Fair Results, Rooster, and another cool moth

Here are the results of the Comal County Fair, 2007.
Sophia and Eddie. Who ever heard of a "lap rooster???"
We have the coolest moths around here. Again, if anyone knows what species this is, please leave a comment (this goes for the one I posted earlier, too!).

Eddie and Co

As you can see, Eddie is quite a ...nice...rooster. His life here will be just fine. This is Sophia and Alyssa, our friend, posing with Eddie yesterday afternoon.

Wake up early, huh?

OK an addendum.....I had to wake Eddie up this morning!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA! He slept really well in his new home!!!!!

Our Family keeps growing

Welcome Eddie! My friend, Mrs. Ginny, had too many roosters on her farm and asked if we would like to adopt this little guy. He is a Bantam Rooster, with the original name of OJ, but I just won't go there. I told my son that he could name him and he came up with Eddie! I love it.

Well, good night....I guess we'll be waking up a little earlier now!!! Hehe!

Jaywalkin'

This is my Jaywalker this far..... I absolutely love the Trekking XXL color 100 and the way these are knitting up!!!! I think I will do another inch or maybe two and then I will start the heel. There are 76 sts and it is so amazing at how snug this fits - there is much less stretch in the jaywalker pattern. I am interested to see what they look like on my feet!!!!!

I am over the shock of not entering the entry that I wanted to enter (hehe!!!) in the county fair. I have had a lot of encouragement from my friends, and I will enter a sweater I made myself last winter and the blue one I made myself that is at the beginning of this blog. I will also enter my brown prayer shawl, and a loaf of bread so all my family members are covered!! (We get tickets to the fair for each entry)

The Step socks I finished last week found a home on my mom's feet - I sent them to her for her birthday. They went out via Priority Mail last Tuesday and she got them today. A whole week!!!! I was going to be many degrees of angry if they got lost in the mail. I just wish I could have emailed them!!!! Hehe! The good thing, though, is that she loves them.

Y'all have a nice week!

Blessings to you...

Cryiyiying ....over you......

Misere!

I have been working on a baby sweater to enter into the County Fair (due Wednesday). I completed the back, and was working on the front yesterday. I had this feeling that all wasn't right. Then, looking at my work, I realized that I made two fatal errors. The first one is when I was establishing the set up, I only knit 3 rows of seed stitch rather than 5. The second was ...are you ready for a glimpse of my dinginess?.....I was using the wrong needles. SO that means it was knitting up at about 80% the size of the back. Now I ripped it all back and I don't know what to do now. There goes my fair entry. I will knit my friend a baby sweater (this was for her) that she'll get soon, but just not the way I had planned it. UGH. I know that I will not have the time to finish before Wednesday because it is a time-consuming pattern.

Sigh.

This proves to show that I have no business knitting when I am tired.

Blessings to you and yours.......
: )

Wednesday Stuff....

Greetings! My first class went very well, I really like all my students, they are a great bunch! The next four weeks will be a lot of fun. I love teaching knitting and I hope they walk away with a new appreciation and love for knitting.I hope they all keep with it, because I know they all can!!!!!!We made a lot of progress in just one evening!!! Here is a gauge swatch of the yarn we are using for the first project - a bag. It is a 60% wool, 40% recycled silk, and the swatch is felted.
This is the beginning of my very first Jaywalker. It is knit with Trekking XXL color 100. I haven't gotten too far and the progress I'll make will be slow till the end of next week (County Fair entry to finish!).
Have a happy Wednesday! (Or as my friend C.N. would say, Happy Hump Day!)

Danny Jr's Artwork

So the artsy fartsy gene runs in the family.
Here is a pic of Danny Jr's artwork from this morning. He loves to paint and now he's mixing media! Markers AND paint!!! He says the one on the bottom is a howl bug.
The one on top is a storn bugabug, and it can bite you like 16 times. (Says Danny Jr anyway!)

My heart skips a beat...

OK, this may be a little dramatic, (if you know me, that's not unusual!!) but as I am knitting my very first pair of Jaywalkers, I am in awe of how the simple increases and decreases knit up as a beautiful pattern. This is what makes knitting so special to me.
I am only about 2 inches into the pattern, so I can't show you a good shot yet, but will in the next day or two!

My first kniting class is tonight, I am so excited and anxious. Wish me luck!
Blessings on your week,
Melanie

See the links list for the Jaywalkers.

Finished Socks

Here are the finished socks made with Austermann Step.

This is a very cool moth that was on our outside wall...any comments on the species of this moth would be appreciated!!!!

100 Things about me

100 things about me

1. I was born on August 7, 1973 in Fort Kent Maine.
2. I was named after a singer from the early 70's.
3. I have brown hair and brownish greenish eyes.
4. My mom and grandparents are from New Brunswick Canada.
5. I went to college at the University of Maine at Fort Kent for Education.
6. College wasn't for me.
7. I joined the USAF when I was 20.
8. I am an only child.
9. My parents divorced when I was an adolescent.
10. I am very happily married to the man of my dreams, Danny.
11. We were married on December 11 1998 in New Braunfels TX.
12. My husband is the best person I know.
13. I have three beautiful children.
14. I am a stay at home mom.
15. I love everything domestic.
16. I know how to clean but always would rather do other things.
17. I am surrounded by beautiful wonderful friends.
18. I think my 30's are the best years of my life - every year gets better.
19. I love birthdays.
20. I am so happy with my life.
21. My dad died in 2005.
22. I still feel very guilty that I wasn't more gracious to him.
23. I never understood the disease of alcoholism till after my Dad died.
24. I love to see my mom happy.
25. I love to eat.
26. I love food and get too much enjoyment out of it!
27. If I was single I would be a vegetarian.
28. I love it when my husband and kids love the food I prepare for them.
29. I think the land that I live on was especially available for us.
30. I love to be at home.
31. I need to exercise more.
32. I lost 20# last year but I put it back on.
33. I love my Volvo station wagon so much, and want to get another one like it when this one dies.
34. I don't like to travel by car.
35. I am obsessed with knitting.
36. My Grammie Baker taught me how to knit and crochet when I was a child.
37. I preferred to crochet for the longest time.
38. I re-taught myself to knit about 4 years ago and now I can't get enough.
39. Every new technique in knitting is something I research and figure out.
40. I have almost completely stopped reading since I started knitting.
41. I love to do bible study.
42. I grew up Catholic, but not practicing.
43. My father hated church and my mother didn't go very often.
44. My Grandparents went to church every day.
45. I accepted Jesus to live in my heart 5 years ago.
46. I love going to church, loving others, and and sharing God's love with everyone.
47. I wish everyone had a relationship with Jesus!
48. I would love to make a *profitable* living from knitting.
49. I started struggling with my weight since between my 2nd and 3rd child.
50. I have been very lazy about working out.
51. I have two terrific dogs.
52. I have more friends (real friends) now than in my whole life put together.
53. I want to take my kids to Maine for a month next summer.
54. I would love to see more of the world.
55. I want to go to Latin countries.
56. I feel so safe with my husband.
57. I love when we have a few minutes to just talk about stuff uninterrupted.
58. I would love to take up fishing but I am very squeamish about killing the fish.
59. I really don't like huge crowds.
60. I put a very high value on personal relationships.
61. I loved heavy metal in HS and until about 5 years ago.
62. I love Christian music now but still love heavy metal when it is on.
63. My favorite Christian artists are Third Day, Jeremy Camp, and Todd Agnew.
64. I feel so blessed with every new day.
65. I am extremely aware of God's presence in my life.
66. I am very outgoing.
67. I love to make people feel good.
68. I love yarn.
69. I love to eat healthy but I am sometimes too lazy to fix healthy food for myself.
70. I love my in-laws.
71. I think my mother in law is a beautiful person.
72. I wish I saw my side of the family more than once a year.
73. I miss my grandmother more than anything or anyone in the world.
74. I miss my grandfather, too!
75. I especially miss my mom.
76. I am a conservative Christian Republican, but I DO NOT believe in the way some prominent Christian figures and politicians treat people - it goes totally against the bible's most important rule to love one another. Jesus spent His time with what some would consider unsavory characters, but He loved them. It didn't matter what they did. And I am with Him.
77. I absolutely LOVE George Bush.
78. I think he is the best and most under appreciated president we have ever had.
79. My kids have three mice whose cage I hate to clean.
80. I get terrible motion sickness.
81. I have to pee and get gassy when I am nervous.
82. Thankfully I don't get too nervous very often.
83. I get anxiety attacks when I think about something happening to my children.
84. I am sick of movies.
85. I would rather knit or do something besides sit still for 2 hours.
86. I do like movies that challenge me.
87. I like All My Children.
88. My favorite channels are DIY, Food Network and ABC.
89. I love Lost and Desperate Housewives and the Bachelor.
90. I love it when I have good memories of my Dad.
91. I used to hunt and fish and trap with my dad, but would never hunt or trap again.
92. I love the outdoors but only when I am nowhere near my home.
93. I love nature and feel so in awe of my Awesome God who created it
94. I usually go to bed at 9:30 pm. I don’t like to stay up late.
95. I am a morning person.
96. I spend too much time on the computer.
97. I should be cleaning right now.
98. I wish I spent more 1 on 1 time with my kids.
99. I love filling out surveys because I love for people to know me better.
100. I love afternoon power naps.

Been busy with cakes!

Here is Olivia's 9th birthday cake... she wanted the cross, and flowers (or basketballs, hehe!), but green is a surprise, it's her favorite color. I will post a pic of her with her cake soon!

Monday!

Mr Danny and I made a pizza for lunch today. From scratch. It tasted even better than it looks!
These are some gorgeous kids!!! This was taken at the anniversary party Saturday.
Daddy and the girls walking to the bus stop.
Biker Dude.

Saturday activities

Here is the 20th Anniversary cake I made for my great friends, Ginny and Leroy. Wow, 20 years! That is the cake topper from their wedding...I painted it and added the pearly ribbon "nest" thingy.

Here's my little Biker Dude. Note the cute hand knit socks! : ) FYI those were knit with Knit Picks Palette - I have several colors and love making socks for the kids with it.
But first, before making the cake and checking out the Biker Dude, I exercised my fingers and centered my brain by starting toe up #2. Can you see the cute little stitch marker?

Well, I am off to shower and get ready for the anniversary party. FUN!!!!

Finished Sock One

I finished my very first toe up sock on two circs!!!! IT came out really nice, I am ready to start the mate so I can be ready when the temps drop (I have a nice long deadline here in TX! Hehe!)

I went with EZ sew-off bind off and really liked it! I tried the crochet bind off, but it wasn't stretchy enough.

With many thanks to my Aunt Jean (my greatest knitting mentor) I recorded all the adjustments to the Widdershins pattern, all the notes and calculations as well as measurements while it was still fresh in my mind. Now I can accurately duplicate it. I just need to find the right place in the yarn to start so the pattern will match. There was also a post on Socknitters that suggested placing a marker every 10 rows and I found that to be a priceless bit of advice, it will change my knitting forever!!! : )

Chances are, I won't be able to start the next sock till Monday, we have an anniversary party (20 years!!!) to go to and I am making the cake (will post a pic) tomorrow and a BBQ with friends on Sunday afternoon.

My next pair.......

This will be my next pair....Trekking XXL by Zitron. Yum, Yum.

****Addendum, 9/8/07 - I saw a toddler sweater knit in this color yesterday - wowowow it was very nice. Never thought of knitting something bigger with this stuff!

Somewhere in there

Somewhere in my quest for the perfect sock, I managed to make some yummy chicken tacos. Good nutrition to fuel my knitting. : )

Eureka

OK, so I got the heel done. After taking the previous sock photo, I realized that my heel was off center so I had to ribbit. BUT it wasn't far and since I was "getting" the process of it all, it was very easy to fix. I have to say I love love love the way these are turning out and probably will stick with this method. I am already trying to come up with a formula based on the widdershins pattern from knitty so I can adjust to my family's different sizes.
Here is the finished heel, side and back views.

Take a deep breath. Breathe. Relax. Behold!

Now I see it so much more clearly. I knew all I had to do was just DO IT. And now I am understanding why everything needs to be done. Now my challenge will be to accurately decode my notes and write them down so I can duplicate this beauty.

Goodness Gracious My Brain is on Fire!

OK, well, that may be an exaggeration. It's not on fire, but man does it hurt. My previous wild ways followed by giving birth to three children has done a number on my previously sharp mathematical skills. BUT I finally found a toe up sock pattern with a gusseted slip stitch heel (rather than a short row heel). The problem with the pattern is that it was written for a different gauge than I am knitting. SO I had to get out the old calculator and do some serious problem solving to scale up the pattern to my gauge. This should be easy, only, like I said before, my brain isn't as sharp as it once was. That said, here is the progress on my first toe up sock on 2 circs. I love how it's taking shape!

The pattern I am using is http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer06/PATTwiddershins.html - it is the most understandable that I have found so far.

Shawl Progress

Olivia holding up the prayer shawl...this is three of seven skeins of the Berroco Foliage.

It is about 30" so far.

A sock going up and a boy with a toad

This is what I have so far on my socks (first one). It is knit with Austermann Step which has aloe and jojoba in the yarn!!! Can't wait to wear them. I have to say, it is a luxury to be able to try the sock on as I go.
This is my little man, chillin with his friend Frogga the Toad. What a pair!