sherriknits

The little imp is having a birthday and he’s just so excited!  He got up this morning ready to go.  Moooommmmm.

Everyone but the new groom got to come for breakfast.

He got a new camera.

I can’t get the youtube to work so maybe later.

He’s having a great day. 

And then it was my turn!!!!!

I got a great surprise today….my first sp12 package.  I have to say, I have a great pal.  She’s had a lot going on in her life and she still took time to make this a perfect gift for me!  She said in her card that it was a little bit “her” and hopefully a lot “me”.  She nailed it!

She had the packages numbered and she explained a little bit, but then said everything got a little loopy.  She was right.

My very own Loopy Ewe!  I thought he was a great addition to my sheep collection!

I got a Loopy Ewe needle felting kit, Loopy himself, the all important chocolate, some note cards and the premier issue of Verena…a European knitting magazine.  I love it all!

Thank you so much, Think Pink Pal….it really means a lot, especially when I know your life has felt so topsy-turvy.  I look forward to getting to know you even more after the swap is over!

What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?

Socks!  I do knit other things while away, but socks are the most portable and most mindless project.

Tell us about a time that you packed too much knitting or were stranded without knitting

I don’t have any funny stories about this but I find that I never figure it out right.  I have had times in the RV where I’ve filled the whole closet with knitting….yarn, books, needles, etc and not had what I needed.  I’ve had times where I only took specific projects in the hopes of being forced to work on them….but I always find a way to get to a yarn store and get something else.  There’s just no predicting.

I am supposed to be getting ready to go to Olympia, birthday shopping for the little imp….but…………

Shipping is amazing!  I ordered it Thurs., shipped Friday from Massachusetts and it’s here this morning!  Love it as much as I thought I would.  The picture shows the green a little yellower than it is.

No one but those on Ravelry will get this and not all even then.

I’ve been longing for a Ravelry tote bag since before the Rav mini-mall opened up.  I can’t tell you how many times I missed them when I was watching for them to be added to the inventory.  It has become like a craze on Ravelry….liken it to the Cabbage Patch dolls where people are stalking and waiting, afraid to do anything lest they miss it.  I’m serious.  I got such a kick out of reading some of the threads.  One lady actually considered keeping a rental car an extra day just so she could stay home and watch!

For once, I made myself just calm down and wait.  I figured if I got one someday, great.  If not…I could certainly live without it.

Well, last night I caught that they were being put out there a few at a time and it seemed that they were being stocked in the middle of the night for us west coasters.  I have to confess that I had to get up at 3 a.m. and I actually logged in and looked to see if they were there.  Thankfully, they weren’t because that would only have made me lay awake, I know myself.

This morning, I was actually sleeping in but something woke me up so I came downstairs, turned on my computer, did a few things and came back….I thought hmmmmmmmmm, I should just check.  Oh so calm I was.  Until……………….I logged in, there were 49 in stock!  Oh my gosh!!!  I started filling out the cart info and almost clicked send…then I thought hmmmm, I remember Bunni saying the other day that she was interested in one, maybe I should get her one since she doesn’t have paypal.  I backtracked and then my calmness went out the window.  LOL   I couldn’t type for anything and in just that minute or 2 the stock was down to 44.  I got the order filled out, had a horrible time getting logged in to Paypal and ta da!!!!!  I had successfully purchased them.  I called Bunni immediately to ask her if she really had wanted one and she jumped over to the mini-mart and said there were 33 left.  This is just minutes later.  Then I got an email from another good friend, she casually said she’d order one on her lunch hour.  By then there were 22!  I told her and within a few minutes, she emailed me and said she’d gotten in under the wire.  In minutes, they were all gone!

Now, someone help me with this.  I am feeling so bad for the people who were sitting there doing the F5 thing (which I didn’t know about until Ravelry!) and they did things like…went for a short walk, talked to hubby while he ate breakfast, fell asleep, did a chore..whatever…and they missed out.  I feel bad, but…….

I am so excited cuz now I have one! 

The lesson?  I am so tickled that for once, I laid down my wild desire to stalk the store and Casey’s posts in the forums and realized…I can live without this tote, my life will continue on just fine and I won’t even feel bad if I never get one.  It was true.  I think I’ll enjoy it all the more because of it.  I got it because I like it but it isn’t such a huge thing to me as I have gotten obsessed about other things.  But hey, don’t try to take it away from me now!

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?

We have friends who generously lend us their RV every summer for the last several years.  My favorite place to go in it is probably Leavenworth.  The weather is nice and we’ve found a great park there to relax and knit with no guilt.  The shops are fun and the whole area is just relaxing.  But to be honest, anywhere in the RV is my favorite place to go because we just enjoy time in it.
2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to go to New England in the fall.  I hope the year we ever finally get to go that it is a good year for foliage! 

Tonight was knit night and my dear little friend came in with her sock almost ready to kitchener the toe closed.  I am so proud of her!  We may have started that sock last fall and sometime between then and now she was on the mission field for an extended stay.  She then spent some time in Canada with  the missionaries she worked with while they gave birth to their 3rd child.  When she picked her knitting back up, she was knitting pretty loose compared to what she was doing before so we had to work on that a little bit, but then she took off flying.  Just a few days ago, I helped her turn her heel and pick up the gusset.  Tonight we had to frog most of the toe because there was one loose little stitch hanging out loose in the beginning of the decreases.  She has a great attitude and wants it right.  Ahhhh, a knitter, she is!

In no time at all, it was time to close that toe.

the concentration..

and it’s done!

I’m almost done with my market bag, half a row to go and then binding off and figuring out what to do for handles.

The weather is beautiful, the little imp has already broken his “claw” but he doesn’t seem to care.  It would cost me more to drive back to return it than just cutting our losses.  Made him happy.

I was really looking forward to a 4-day weekend, but it ended up to be kind of a bust.

Hubby got a bad cold and coughed his head off for days.  I had a sleepless night and was worth nothing for a whole day.  We were just kind of bummed out that we didn’t do anything fun…but then, I guess there wasn’t much we could do about it.

We did have a fun 4th….the little imp for the first time in his life actually enjoyed the fireworks.  We went over to big sis’s house and played Wii for awhile.  They actually got me to drive race cars with them.  I used to be really good at video games but no more.  I came in last every time, but I had fun.

He’s actually pretty good!  He plays against the good competition and holds his own. 

They’ve been getting the baby room ready, I just love it.

And look what I saw on the changing table.

We actually could see the neighborhood fireworks better than the city ones because a hill is in the way, but we didn’t feel like going closer and getting caught in traffic, especially if the little imp can’t stand it, been there, done that.

The parents-to-be have a great deack overlooking everything so  we stood outside watching the whole city go nuts.

This picture cracks me up.  He’s talking to his brother-in-law….he drags his name waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy out when he talks to him and I caught him in the middle of it.

Even though he did better with the fireworks than he’s ever done, there came a point where he was DONE…so his BIL got him some headphones.

Have I said lately how great my son-in-law is?

I did get knitting done during the day of doing nothing but sitting on a chair after watching the sun come up once again.  I think I better not have any more of those Starbucks doubleshots even in late afternoon! 

Anyway, this is not for me.  I was going to make it all one color until I decided to do it for a gift. 

Today the new bride, the imp and I decided to go to the beach.  I wanted to play tourist like a friend of mine did.  I forgot to take any pictures but we had fun.  The little imp hates shopping but I got him a little present so he was a little happier.  I could just choke sometimes, though.  He showed me the “claw” and I told him if he’d be good, we could get it.  Well, he suddenly turned and ran away.  I chased after him and asked him where he was going because the deal was to stick with us.  “My phone, Mom!” he answers.  He’d left it laying on the display.  ugh.

We had ice cream before we drove home and then made a quick trip down onto the beach.

I’m not sure if they were feeding these seagulls or what, but they were flying in place when we drove by

I was excited when I got home that the flowers on my new rosebush had finally started to open, there are LOTS of them to come

it is exactly what I hoped it would be!

And now we know it is summer because the ice cream truck was driving around our neighborhood today!  Amazingly, it was not that obnoxious music it has been in years past.

Back to watching the Mariner’s, we’re actually on the board in the 2nd inning!  Things seem to be turning around for us.  I’m watching the game until hubby gets home and fixes the computer for me.  I had to bring my work computer home (from my real job) because our home computer quit…and now this one must not be hooked up right.  I discovered today that I must have overwritten some files and I am missing a week’s worth of bookkeeping.  Tonight I get to do it all over before I get the data to our programmer.  bummer.

I hope you are having a great holiday today.  We’re just having a quiet day, hubby came down with a cold and the weather is gray, threatening to rain.  It’s actually a welcomed thing to me to have a nothing kind of day after the last few busy days.

We went carseat shopping but I forgot to post a picture.

In a few short months, that kickin’, dancin’ little sweet pea will be hanging out here!  After daddy-to-be got the seat installed in the car, he took it to work the next day to show it off.  Yep, he’s excited and so was everyone at the church to see it. 

We also had a fun lunch.

Wednesday was my birthday.  One little imp loves when my birthday comes because that means he is next.  He is more than eager for this day to be over so he becomes the next birthday person.

We were actually discussing that in this picture.  He’s been awake for about 2 minutes.  It was a great day.  The kids all came minus the newlywed groom, he had to work, but the rest of us had a great breakfast of dutchbabies and tons of fresh fruit. 

I went to work and was greeted with these…

I couldn’t get a good picture but you get the idea.  I love the green flowers.

I had nice visits from friends (and lunch from one…)

Here are a few things that made my day bright

I don’t know if you can read the frame but it says, “Children are born, traditions are passed, the love continues on”  Love it!  The soy candle has a sheep on the lid, which makes it a double gift because when the candle is gone, the jar will be very useful!

My sister gave me a grandma gift

When she became a grandma, I bought her a cup and saucer that says “When a child is born, so is a grandmother” and she wanted to get me one.  They don’t make the cup any more but I already had it.  She cried when she gave me the pillow because she remembered that cup and wanted to do something for me the same.  :) 

Even though I wasn’t a grandma when I got the cup, it’s been one of my favorites and now I will think of her gesture when I use it.  I have never used this one myself because it hasn’t applied, but I’ve let those qualified use it.

I have a lot of trouble drinking water so I got this.

It’s kind of a joke with my family and friends that I am always on the quest to find the perfect water bottle in hopes it will help.  I would have bought this one for sure!

Moving along, yesterday morning I got to go out of town with a friend to a yarn store that carries yarns we don’t have here.  We had so much fun.  I loved the good company as much as I did yarn shopping.

When we got back to town, I had a surprise waiting for me. 

A gift for sweet pea from Hasbu!  I called mama-to-be and asked her to come see me as soon as she could.

She was very blessed!

Everything about the package was fun.

And I am way more than excited about this:

A book of Finnish mitten patterns!!!!   I am Finnish and since I met Hasbu and her sister I have had so much fun getting to know them and asking them questions about the customs and ways in Finland. I joined the Ravelry KAL for this book and after baby is born, I plan to knit some!

This morning, we were invited to breakfast at the newlyweds’ home.

We had crepes and they were great!  Of course, the picky eater didn’t get the full enjoyement of it but he was happy.

He squirt the whipping cream himself.

Have a happy 4th!  I know my little imp and daddy are enjoying their treats!

1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?

Even though it may look like it, I am not copying my friend Shanda.  I have really wanted to try Rowan Denim or the Rowan cotton yarns.  I may venture out of town tomorrow to see if I can find some. 
2) What yarn do you never want to be without?

That is an easy answer.  Any kind of sock yarn.  I am happy if I can grab up a new skein and start a pair of socks, I can do that anywhere I happen to be!  It’s saved me many times either of boredom or once when we went to a concert and our seats were in the top of the stadium…if I wouldn’t have had sock yarn and needles, I’d have had to be carried out of there in a straight jacket.  (terrified of heights!)