner. I am getting the partner a knitting book as well as some candies and hot chocolate milk packets to put in the box with the much more comfy socks.

Did I tell you that my swap pal is Lilly from KH? She is amazing and I am so happy that she was my pal! Check the beautiful socks that she sent me...

She also sent me some yummy coffee, Chinese tea that has the coolest container ever, a Godiva chocolate bar (that disappeared too quickly hehehe), some chocolate truffles and Miss Babs Batt. Gorgeous stuff! And so soft. I think I may have to get more.

Check out the close up...

Ohhh yeah.
I have more to blog about but I must get ready for class. So expect more later. I forgot how much fun blogging can be :)
Babsingly
Dee

And again with the sock

So I am still working on it. I just have no time to knit period. Not to mention the fact that Tim gets so sad whenever I work on anything other than his sweater. He actually wants to wear the sweater! Go figure. I have 4 inches before I switch to smaller needles then an inch of ribbing and the body is done. I totally plan on doing both sleeves at the same time no need to give myself another place to mess up. The body didn't take as many balls of yarn as I thought so I shouldn't have any problems actually knitting both sleeves at the same time. Wooo!
Now to just find time to knit the sock, do homework, and everything else that life demands.

Here to say

Swap pal you are torture to me! lol
The sock for the sock swap I am in is certainly giving me fits. I went through a time that I hated it. Ugh. However I think that I finally got it all figured out. I hope. Pictures when I have more time I promise :)
Off to make supper!
Sockingly
Dee

C'est Fini!

Hello lovlies! Yes Clapita is done. I was so happy to finish. The Clapotis pattern is super easy and goes fast, however After knitting two of them I am so done with it. Want to see some pictures? Yes, I thought that you might!

Its a bit fuzzy but the light isn't very good here. Darn winter!

My little model showing off Clapita
Now that Clap is done who wants to see what I have been spinning?

This gorgeous colorway came from some roving that I got from All Things Heather. This one I really wasn't all that excited about when I started spinning it, however, now that I have a little done I can not believe how beautiful it is turning out to be!

Then there is this stuff. I am still in mad love with this colorway. Ohhh yeah.
Look at what finally came back home to me!
Sorry about the bad picture it was shy.
I sent this wool to the wooly knob fiber mill quite a few months ago. I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever see this stuff again. It still has a bunch of vm in it but it is certainly very soft. I can't wait to get started on this beautiful stuff.
Thats it for me tonight! I do want to leave you with this... Keep an eye on my blog. February 14th I am going to begin a raffle for the Ehlers Danlos foundation and I will be giving out some great stuff. More on that later though. Have a Mahvolous night my friends!
Rovingly,
Dee
BTW don't worry about the color change. It is not going to stay. I just can't get used to it.

And from the ashes rises anew...

So I decided that after ripping out the stitches of IHS I needed to make something with it. Didn't seem right that it sit in the stash waiting for the time that I am able to start another scarf. So I made Le Slouch by the brilliant Wendy over at Knit and Tonic. Yes I know that all the cool kids are doing it and that I am such a follower but really how can you resist? Blue Decadance from Knit Picks. I should have swatched because it is a little more fitting than I would have liked but it is still lovely and warm. So so warm.


One thing that I did differently is Kitchener stitched the top close instead of gathering the stitches on waste yarn. I really like that look a lot better honestly. So pretty.

On the clapita front I am mere decreases from finishing! There is a weird color strip in it that had I been paying attention during the knitting I would have noticed. I really just don't know how I could have missed it really. I am so far into it though that there is now way that I am frogging all the way back to take the stripe out. So it has offically become a design feature.

Can you see what doesn't belong?


Well off to finish homework, pick up the kids, and then go to the PTA meeting tonight. (How in the hell did I get roped into that?!)
Knittingly,
Dee

In which we remember the Irish Hiking scarf...

We are gathered here today to remember a brave little scarf. Its life started out well enough, it was loved, had stitches added and cables crossed regularly. However this poor scarf was doomed from the start. The knitter got better as she knitted this scarf and began noticing how bad her beginning stitches were compared to the most recent stitches. Then the worst possible thing happened. The knitter ran out of yarn. So this poor scarf was tucked away with the best intentions of buying one more skein soon. This scarf languished in the stash until this morning when the knitter decided to put this ill-fated scarf to rest and resurrect the yarn in a hat and thin scarf combo.

Services were held in the living room with the ball winder to make sure the yarn wouldn't tangle. It was the least that this knitter could do for such a brave scarf. It is survived by its brothers and sisters of the ufo pile. Rest in pieces dear scarf!

Darn that blogger

So you have noticed that the set up here has changed right? Well my blog got switched to the new one today. I like parts of it however I am unable, as of right now, to figure out how to add the blog rings that I belong to as part of the side bar. Everytime I try blogger messes up. So if you are head of one of these said groups please don't boot me out yet. I should have everything back to normal in a day or two at the most. Thanks for understanding!
bloggingly,
Dee

I really should get my own domain and give blogger the boot!

Aye!

So I am going to stick with the Stash a ganza however in the comments Jen brings a great point...
"I hereby move that the term "stash" shall be stricken from the record unless referring to already spun/bought in a store type yarn. Fleece, roving, top, rolags and hair shall henceforth be referred to as "potential".

Nobody wants lower potential.

All in favor say "aye"."


Yeah I think about all of that potential that I have downstairs and feel that I am doing the world a disservice by not buying more! Think of all of those poor inde sellers trying to sell all that potential just to make ends meet!


Ahem.
I must be strong. I do have a yarn purchase lurking ever closer however. I bought some silk from The Dyeing Arts awhile back that I absolutely adore. I have decided that it needs to be a shawl and therefore needs some sisters to join it. Seeing as how I will be getting paid soon I think that a trip to the yarn store is definitely in order.
Anyhow Classes started yesterday for me so on Mondays and Tuesdays I have class from 8:00-12:30 and then from 6:00-9:00 until Feb 13th. Then the morning classes end and the rest of the ladies in my Sign language program move on to Practicum and I try not to forget my signing skills while I wait until the fall for my practicum. /lesigh.
Pictures of Claptiva when I have more freetime!

buyingly
Dee

P.S.- Ohhhh Sock Pal!! You are making focusing on important things (read: homework) difficult because I keep checking my blog for your updates. It is killing me! hehehe

Did I happen to mention that I love it?

Stash-a-ganza.

So Every one in blog land seems to be intent on knitting from their stashes. I really do not have much of a stash of yarn. Don't get me wrong. I have a decent stash but it is not really one that I feel guilty about. yet. Fiber is a different story however. On top of all of that beautiful stuff I got from All things Heather I also have the black Merino to finish spinning (turning out beautifully by the way. Worsted weight black yummyness I'll have to show you sometime), another pound- 1 1/2pounds of the pin drafted cotton left to spin, roughly 8oz of random stuff that has been given to me, a ton (not literally people sheesh)of ginned cotton to spin, and on and on. I don't have a problem with buying yarn you see, I can control myself with yarn. Its fiber. Spinable fiber. I can not resist. I found myself surfing etsy this morning looking at all the yummy fiber on there and trying to figure out how I could swing buying some more. It is a sickness I tell you. Every time I find that I have some extra money I begin to look at buying more fiber.Food? Who needs it? A house? I will build a cave out of all the fiber I have and live a long long time happily that way!
Except that T and the kids really would not go for that. I may even get disowned. So I vow here and now to NOT BUY anymore fiber until I have made a dent in the stuff I currently have. I know it is a sickness and I will overcome!
Now that doesn't mean that I can not accept gifts...

Anyway! Clap in Evita is coming along nicely. I still have a ways to go but I found out last night that the party isn't on Saturday but on Sunday! More time! That my friends is always a good thing.
I tell you I wasn't sure when I started clap that I would like the striping that is going on. The more stitches that I drop however the more that I love it. The yarn is wrapped with a shiny thread as well giving clap a lovely sheen as well. The pic is awful I know. There is no sun out so this is as good as it gets for now. This scarf will be very light as well not much weight to the yarn which is even better. I know that sis will love it. (she has crocheted before so she has an apreciation for this stuff. Makes it more fun to make things for her)
Stashingly
Dee

So apparently I am a git.

For this whole year I was typing in this little bloggy blog thinking that no one was really paying it any mind certainly not posting any comments to little ol me. Felt a little sad but this thing is for me so not really that big of a deal. If it bothered me that much I would have stopped blogging a while ago and that would have been that. However I do enjoy typing things out here and posting the pics so I continued. Well today I am roaming around my little corner of the web when I clicked on the moderate comments link. This is where me being a git comes in. I have over 55 comments and I had no clue. I did not think that I had set the comments to moderation so I never thought to check. *face meet palm* Well needless to say I have had comments and I love them! (well you know except the spam ones but really who likes those anyway.) Well needless to say I have fixed the problem and all of the comments have been added and will continue to be in the future.

So to all you real people that took the time to wish me well and communicate with me Thank You! *MUAH* You all rock. Of course you already knew that though didn't you?
stupidly,
Dee

Edited to Add:
I am an extreme Git!!! I got a comment a while back from none other that Stephanie of Yarn harlot Fame! I feel all cool and all stupid at the same time. sheesh

Happy New Year ya Mugs!

Christmas was lovely! I was unable to travel to Moms this year due to car troubles so Mom decided that she would come up here!
My Momma. Aint she purdy. :)

The gang. My Sisters, me and my girls.

And yes we did FINALLY get snow. Of course the kids had to play in it.
fun in the snow:

New Years was spent at home not only playing in the snow and then at midnight in our jammies we ran out onto the front porch with the pots and pans and clanked in the new year. After that was a toast with some bubbly (sparkling grape juice for the kiddies) then bed. It was a lot of fun and even better the kids slept in the next morning.

Now to the yarn porn that I know you are here for!
First up:
5 luscious skeins of Jaeger Roma. So soft. Angora just makes it so nice.

And sock yarn for that pal of mine over at KH.


Clap in Evita is coming along nicely. I have to finish it by Saturday at 12:30 (yes I am adding the hours leading up to the Christmas party. I'm a knitter and every last second counts dag nabbit! Pics of the Clap soon I promise.
Thought for the Day:

Celebrate with your family. They are the ones who know the real you yet still love you. Can't get any better than that my friend!