Well the Oscars were on last night. I mentioned it on my Manchvegas knitting group and next thing ya know I'm getting blamed on a certian Manchvegas blog (I won't mention any names, Ericka)for a non-post about yarn stores in 3 different states!!! what the...?? LOL

I, however, did not watch one second of the Oscars in protest!! My girlfriends that I knit with in Kentucky, or rather that I *used* to knit with and will when I go home this summer, had an Oscar/Knitting party WITH OUT ME!! I felt so left out until I read Sonya's blog and saw this picture!! They are all forgiven now!!

In the back row you have Meagan and Sonya, and in the front row you have Tabitha and Stacy (the mommy to be!! Congratulations Stacy and Bobby!!!!) Bobby, I hear you had to take about 5 pictures to get them all looking and smiling at the same time!! Doesn't surprise me with that fun bunch of gals! Tabitha and Sonya went on a weekend knit-a-way (kinda like a get-a-way) and now Tabitha is wanting to dive in to spinning!! Gina and Heather I'll have to hook her up with you all and show her how you all spin! :) She's hinting HARD to her hubby for a wheel I'm sure!!

In other news, potty training is going GREAT!!! Another POOP made it IN the potty today!! I so feel like I'm accomplishing something when he does this!!! AH POOP!! Makes a momma happy! :)

It just warms my heart!! Look at this precious sleeping thing all snuggled up holding the hat that I knit him! Who needs stuffed animals when you have a knitted hat!??! This just made me beam this morning. He loves that hat so much he sleeps with it! How awesome is my son?!?

Also I have updated Lora's Keyhole Etsy shop. I have changed and now my 4 bags on there are offered up with FREE SHIPPING! Hoping I'll get some bites that way :)

Continuing with Lady Eleanor
The Lady Eleanor is coming along nicely. I just finished the second skein. You can see what's left of the skein, that little pile of grey sitting there, but I'm going to start the next block fresh from the third skein because it doesn't start with grey, it starts with green. Like I said I'm using 3 different colorways of the Noro Silk Garden. I think these first two went really well together!!! This third one as I look at it will put the punch in Lady E for sure with a burst of rusty orange color sneaking in!! It's going to be so cool. I think it's cool that I went from Entrelac newbie (picture below) to Entrelac junkie (Lady E above). I just really love this technique! There's a lot of turning the work and there are a few articles I've read about knitting backwards, and yes I've tried, but it doesn't FEEL right, so I just continue to turn the work as I go....it's really not THAT annoying!! Not yet! I think the constant changing colors leaves me wanting to keep knitting along to see what surprise color comes next. So my thought process on this is I'm probably going to need a 10th skein so I can do the fringing on the stole. There are a lot of pictures of the Lady Eleanor on Flickr. Check them out and you can see the different ways people have fringed. I'd love to hear some opinions on fringe.
My brother in law was here for a visit and has now returned back to Kentucky. It was nice to have family around. Mom and dad will be coming this week and I am totally excited to see them and to show Dad around. He has not been here yet. Mom came with me when the boys, Lincoln and I drove up here. BOY that was a relief to have some help with the boys.
Well back to knitting on Lady E!! OH YEAH!! I almost forgot! NATHAN USED THE POTTY AGAIN TODAY!! First time since last Saturday...must be a Saturday thing :) I'm so happy! We rewarded him with "bubble gum" (a.k.a. starburst fruit chews)

I have started my Lady Eleanor Stole/Scarf!!!! This is going to be my biggest project I believe and it's all for me!!! I have one skein all knitted up and have started on the second skein! I am using Noro Silk Garden in 3 different colorways. I have 3 skeins of each color so I'll rotate accordingly. So here's the start! I started this past Sunday and this is how far I am now. Jacob came home from school today and said "Boy mom! I like this knitting!" while holding up the scarf. Makes me feel so good he likes my knitting!! (He's sitting on the couch now with his knit hat on!) I can't wait to see how it looks after more! It's already so pretty to me!



I have also joined SP10, so here's my questionaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Lately I've found I REALLY like cashsoft!! I got some at WEBS and oh man it's soft! I'm not fond of fun furs. I really like Merino style yarns....the seem really soft too.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I got a beautiful needle holder by Lantern Moon from my in laws for Christmas. I also just throw them sometimes in my bag that I got from knitpicks.com. ya know, the bagsmith bag.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? My friend Tamelyn and Heather taught me to knit in Nashville back in August of 2005. I consider myself I guess beginner/intermediate.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? I put a link to amazon over under my links to the right here. It's a good start of a wish list
5. What's your favorite scent? My favorite candle scent is Glade Rainshower. It smells so fresh. I like the clean out of the shower smell.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? OH I love Reese's peanut butter cups and I like peanut butter M&M's too!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I do not spin. I like to bead and rubber stamp.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I love classic rock. yes my computer can play mp3's. I also like Jann Arden, Hem, Elton John, Billy Joel, Hootie and the Blowfish, Everclear.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? My favorite color is green, followed by orange. Not a big fan of yellow I guess, but all other colors are ok.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married to Brent, 2 sons, Jake and Nate, and one dog Lincoln.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes I wear scarves and mittens, sometimes I wear a hat if it can get it to stay on my thick hair and No not much of a poncho gal.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Well for awhile I was having fun with bracelets and the Mary Ella pattern on Knitty.com, but lately I've been doing some socks and now I'm LOVING working on my entrelac stole!
13. What are you knitting right now? I am working on the Lady Eleanor entrelac stole from Scarf Style
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Oh yes...anything made with love is appreciated!
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? If I'm using straight or dpn's I like bamboo needles. If I use circular needles I like addi turbo's because of the cord on them. I have not tried the knit picks circs yet, but I plan on it one day!
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No I do not.
17. How old is your oldest UFO? OH MY...well...um... a year I guess...I was trying to make the bunny backpack out of the S&B book
18. What is your favorite holiday? OH I love Halloween and Christmas.
19. Is there anything that you collect? I used to collect elephants but haven't done that much lately. But I still like elephants.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I do not get any knitting magazines in the mail. I would love a book that has fair isle mitten patterns, or just cool fair isle patterns in it!!
21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I'm up for learning anything but nothing off the top of my head right now.
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? yes I knit socks. I wear a size 8 shoe, I've never gotten my foot measurements...I just try the sock on until it feels right.
23. When is your birthday? August 3rd.

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!

NATHAN POOPED IN THE POTTY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all...nothing else to share..this is TOO BIG to share with anything else going on!

Well people. We have snow! And Lots of it! The picture above shows the driveway and what Brent shoveled out so we could get our cars out. The pile is almost as high as the boys!And it's time for FO Friday (Finished Object Friday). And here is my FO! It's the Buring Ring of Fire hat from Cidermoon.com. The pattern called to be done on size 5 needles but I took it down to size 4 needles. Jacob says he's happy with it! I hope so!! I sure am!

And here they are!! The Finished Objects! Yarn: Wildfoote
Pattern: Mock Croc Socks from Knit Picks (minus the pattern down the foot...thought it would be too nubbley.
For: MOMMY!!!!!!!! These socks will be for my mother :) I'm wearing them now to make sure they wear comfortably...they do :)
Yarn: Cashsoft (Left over from Corazon Mittens)
Pattern: Fetching Mitt from Knitty.com
For: Jacob's teacher for Valentine's Day (....yeah sweater...right....)
The only other thing on the needles right now is the Danica scarf from Knitty.com. I guess I'll work on it this evening while we all attempt to rest. Either that or I'll cast on some more socks or Lady Eleanor from the book Scarf Style.
On the home front we have more fevers breaking out!! WHOOPIE!!!!! Nathan woke up today with the fever and coughing and *I* have started coughing too, but no fever..... yet. So far I think Brent is OK.

YES!!! I have two Finish Objects for FO Friday!! But....no pictures. I just finished a pair of socks and yesterday I finished a pair of fetching mittens for Jacob's teacher for Valentine's Day. I'll post pictures tomorrow because my camera does not have a flash and it's really dark right now since it's night time.
Jacob is still sick and I kept him home again today. He had a killer fever last night and woke up all out of sorts saying someone was trying to get him. Fever made him a bit delirious I think. THEN Brent gets up to come check on him and gets light headed because he took some NyQuil and he lays down on the floor in the boys room. The whole time I'm thinking "oh great..who first?!?" Finally everything calmed down, Jacob got in bed with us and his breathing was very heavy so I couldn't sleep. So I ended up setting up a spot on the opposite side of the bed and took Nathan out of his bed and put him there and FINALLY got back to sleep in Nathan's bed. I just didn't have the energy to put Nathan on the top bunk.
We got up this morning and I called the Dr's office and got Jacob and appointment. The Dr did a throat swab and checked for strep....Negative (whew!). So then the Dr ordered a Chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia...........Negative (double whew!!) So we have here on our hands a nasty virus that has to run it's course. Lovely! Jacob, Nathan and I all took a big ole nap this afternoon, and Jacob's on his second nap now. So send Jacob some good healing vibes and pray the rest of us don't get this virus...yeah I know...fat chance!
I hate it when the kids are sick. I was just bragging to my mom the other day how my kids hardly ever get sick...won't do that again!! LOL
On other knitting news....welcome two new knitting bloggers!!!
Sonya who named her blog "In the Skein of Things", I love it! (my good friend from KY, ok she lives in Indiana but we partied in KY) and Melissa (one of my fellow Manchvegas Knitters). Check them out and root them on to the madness of Blogging!!! WELCOME GIRLS!!

Still here, still knitting. Nothing finished to show, but maybe tomorrow for Gina's "FO Friday"

Today I've kept Jakey-boy home and he's not feeling well. He has a good ole fever so I've tucked him back in bed and told him to rest, sleep and relax. I'm hoping Nathan will let him get some rest...we'll see! LOL
So today is a good listening day so here are two good things to listen too today:
Gina's Newest Podcast - fun for knitters, Check out Gina's blog and leave her a message and let her know I sent you over for the podcast!
Carl's song (so nice) Carl's a fun guy, back in Indiana/Kentucky area, so if you're there, go out and check him and the other guys out when they play out! Guaranteed a good time :) Brent and I always have a grand time!

The count down for Mom and Dad's visit is starting and I am getting so excited!! Mom has been here and has seen where we live and such but Dad has not yet! So I can't wait for him to see where we are living and what's around the area!!

Enjoy your Thursday!! I'm geared up for Grey's Anatomy and Men in Tree's tonight! I love those shows, oh and What about Brian that's on Monday nights. Do any of you all watch these shows?!?

Happy Super Bowl Sunday.

My Snow men!! The boys were all suited up for snow yesterday and I heard no complaints about being cold or wet!! We had a blast!! Don't they look so happy! I just love that picture!
I was toasty warm too with my knitted headband, even if I do wear it upside down...it feels better that way...around my chin and such :)
We went to the park and took Jacob's snow board. Oh My Gosh did he ever do a great job! He went down the hill two times and I think only fell once and that was at the very beginning getting his footing. I think a couple more times and we'll get him to a ski area with a bunny slope! Nathan and I walked up and down the hill with them a couple times. I had to piggy back Nathan back up the hill. Needless to say I got some cardio in FINALLY! haha!
This is a shot of me and the boys at the park. Kinda reminds me of my tattoo with a kid over each hand. When Brent took the picture I was just trying to make sure that the boys didn't try and jump off while standing up there. I just think it's neat!
and my hubby! He got his snowboard out too and went down the hill a couple times too with some success. We think that he may need a longer snowboard.
Do you remember the jaywalker socks I posted sometime ago that I started for my mother?? Well I frogged the buggers! I switched over to the knitpicks pattern Mock Croc Socks. It's a free pattern on their site. I'm also working on a pair of Fetching mittens from Knitty.com. This is my first time trying cables. It's kinda cool. :)


As I type this I'm watching the Super Bowl Half Time show. I must say ... I love the song "Purple Rain" . I've forgotten how much I liked that song. I miss being in a marching band too. When I watch half time shows for the superbowl it reminds me of the time I was in Tempe, Arizona at the Fiesta Bowl and the fun we had at the half time show there with the Marching band from Alabama. SO FUN!

Jacob and I were having a talk about Valentine's day. This afternoon's converstaion with Jacob ended a little like this......
Me: Jake, ya know Valentine's day is coming up. What do you want to do for Mrs. C? (his teacher)
Jake: OH...I don't know.... maybe you should knit her something...ya know..... (very excitingly) LIKE A SWEATER!!!
Me:

now insert laughter....

Needless to say..No was my answer on that....but I've got other knitty ideas in mind. Hopefully he'll like what I do... I'll rehash then when I finish the V-day gift and let you know his response.

{shaking head and laughing........ silly boy}

Things are Cold!! I mean C-O-L-D... do you hear me?!? so I made Mr. Bean some mittens! I think they turned out cute! Thanks to Jackie for the pattern (how are your mittens coming along?)

Remember those Jaywalker socks I posted a start of back a couple post ago?? Well I worked and worked on them...got down to the foot... about an inch or so where I would decrease for the toe... AND RIPPED THEM BOTH OUT!!!!!!! Frogged the whole project... two socks on one needle, GONE! They just weren't feeling right and the ankle/heel area was tight. These are for my mother so I didn't want her to have to break a sweat trying to get the sock over her heel, so I frogged it!

Not much else has been going on. I should be able to start my Lady Eleanor stole soon. Almost have enough yarn to make it. I thought about starting but I want to get all the yarn so I can lay out how I want it since I'm using three different colorways of Noro's Silk Garden, and ya know that stuffs not cheap! woo! But it's going to be sooo pretty and comfy and nice (if mom doesn't steal it when she sees it LOL! she's my biggest fan!)

Hubby's been traveling so I've been a Stay at home Single mom for awhile. Know what.. Don't like it. I like having Brent around. I miss him when he's gone. The boys REAALLLY miss him when he's gone. I am not a good wrestler. Last night I just stood and watched as the boys jumped on the bed. You think I'm getting in there with those wild boys!! haha NOT happening. LOL

I missed the Manchvegas knitting group last week and filled that void with a visit to Concord's knitting group on Sunday. I had a good time there and got a little Manchvegas fill with Donna and Sarah both being there (and both being blogless that I know of.) I hope to swing by the book store this week and just say HI and maybe let the boys play with the train and knit one or two rows of what ever I'm working on. Just have to see how the day goes.

Hope all is well with everyone. Drop me a line! Lemme know you were here.

I woke up to snow. But that's ok!! My hands will be nice and warm (Jackie don't shoot me please!!) I got my Corazon Mittens finished!! And the cool thing is (Jackie you'll like this) I used ONE BALL of red and One ball of Grey. I have a lot of Grey left and this much red.

The pattern called for two balls of your main color and one ball of contrasting color, which I had on hand but I thought I'd see how far I could get mitten #2 out of ball #1.
So here's the Details:
Pattern: Corazon from Knitty.com
Yarn: RY Cashsoft DK
Cast On: Jan 13th
Cast Off: Jan 19
Will I make again? Maybe!!! But now I have to get back to some sock for my Mom. :) Here's the mittens!! LOOOOVE THEM!

Happy Friday!!! A cute video that will hopefully make you smile!! I totally love it and want to get up and dance with them! So get up and shake what your momma gave ya! :)

Cold and Ice in NH.

We are fine and warm. There is ice all over everything, but we're getting around fine. Nathan and I ran a couple errands today with out any troubles....well ok I had trouble getting back UP the driveway, but once I slid back out for about the 5th time and got a running start, I made it up the teeny tiny incline with out the tires slipping on the ice as much. It was kinda funny, I was just sitting in the car laughing at the situation (Nathan wasn't amused...??).
We lost power last night, but only for about 45 minutes. The boys were already in bed asleep so we just piled some extra blankets on them. We lit some candles and I read a book with a little flash light. I thought about knitting and just ended up reading about knitting. When the power came back on, so did half the lights in the house, 2 of the tv's and who knows what else!

This is the candle on our piano. Love the dots on the wall!!
This picture is looking out our kitchen window towards the street...and icey street at that!

Hello all!!! Things are going well. Nothing to report on the knitting end...still working on the socks and the scarf, but today I finished up some sewing and I have some items in my etsy shop. SO...if you get a chance, take a look and spread the word to anyone you think needs a cute project bag!! Click on the image below to go to my etsy! Thanks for looking through the keyhole!

CONTEST!!
I love reading Stardust Shoes Blog!! She has the cutest things. She posted these three fabrics the other day and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the one in the middle!!
So here's the contest. If you are out and about and you see this fabric, make a note who makes it and where you saw it, then come back and tell me. First one to respond gets this sock blocker keychain from me with a cute little knitted sock that I knit out of the goblin yarn. :) yeah I'll get the key ring on it before I send it :)

Hello there! Couple things to post about. I finished the Cascading Leaves socks made from Heather's Witchy yarn. LOOOOVE IT!
On the needles now are a scarf and some jaywalker socks for mom.
I also had the sewing machine going this week and finally figured out a way to make some sock projects bag!! I have some Elvis bags in the wings, they just aren't sewn up yet. A couple kinda puckered but once you get the drawstring in and cinch the sack up, what's the difference? It'll be fine :) They were fun and I'll probably put a couple on my etsy and some will be gifts for ??? who knows. I do believe that bag with the elephants will remain with me though :):) Hey Jackie, you're not the only one with a cute hat. This was made by Ericka and boy it is soft and warm. I'm trading some beading lessons for her sister for the hat. Is that sweet or what?!? And yes, it fits over my big melon head and mop of hair!!
In other fun news!!! My parents booked a flight to come for a visit!! I can't wait!!! They'll be here the end of Feb!! WOOHOO! Only 8 weeks!! I can make it!

My Husband thinks he's funny....putting my yarn in my craft trash bin. Luckily it was clean and empty!!! (If you know me you know I never throw anything away!)Check out this stash!! Let me tell you what's there.
On the top row we have Lorna's Lace ShepSock Yarn. On the left, the purple and green is called Jungle Stripe and yes it's self striping! Mom bought that for me. Next to it...the pretty browns is called Safari, mom bought this for her, gladly put it in my bag and said "Make me socks!" with a big grin! How could I resist!??

Second row is Wildfoote Sock yarn. Left to right we have Desert Grass (mine), Elderberry in the middle (more socks for mom), and then Bluegrass (also for mom)
Bottom row we have Noro! Three Silk Gardens and four Kureyon's. Now...do I make the stole I want out of the Silk Garden or the Kureyon?? Either way I'll need more yarn!! MORE YARN!! I thought maybe I could mix them but there is a definate difference in the feeling of both of these, so I don't think that's an option. What to dooooo What to doooo!! Who cares!! It's YARN!

Happy New Year!! We are home in New Hampshire. We came home to Snow!! What the....??? We left 60 degree weather for this?!?! Oh Please!! We haven't left the house much since we got home. I did go to the grocery yesterday, and that's the only time I've left the house since we've been home. The flight home was good but LONG!! Our plane was scheduled to leave KY at 6:35 but it was delayed until 7:00...no big deal... but we were flying to Chicago... when we got there our plane was delayed yet again, no big deal, oh wait, they are an hour behind us so that adds up to 1...2.... 2 hours and 50 minute delay! OH BIG DEAL! So..here we are spending time in Chicago's airport waiting "patiently". We played games, rode the walking sidewalks, A LOT, Jake watched a movie, I read some of my book (Nope, didn't have my knitting with me, I could have finished that second sock, dag it!) Brent and the boys went and found us some food to eat. I sat with our bags. While I was sitting there reading, I stopped to look at what was around me. Christmas music playing, Christmas decorations all over, tired and weary travelers.....hey wait a minute...am I in a Christmas holiday travel movie gone BORED?? Where are the cameras? It was humourous at the time, trust me. Jacob watching a movie.
Nathan and Brent rolling the soccer ball we forgot to deflate to pack. haha.


This is a great shot of the boys and Brent on the way to Kentucky on the plane. Both of the boys first plane trip. They were great! Going to Ky and coming back to Nh.
Here I am Skymall shopping... OH LOOK a Christmas Palm tree!! Cool.
Nathan taking in a movie on the trip to KY.
Jacob snacking on the airplane crackers.
And this picture just cracks me up! Lana knew the exact moment to reach for that tree! But Brent had her just far enough she could barely touch the tree. This was taken at my grandmother's house Christmas day. Seems I've gone overboard on pictures the past couple post, but this had to be the best Christmas in a long time. I was a joy to see my family after 4 months away from them. What was my best Christmas present this year you ask??? AIRPLANE TICKETS!!! (yarn was a close second, haha)