projects projects projects...i love projects

So what do we have here?? Well the creamy getup on the needles is that there picture on the vogue magazine. Cropped sweater=not as bad as it sounds...don't ya think?? Although I am pretty sure I only have enough yarn to do the front piece and one sleeve...haha...so unless i am gonna be real crazy and try to wear a halfy cropped sweater...it looks like i better order some yarn. The little swatch below it I did yesterday. That is what the teapot cozy will (hopefully) look like...i am really happy with how the felting turned out. So I am going to take measurements, do some maths, and get to work on a quickie pattern for that. And last but not least is the finished baby singlet I knit for a friend of JFC's family. She is coming into the shop today to pick it up...I am crossing my fingers that she likes it...and that it fits (as i just made it up as i went along..heheheh).

As far as the sock pattern goes...well I just don't know. I guess that I could just post it in a blog and then put a permanent link to that post in my sidebar? Although I was all excited to have it all nice and easy in a downloadable pdf file..ah well. Suggestions still welcome. PLEASE.

Time for work!

Frustration Station

Well the sock pattern is all written up and ready to go....problem is, i have no idea how to attach a link to it on my blog...so yeah. anyone have any ideas on how to do this?? help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, My name is Andrea, and I'm an Addict

I have a sick and unhealthy addiction. Ever since I was young...for as long as I can remember...I've been addicted...to pens. Yes pens...and not just pens (but mainly), also pencils, markers, crayons...school supplies in general have always sent my heart a flutter. When I had an allowance...I would ride my bike down to Rite Aid and spend the whole lot on new pens and pencils. I just can't help myself. I've been known to carry upwards of 30 writing utensils at a time in my purse...you just never know what one you will have the urge to use. Now I never TRY to steal pens from others...if I am at lets say a restaurant, and the waiter gives me a marvelous pen to sign the slip with..well I may take their pen...but its a trade, cause I always leave them one of my less desirable pens in its place. But well...the sick truth is that sometimes, without realizing it...my subconscious takes over and steals pens without me knowing it! (not off of store shelves or anything...i'm talking used pens)...which brings me to this afternoon. All day at work I was using an absolutely fabulous purple pen. Wrote like a dream, ink flowing in smooth even lines. And in my head I thought to myself, man I like this pen...but I must leave it here...I am working for JFC's parents and there is no way I am going to swipe one of their counter pens (you know the old ones you give people to sign their credit card slips with). Besides I don't need anymore purple pens...I have at least 10 or 20 at home! So I set it down and just reminded myself that I will be able to use it whenever I work. And that was the end of it...didn 't think about it again. Until I got home and was flipping thru a magazine and found a sudoku puzzle to do. I reached my hand into my pocket and what did I pull out??!! THE PURPLE PEN! But i didn't mean to take it. And I have abosultely no recollection of taking it. I swear, its like I have no control. But I will return it on Monday...because I will not allow myself to sink so low into my addiction that I begin swiping the pens of JFC's parents. Oh man.

Anyways I have been deligently working away on writing up the sock pattern. And it was going so very smoothly..until I got to the heel. It is proving quite difficult to describe the craziness in which I accomplished the heel...its really very simple...and I want whoever else that does it to find it simple as well...but to do that I must find a way to write it clearly...and that is well, not so simple. I am thinking I will just draw up some diagrams. Because I think if I had pictures to go with my crazy mumbo-jumbo, it would make it much easier for the reader. Cross your fingers.

Well it is time for me to start dinner...and then I plan to knit knit knit tonight. I haven't been able to do any knitting due to the pattern writing. But hopefully with a little luck I will finishe the pattern and have it posted in the next few days.

Thats all. Thanks for listening.

JFC Skinny Socks

Well they are completely finished, after a marathon last night and some finishing up this morning before work. Here are pictures of the model trying them on...and after a full day of "man jobs", he has reported that they were up to the task of keeping his feet warm and comfortable. I am going to write up the pattern this weekend (well hopefully...knowing me I will get distracted with knitting something else..but i will try my darndest) and post it as a free pattern on the blog. so keep your eyes peeled :) i also plan to start a female version (which will be in a bigger size as my legs are not nearly as skinny as JFC...) and with hopefully a fun stitch pattern. In the meantime I also started a fun cropped sweater (its not as bad as it sounds..i hope) that I found in vogue...although i don't think i have enough yarn to finish...i will just do as much as i can and order more yarn from the states or something. I also bought yarn today to make a teapot cozy (which i had intended to make about a year a go, the whole reason i bought the snb books..heheh...i am very distractable). which i would take a picture of, but i thought all of the good ones i got of JFC and the socks were plenty for a days blog. I think that about sums up the updates...i am really looking forward to a michigan style saturday tomorrow as we will be watching the nba playoffs on tv and i even made my moms macaroni and cheese recipe...now if only my dad were here with his spaghetti sauce (sans meat) and some heinekens....and maybe my little sister so she can tell me all the players i don't know...

Well i will try to enhance the number of posts...things have been busy with the "job" and all, and i hate posting when i don't have anything finished...but I will try harder...and hopefully have something funny to write about as well. (sorry guys...this one wasn't my best)...although i did save the best for last:

First Day of Work

See that there in the middle?? That is probably the coolest puzzle in the world. It is round and has all of the important things about michigan, like state birds and great lakes (which of course = great times). I love it. The yarn below it was my treat after my first day of work. Yay! And it is wonderful, so soft, and the colors are excellent. although i have no idea what i will do with it....all in good time. on the right is JFC's rugby style knee sock with reinforced contrasting heel and toe. i finished it last night and much to my delight it fits his skinny little legs like a dream (sans pattern!!). so if any of you out there have a husband/brother/son/boyfriend with skinny little legs...let me know and I will write you the pattern. So first day of work...went very smoothly. Although I did find myself very nervous the night before and the next morning. I don't know why..I just get that way. I am a walking embarassing moment half the time, and this is working with JFC's parents...so that equals a dangerous mix. But it went well. They have a book/stationary shop, that also has the lotto. And let me tell you...that lotto machine is lots of fun. All kinds of bells & whistles, it even plays the tune to "you're in the money" when someone wins. Ok so I shouldn't glorify gambling, and I don't do it myself..but that machine...its big fun. And a guy even asked for my number, with a real slick line "Yeah i'll take the tape...and your number..." wink wink snap of the fingers. (i politely replied that "somebody already has my number, but thanks anyway") all in a days work. And then new yarn...fabulous.

Rainbow

Well here is the finished fad classic. Unfortunately, i have a slightly skewed body image and made the wrong size (it fits to loosely and ends up making me look like a lumpy bag of potatoes)...so now is the time to make a decision. It would fit someone with a better endowed bust size very well...so I could give it to a certain someone I know who I think it would look nice on...or I could frog it and knit a size smaller. But I need a break before i tackle that decision, so in the meantime i am knitting JFC some socks. There is a hitch with that as well though, you see JFC inherited his grandpas skinny-minny legs...so I am writing a pattern to fit such lanky limbs (in other words winging it as I go along with my fingers crossed, not even bothering to do a gauge...heheheh)...but so far so good. I have the guidance of Elizabeth Zimmermans "Knitting Without Tears" so I think all will be well.

In other news I am going to be doing a little bit of work at JFC's bookshop, I train tomorrow. Wish me luck...mmm...yarn money :) I also realized today that we get the Knitty Gritty on the Living Channel...yay!

Well today was rainy all day, but we were fortunate to have a break in the afternoon...I leave you with the beautiful rainbow we viewed from our balcony.

classic fads

hello hello...been a few days...a bit distracted with the cat and settling into our new routine. first things first...isn't that just an adorable little lemon (unripe) it is on the tree out front. ok on to good stuff...

exciting news...i drove for the first time by myself today in the town. i have been a bit nervous (opposite side of the car/road, different rules..ect.) but I am proud to say that it went very smoothly except when i left the bakery i got into the wrong side of the car (the side with no pedals or steering wheel...so that was a little embarassing...heheh)

after i got back we had some lunch and then i packed us up some tea in a thermos to go enjoy by the lake. on the way back i was struck with a memory from my childhood...encouraged by the title of my latest knitted item the "fad classic" (which by the way is finished and blocked and just drying on the table...as soon as it is dry i will try it on and take a picture)...so anyways...fashions. Now when you are young...you only have so much control over what you wear...I had this particular pair of pants ( I am pretty sure they were a hand-me-down from one of the older sisters). Now these pants...how can I put this...well they were navy blue, as required by school uniform. but they had a little extra "pizaz" built in. they were a version of what you might call "mc hammer pants". these cotton pants had 2 triangles (big ones) sewn on to each leg-side that you crossed over and buttoned on the other side. Now as if that isn't bad enough I have a distinct memory of very often unbuttoning said pants and holding the triangle corners out while signing "can't touch this". and i am pretty sure i tried to talk a few of my friends into buying a pair, because lets face it, they were really freaking cool. I also remember wearing my moms bra to class in 2nd grade and convincing all of my teachers that my name was renee (which is actually my middle name), and they didn't find out i was lying until they referred to me as renee during parent-teacher conferences.

anyways back to present day, i have started a pair of socks for JFC. But cross your fingers because I am pretty much just winging them. I also want to do a teapot cover and Orangina by glampyre and a sweater of my own design...we'll see what actually gets accomplished. as for a quick cat update, i think "she" is a "he", and seems to be responding to the name "puss" and is well a bit nuts. gets frantic anytime anyone goes near the kitchen and wakes me up every morning at 7 a.m. to be fed. attacked me when i was knitting (beware, if a cat stares at you when working with string..they are probably gearing up to pounce). Last but not least...we have been trying to spritz him with water whenever he jumps on the counter so he learns not to...we thought this was working very well until i woke up this morning and say little dirty paw prints ALL OVER the kitchen counters/sink/ect. Eh...he is one little disobedient fella. well time to get some knitting done (wow this was a long one)..oh WAIT hahaah one more thing...it seems i have a weird yawning problem. whenever i am walking or excercising i start yawning and I mean nonstop really gianormous yawns. what do you think that means??? maybe i don't take deep enough breaths? i once heard you yawn cause you are getting enough oxygen to the brain?? hmmmmm

The Culprit

3 a.m. woken out of deep sleep thinking that we are being robbed...shake awake JFC. Peer towards the window and see the silhouette of a small feline trying its darndest to break in thru the window. Try to fall back asleep and ignore it...she begins meowing.

4 a.m. JFC gets too hot, opens window a tiny crack...but not enough for any small animals to get thru.

7 a.m. after nonstop attempts the smitten kitten finally forces the window open wide enough to sidle her way thru. Jumps inside and straight on to our bed where she begins clawing at everything soft (including skin) and purring/meowing.

At this point I can no longer sleep so I get up and decide to just enjoy the company of the cat until we find out what the deal is. What can I say..its hard not to like a cute little cat. She is being good, although we notice she gets frantic whenever she is left alone...follows us everywhere.

10 a.m. sit down to knit, enjoying the cat purring next to me.

11 a.m. she tries to bite me...I am left feeling a bit shocked...and well, hurt. Talk about a stab in the back...we let you in, hang out, pet you, you knit with me...and then WHAM! you decide to try and bite me. I force her to sit farther away and she pouts and looks away from me

2 p.m. time to go visit JFC's grandma and parents (aka time for the cat to leave the house...we dont' let her stay when we aren't here). so even though it is raining we make her go out. she hadn't eaten or gone to the bathroom since 7 a.m. she goes and sits in the shelter.

5 p.m. we return to see her waiting by the door, we let her in and she gets warm by the fire. JFC leaves to go talk to the neighbors and find out information

Present time...she just puked on the kitchen floor after trying to eat some crumbs out from under the dishwasher. *sigh* I think this little smitten needs a home, and fast, we are going to talk to our landlord tomorrow and see if we can keep her if we can't find out who she belongs to...in the meantime, i have cat vomit to attend to.

Update: well the kitten is much happier, sitting with a full belly in front of the fire. we finally broke down and fed her. We just got too worried that she was abandoned, or had run away...and i think we made the right decision because she scarfed down her cat food like there was no tomorrow (even made weird little gremlin sounds while she did it)

Smitten Kitten

MMmmmm...pinecones. We collected a huge canvas bag of these for the fire...and let me tell you, they work like a charm. The fire is roaring away, and we are toasty warm. And the only downfall was that a little while a go I picked one up and a bug crawled out of it and on to me...and well, I am a bit skittish when it comes to itty bitty critters (oh sure I love the big ones that are fluorescent green....) but pretty much anything else makes my skin crawl...such as yesterday when I wandered into the toilet (a compact space mind you) and this insect starts jumping all around. So, naturally I scream and get out of there as quickly as possible, but calm down once I realize it was just a cricket...or so I thought. JFC came running in thinking I was injured and says "Oh, its just a jumping spider!". "just" my bum! As if spiders weren't bad enough I don't need them jumping at high speeds around me in tight quarters. Yeck.

Anyways...the kitten (who I am currently calling "smitten"...was sitting meowing outside of our bedroom window the second I opened the curtain this morning..pawing to get in. I don't think she went home all night. Tomorrow we will have to hunt for her owners and find someone to adopt her (JFC's parents maybe??)

As far as the knitting goes...well yeah...its been going very slowly. I made some headway last night, but it was a nother busy day so I have yet to do anything. I spent the whole morning ( I am talking a solid 3 hours) talking to every member of my family. And directly after that it was time to take care of the "to do" list...which included buying a TV (yes we finally succumbed to the mighty power of TV...we live in the boondocks...don't want to go crazy just listening to each other talk!) We are even going the full monty and getting digital cable. What can you do??

the Calm After the Storm

First things first I just want to wish my sister Meagann the happiest of birthdays...this little guy is for you! I named him Maevery (derived from meggy mae) but you can name him whatever you wish. I hope he brings you some happy rays on your special day!!

Secondly, for anyone who reads this and emails me as well I am sorry for being slack on the replies...it has been hectic hectic around here. We got all moved in, finished unpacking on Friday morning and immediately had a stream of guests after that. Ending with a couple we are friends with from Auckland staying for the weekend. It was a good weekend...we did lots of exploring of our new home. But now it is finally just me and JFC left here alone to well relax :)

Now I should also mention a surprise visitor we had as well. It seems a neighbors cat thinks this is her 2nd home. We found her sneaking in twice and when we finally just let her in she hung out all day til we kicked her out before bedtime. This morning she was meowing the second she noticed we were up at about 8 a.m. Now I like cats and all...but she won't leave now! She has been here all day. And she is quite the talker...doesn't shut up. Thing is we aren't allowed to have pets...and she obviously belongs to someone else. Even though we offer her no food, and barely that much attention she seems to liket his place better than her permanent home. Oy....who gets harassed by a cat?? And how do you pretend to not hear or see the cute little face meowing outside your window. She has even taken to pacing along our balcony railing where she knows we can see her.

Ah well...time to watch American Splendor.

Social Butterflies

Well it seems that since our move to Lake Okareka, me and JFC are quite the hosts...we have already had 7 guests today and 2 more are on the way from auckland to stay for the night. All though the really funny part is that I think we are much better at socializing with people between 30-50 years our seniors then those our own age...oy. Anyways it has been busy busy busy...but still good. I am just happy to be at our new home. we woke up with the sun this morning and went on a lovely walk in our new "neighborhood"...pictures are sure to follow. We have everything unpacked, including 2 beds in the lower level (hint hint my family and friends back home...lovely place to stay...really...come on...you know you want to...). I have to admit though i am really looking forward to having a normal day tomorrow. And that picture you see..well that is my response to the whole "way to distracted looking at knitting things to actually knit". Right after I posted that I sat myself down and knitknitknit away on my fad classic...which is coming along quite nicely. although my fingers are still twitching to get into something "andrea made". so i must get on top of that. I need more yarn though. I have realized that i just don't have much. the stash needs to grow...big time. donations welcome :) i guess it is time to get a job...so i can buy lots and lots of yarn and really make some progress! unfortunately i have no weird stories or witty jokes to tell...ooo wait...then again i hope he doesn't mind...but well this just made me pee my pants...

I was barely sitting down when I heard a voice from the other stall saying:
"Hi, how are you?"

I'm not the type to start a conversation in the restroom but I don't know what got into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed,
"Doin' just fine!"

And the other person says:
"So what are you up to?"

What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is to! o bizarre so I say:
"Uhhh, I'm like you, just traveling!"

At this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question.
"Can I come over?"

Ok, this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation. I tell them
"No........I'm a little busy right now!!!"

Then I hear the person say nervously...

"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot in the other stall who keeps answering all my questions .

thanks dad...you are the best...you never fail to make me laugh.

Pooped

Well I am whipped. 2 days of moving and I am ready for bed at 8 p.m. But we are here and it is more than I could've dreamed. Especially in comparison to our last place (which we were paying over $500 extra per month for)...I mean #1...this place is clean! so clean...and so easy to clean! Dishwasher, nice floors...no weird little cracks for crap to get stuck in. And the fire place...it heated the entire place within minutes...and the shower!!! we actually have water pressure (at the last place it was like bathing under a kitchen faucet, i had to spread my hair over my shoulders to try to distribute the water over my body). And the views...from our bedroom you can see the lakes, bush, and the mountain. I am just so excited. I wish that all of my family could come visit me tomorrow so they could see this. We finished most of the unpacking today, so tomorrow will be easy.

In knitting news...I feel very distracted. There are so many things that I want to make that I get overwhelmed. I mean if I spent half the amount of time knitting as I do researching...well me and JFC would have a wool wardrobe. I just get so caught up in looking at the books and the blogs...dreaming about what to knit and how to design it and then wondering how the heck I will ever start really designing my own stuff because there are just already so many amazing patterns out there...and ugh. At least I have figured out a way to knit and read at the same time...although I am pretty sure that slows me down, and you can forget about doing any lace patterns or anything, it pretty much has to be straight stockinette. Focus. that is what I need. I'll start tomorrow...after a good nights sleep in our new home :)

Sorry about the lack of pictures...things have been a bit hectic, but I should be back on track tomorrow. And thanks everyone for leaving me such nice comments and all of the good luck wishes for our move!!

Note to Self...

When moving, for go the "make you very drowsy" car sickness pills...as they pretty much render me useless. I took two thinking I was being responsible...don't want to get all woozy on the first trip down to the new house. Well now I am exhausted...struggling to keep my eyes open, which also = feelings of crankiness and overwhelmingness at how much we still have to pack even though we need to leave in about an hour. so what do i do?? I go get a coffee and sit on the front porch knitting and then come in to write a blog about it. Aren't I horrible?? Well JFC just gave me the "tsk tsk tsk...get your move on already" look so I guess I better get busy. I am not sure when exactly we will have the internet set up at thenew place...but stay tuned, it should only be a day or two...(by the way that picture there...its the close up of the fad classic...lovely)

Red..for now

Well today has been quite the day! It started off with me knitting a good 5 inches of the back of the Fad-Classic...quite happily as it is very fun to knit. So as I am knitting this lovely Knit & Tonic number it gets me thinking about a post of Wendy's from a while back...where she decides to make her own mannequin (for any mannequin or spelling enthusiasts out there i am sorry if I butchered that word...)...anyways she decides to make one by duct taping herself and then cutting it off..ect...you get the idea from the pictures involved in this post. So JFC is heading down to the hardware store to buy tools and I tag along to get the necessary equiment for my project...duct tape.



So we get back and I get to work...throw on an old T-shirt and just start taping myself up...which really isn't as easy as it sounds and soon enough I needed help. Anyways it went pretty smoothly and I was excited to start snapping some pictures. It was the snapping of these pictures that reminded me that the other day when I was using my camera my memory card was missing from it...so I take a few on the internal memory, put on the kettle for some tea and go to get my memory card. this is when the drama begins...I look everywhere (keep in mind we are packing to move...tomorrow) and it is nowhere to be found. Now I know I would've only taken out the card in my knitting room so I am tearing the place apart..becoming increasingly frantic. JFC hears my "franticness" (or cursing, whatever you want to call it) from his office and comes to help. But no card. Not anywhere. Now #1...these things aren't cheap...#2 I had a lot of pictures on that card. So my world is crumbling and I am getting more and more upset and more and more unconsolable. I give up...JFC gives up (he tried to make me feel better but nothing he could've done would've made me feel any better). A few tears were shed...and well to make a long story short...I was being very "dramatic." So giving up all hope I put in a movie and picked up the one thing that can get my mind off of my lost pictures...my knitting. And I am knit-knit-knitting away. About 3/4 of the way thru the film I notice something isn't right with my knitting...I take a closer look...and realize that everything I had done that day had been backwards...somewhere along the line I had done a row twice so that the "wrong" side was now on the "right" side. And I'm gutted...I slowly unraveled over the next 45 minutes all of the progress I had made today. A dark cloud was hanging over my head. I finished unraveling and got up to make dinner...which thankfully turned out wonderful. And then as I am sitting there finishing my glass of wine, JFC gets up to go get a box to pack up some of the kitchen stuff we are done with and comes back in the room smiling...and at this point a little ray of light shone thru my dark cloud...as out he held that little blue chip...my little lost to the world would never find again...memory card.

I am happy again. And below...is Red (or at least that is what I am calling her for now...suggestions are welcome)...this little lady will be the official tryer-onner of all of my knitwear, including that lovely little fad classic...no matter how many times i have to frog it and reknit it. Well I'm spent...time to sit back and drink my wine...life is still good.

Ok so I don't really have much to say...but this picture here...my mom would be proud. maybe not at first glance...but go ahead mom...look a little closer. there are a few things you should notice. first off...my hair. no dreadlocks, no hair dye, no crazy cuts...just my natural hair color. number 2...i match. yes me...andrea renee...i match. even my ring, earings and hair clip. and believe me...that was barely even an accident! and if you look very very closely, i am even wearing lipstick. ok well its lip gloss...but its tinted!! besides my new "matchingness" there really isn't much going on around here...we are getting ready to move so i am a bit distracted. but i have started the "fad-classic" from wendy at knit &tonic, and so far it has been a very fun knit. oh and i got my work visa...which is good because now i am allowed to stay here until residency goes thru..oh yeah, and get a job.........

As I was washing my hair...

...I happened to look at the bottle and it seems the brand of the conditioner is Palmolive. For some reason I didn't notice this when I made the purchase (I have to buy conditioner in bulk ever since the dreadlocks incidence a year a go...there will be no dime sized amounts for this girl...I have to condition twice using a handful each time)...anyways due to excessive use of conditioner we have to downgrade to the cheap stuff...but Palmolive? Last I checked this is what my mom uses to wash dishes. It even smells the same.

Anyways...see that beautiful hank of purpley goodness sitting in that there lime tree?? Well it is fabulous, let me tell you...So soft....and I love that it looks like single ply. This is what I plan to use for the Fad Classic, which I will begin promptly tomorrow morning. Alright well tonight me and JFC are going to get crazy and be social! I even bought a new shirt...so I better head off.

Learning more everyday

I hate packing. I think most people hate packing. Packing and moving. They just aren't enjoyable things to do. Why? Well because its work...and all the bad kinds of work...heavy lifting, fiddling, organizing...and I enjoy organizing...but not when I am being made to do it. Then it bugs me. But one of the things about packing is that I am just not any good at it. I am a very distractable person. I will be packing a box of DVD's, remember that I have one in the other room...leave to go get it, and next thing I know I am looking thru an old photo album, or even worse just staring blankly out the window trying to remember what exactly I went into that particular room for in the first place. And then there is the packing of the clothes...this always wraughts turmoil in my mind. First of all, this is a hard task to do quickly. Because as I am trying to pack I have to choose which lucky articles of clothing get left out for me to live in over the next few days during the move. I personally always end up leaving out way too much and then only wear one outfit for 3 days in a row. Now as I am trying to fold everything else neatly and pack them up I begin noticing things. One for example is the clothes I forgot I had. And then I think "hmm...maybe THIS is what I should leave out to wear, its so cute...why don't I ever wear this?" So my pile of "do not pack" clothes grows steadily larger, as the "pack me" pile grows smaller and smaller. Then there are the clothes I should probably get rid of. I don't know if it is because I am messy, clumsy, or just had a bad habit of wearing my "good" clothes to work at the restaurant, but it seems a huge portion of my clothing have permanent stains on them. Yet for some reason, I cant give these up. Why you might ask? well...because these clothes are my favorites. Obviously. Otherwise they would still be in perfect condition like all of those other clothes I forgot I owned. You see the lucky (or I should say not so lucky) favorites get worn to death. And I am not exaggerating here...ask my mother, I wear my clothes until they disintegrate. And even then they still sit in a drawer until somebody else sneaks it out of there and throws it away without my knowing. Now during my last 2 or 3 moves I have gotten rid of lots of clothes...and I mean lots. Garbage bags full. But I can't get rid of anymore...i really can't, because if I did...I would have none left. I am running out. Especially if I want to leave the house with a top that isn't stained (which I usually do anyways because they are my favorite and I can't afford new ones). Another thing I learned as I was "packing" my clothes is that it seems I have an obsession with collecting a few specific garments...wifebeaters, sports bras, and stretch/pajama pants. I seriously have over 25 wifebeaters, 10 sports bras, and 15 pairs of stretch pants. I don't know how this happened?? And why can't I be obsessed with something a little more useful...like a nice pair of jeans or a nice shirt without stains??

Anyways if you are still reading (that was a very long rant...I apologize) I will wrap things up. Those little guys in the picture ^ those are my latest toys. I have pretty much finished my obligations on the knitting front, but I am not sure what to start now...it has to be something easy that won't get in the way during the move...but that also will take long enough to keep me occupied for a week...as that is how long the move will take. Well kind of...I mean if you count starting from today even though we don't actually leave here until Tuesday...but we already started packign...so we are in the moving processs...so yeah. Oy. I think i better end this here before it turns ugly.

Oh the terror

Well today has been a little bit of a struggle...

I woke up at 7:15 a.m. to the pounding on our front door by a delivery man. He brought me a package saying that my application for a work permit in N.Z. has been accepted...so yay for that. Well now is that crucial decision...do I just stay up? Or do I go back to bed for an hour? Well, considering I have some time sensitive knitting to be done, I decided to just get up. So I make myself a cup of tea and sit down ready to get busy. But first...first I have to check my email. Now when I say email I don't really mean email...yes I check that too, but that is just one of many things on my daily list of "must checks". There is also myspace, my blog, flickr, and all of the zillion blogs I am addicted to, and not to mention anything that happens to sidetrack me during this process. So even though my original intention was to have a knitting marathon to get everything done...here I am at 9:15 in the evening....14 hours later, with only this to show for myself. Which is now lying (in a somewhat disturbing manner) in bits and pieces because as I was finally making some real headway, I am happen to look up from the blog I was reading at the same time to see none other....

then a FREAKING MOUSE! yes a mouse! a mouse in my house! (insert witty rhyme here). I have had enough of this house. Sure it was quite novel in the beginning...but unfortunately that is all it has turned out to be. I have had enough of the critters, and the gaping holes, and the slightly decaying walls...I am ready for it be a memory. Something that while I am sitting snuggly in front of the fireplace and spectacular view of my new, much more sturdy home I can look back on and smile fondly. But before any fond smiling will be done...we have to get out of here. It is time. The countdown has started...just 6 days to go...6. days.

P.S. I did finally change the settings on the comments...so now anyone can leave one even without an account. So leave me some love for Pete's Sake!

Tree House

I always wanted to live in a tree house...you know...like Tarzan. And I am pretty sure we have found the house that is going to get us as close to that dream as possible. This house... *sigh*....is really just amazing. I couldn't decide what sneak peek photo to use...so I gave you two. Don't worry I am sure more will follow after we move in, not to mention if you click on one of these in my flickr box on the sidebar it will take you to a few more. I am just so excited, I could spit. There are 3 baby lemon trees in the front, we are totally surrounded by the native bush, and from our balcony there is a view of the lakes and of the mountain. Not to mention we have a fireplace AND a dishwasher!!! Life is good...life is very good.
Anyways, on the knitting front things are also coming along smoothly. My sisters bday gift is finished and will go in the mail tomorrow. I still need to do one more present but I also finished one of the baby singlets. I also can't wait to start Orangina! from Glampyre.com and Fad-Classic from Knit & Tonic. Not to mention the ideas I have brewing in my own head..mmmm. Lets just hope I have a little bit of time to fit any of that in due to the move...as usual I will keep all who care posted with witty commentary (ok I know I have had a lot of off days lately with the "witty"...) and photographic treats for the eyes.

The Friendliest Place in the World

Well after attending a party last night...the consensus is in (I'm not really even sure what that word means...sounds good though)...Michigan, mainly East Lansing, really is the friendliest place in the world. I miss it. *sigh*.

Anyways...the picture is of the singlet I have been asked to knit. I couldn't find a pattern anywhere so I just made it up, and am crossing my fingers that it fits. It is for a 5 month old girl...problem is the last time I saw a 5 month old baby would be about 15 years a go so I am a little worried about the sizing. If any one happens to have a 5 mo old lying around and would like to give them a quick measure for me...that would be fabulous. Maybe you would know mom?? Do your remember how long we were?? I am thinking of maybe just putting buttons on the shoulders so they can adjust them?? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Well it is time to go pack up some boxes and then we are heading to Rotorua to look at houses...very exciting. I also finished the present for my sister...but just in case she happens to look at this here blog I will have to wait to post those pics...but I tell you what...if you don't mind me tooting my own horn...I am very excited with how it turned out.