What I've been up to lately

Sorry Alexis I am not going downstairs to get the damn camera...I'll get to pics on another day...

...I have 5 new bears made up...they are really cute too, don't you just wish you could see them?

And I have made progress on the current socks (well still sock at this point but eventually it will be a pair) and I have been working with my skein of Malabrigo lace yarn but I am not really liking the way the pattern is working out so I may rip it back and start something else. I want to make a shawl and have a neat pattern for one but am told by several other people who have made it that it comes out more like a head shawl than a 'normal' sized shawl. I also have a pattern for a scarf and I just can't decide wich one to use....I guess I'll just sit on it for a while.

On Friday Brian and I went up to Seattle and stayed in a nice hotel, had a fabulous dinner (in a restraunt that doesn't even offer crayons or highchairs) and saw Phantom of the Opera. It was wonderful. It was also the first time since Jacob's birth that I have spent a night away from him so it was a milestone for me. He didn't seem phased by it, and to be honest it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would so I must have been more than ready for it. It was really nice to just be Brian and Rachael again for a while instead of Daddy and Mommy. I enjoyed it and am holding onto that because I am sure it will be a while before we get to do something like that again, especially coming up since the baby is due in 6 weeks and 2 days and then the holidays, etc, etc.

Other than that I have been doing the normal boring stuff like housework, allthough I am excelling at my favorite hobby of late: avoiding laundry. Don't think I can get away with that after today though. Then again, I really should be doing some spinning...or finish the other bears I have in the works...or clean the toilet (really, I would rather do that than laundry...) or..or I guess I could just do the damn laundry and be done with it, until somebody decides they just must be wearing clothes to leave the house...

Just for Alexis

I DID take pics...I just hadn't had time to put them on the 'puter. (I am 7 1/2 mos preggo, running down the stairs to get the camera was not a priority at the time I was posting...read about my hang ups...). Seriously...I am joking with you not whining at ya...here are some pics of the socks, another pair in progress and the bear I just finished...

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Happy Joy Joy Joy!!! The socks are done!!!
Andrew's monster large socks are done (I did some investigating, he does have larger than average feet, so I don't feel so bad about them seeming to take forever). He loves them and since he happened to be here when I finished them he got the choice to have them now and not get anything at Christmas, or wait until Christmas...he wore them home. :) Pics to come later.

Someone Please Buy My House

I am getting to be as big as a house. I have a house on the market for sale. I would like to sell the latter before the former bursts and I have a newborn to drag about with my toddler, husband and all of our worldy possessions. I understand that there are way more houses than buyers right now. But my house is large and reasonably priced for the area it is in. Please, please someone come buy my house. Soon. I only have 8 1/2 weeks until my scheduled due-date. My midwife wants to induce sooner.............sooner is almost always better in terms of getting the baby out (assuming said baby has had ample baking time) but in this case...I dunno. Maybe I can talk my midwife out of inducing too early if we have a reasonable offer that might make it possible for us to move before delivery. Of course there is that whole bit about not having a new place to move into yet, but we won't look until we get at least one offer...Again there is a huge surplus of houses out there right now, we won't have a problem finding anything.

So please, either buy my house or send me someone who will (well wishes are glady accepted too).

Ok I'm done whining now...

Here is a cute pic of my kid:

Hang Ups

We all have our own little quirks and whatnots. I have finally figured out one of my hang ups. For some reason I can't get it out of my head that I can't blog unless I have pictures to post. Now I realize that this is ridiculous but for some reason that has been why I have been putting off posting.

So I am trying to get over it. I'll post pics when I have them and not worry about it in the meantime.

Projects I am working on:

The pukish/black colored socks for Andrew. Trust me the colors are totally him. I will be glad to be done with them because I feel like they are taking forever and I am getting tired of looking at them. He does have some pretty big feet though, so maybe that is why it feels like they are taking so long. Actually, I think I may have a pic of the first one finished...

Just a size refrence in the above photo the foot is 12" from heel to toe. This is not a HUGE foot, but since the only other socks I have made are for newborns and myself it is quite a departure size-wise.Everyone thank the reluctant foot model, my Husband, for posing in socks that make his teeth itch (Don't worry, he isn't the sort to wear handmade socks, or wool at all for that matter, the intended recipient however, is and will love them).

I am also working on a pair of Corsett gloves for Amber for Christmas...pics to come later.

The only other thing I have currently in the works is some handspun yarn...I am proud to say I have finished my first bit of spinning with a drop-spindle. I really really love it. The yarn came out to be about worsted weight, maybe slightly bulkier, is of course a single ply and sort-of a novelty yarn as it goes from thick to thin to thick, etc. (common for beggining spinners). I have hanked, washed and set the twist, now I just need to ball it up for use... Not sure what it will become yet, probably a scarf and/or hat. 120yds was the yield so I am not exactly sure what I can get out of that much yarn...at least a scarf though. I am also working on making some teddy bears...Here is a pic of the first one I made...since then I have gotten some much neater fabric to use: No eyes you say? I want them to be completely infant friendly so no buttons, etc. to be chewed on.

I have recently finished a hat to match the sweater for Abby,
And a pair of newborn sized socks for my neighbor's brand new baby:
Some other things...I am finishing off the roving I used for the blue yarn in a finer thread so I can attempt to teach myself plying and possibly get a pair of socks out of it (we'll see if I have enough...I have tiny feet...it helps).
Also I made a drop-spindle just to see if I could make one that functions and I want a lighter weight spindle for finer yarns:
Ta-Da! It works but the whorl needs to be heavier (stops spinning too soon and rather rapidly reverses direction)...I'll look to see what I can find at the store today that might do the trick, not sure if I'll be able to find what I am looking for as I had a hard enough time as it was finding the one I did (a toy car wheel purchased at a large chain craft store). The construction was easy...drill tiny hole in dowel end, insert tea-cup hook, slide dowel through wheel (the dowel and wheel are a perfect tight fit so there is none of that whorl sliding down business and no glue, etc. involved). Total cost was about $0.80.

In other construction news...I decided that instead of spending $17.00 on a niddy-noddy (for hanking yarn) I would make one:
That's nothin' but pvc pipe folks...5 lengths, two 't-joints' and 4 end-caps. Total cost: about $5.00. The beauty of having one of pvc is that I can set the twist without having to move the yarn off of the niddy noddy. My Darling can not escape the Engineer inside and has already brainstormed a way to put it on a stand so it will spin around as I wrap the yarn (similar to a swift).

Oh and I got some goodies too!

At the fair I got some of this beautiful roving. It is very pretty I think. I am eager to see how it spins up. I don't know enough yet about fiber to tell you anything more than it is wool and I think alpaca.
The other goody I got is some of this beautiful roving that is silk and something I can't remember. I got it at my LYS.That's about it for right now.