First Post of February

Well, the first week of February is not yet over and here I am posting with a finished object to brag about! My cousins baby shower is at the end of the week and I finally finished the seamless baby kimono sweater. I used Zara Merino in white with a size 6 needle and I used a lot more yarn than the pattern called for. I made the 3-6 month size and it called for 200 yards and I used 340 yards. Thats not a small difference but a big one in my eyes. My gauge was fine so I am not sure what the problem was. I do think the sweater looks like it can fit a baby past 6 months but thats the amazing stretching power of knits! Its a good thing too because the more use a baby can get out of a handmade knit then the better it is. Who wants to put a baby in something they can only wear once or twice before they outgrow it? Not me. So enough talking here's my finished objects:

I am calling it the King of the Jungle Seamless Baby Kimono Sweater


To showcase my brand spankin' new sewing skills I made this little baby Panda pillow. Although, I don't know how much it looks like a panda because my daughter thought it looked like a raccoon. I am not to sure at the moment what it looks like but its cute none the less and I am sure a newborn baby won't care as long as its soft.


At the moment I have a few unfinished objects on my needles and I should be finishing them BUT I have to make another baby gift for my son's teacher who is having a baby girl in March. She is such a lovely woman who has had her share of heartache in 2008. She lost both her newborn baby girl and her husband within 8 months. She has a baby boy who will be 3 soon and soon a newborn to take care of. She is going to need all the help she can get. A local radio station granted a Christmas wish by paying off the two funerals she was struggling to pay. She is having a little girl so I am going to raid my stash to see what pretty yarn I am going to use to make her little one a sweater Until next time my pretty (insert cackling laugh here) LOL

The 4th One of the Month

One of my many goals this year is to try to post at least 4 times a month to this blog (or more). Its hard to do that when you don't have anything to talk about that you think is worthy of sharing. Well, lets see, I think I have a couple of things to talk about.

Yesterday, I had an interview for a home care IV infusion therapy per diem nurse position. I was a little nervous about the interview since I haven't been on one since 1997. The office I was headed to was an hour away from here so my husband offered to drive me. He brought along his resume to drop off in the hopes he would be able to get something one day a week or so because they are cutting all his OT at work. When we arrived he gave his resume to the woman doing my interview and she asked us if we wouldn't mind being interviewed together? Wow, I never had an interview with another person before let alone my husband! I thought it was funny and it took a little of the nervousness away making the situation more casual for all of us. To make a long story short, at the end of the interview she told us both that she would love to have us join the team! We were both so excited about not one but 2 part time jobs! We wont be starting until after we return from our vacation at the end of February but that's right around the corner from now. There are lots of paperwork and orientation that comes with a new job but I don't mind.

After leaving the office we went to my favorite local yarn store, Knitting Central.
How else does a yarn addict/knitter celebrate? By buying yarn, thats how! It was either yarn or makeup and my husband wants another Half-Pipe Hat. It certainly was an easy knit and I need some mindless knitting for the long drive to Florida.

In other news my cousin's baby shower is next week so I need to be done with the Baby Kimono I've been working on forever. Its a seamless one and it's a lot of fun to do since there are no seams to close at the end. I am presently working on the sleeves and had to buy another skein of Zara Merino in white because I only had 2. The pattern called for the yardage of 2 skeins but I soon realized the sweater would have either short or 3/4 sleeves if I didn't purchase more yarn.

The first shipment of the BlueMoon Fiber Arts Notorious Sock Knitters (Rockin' Socks Club) for 2009 arrived on my doorstep the other day. It was missing a few items thanks to the 3-4 inch gash in the tyvek envelope. I e-mailed them and they are sending replacements to me ASAP which was very nice of them. The yarn and the pattern is GORGEOUS and I didn't get a pic of it (sorry). Its a Sivia Harding design that incorporated beads into the knitting. I have never done any beaded knitting but I have always done the first pattern from the club so why stop now. It has always introduced something new to my knitting whether it be toe up socks or short row heels and I have always completed it well. I plan on starting them as soon as I finish with the other socks (they are almost done). Beaded knitting is certainly not good for vacation knitting and driving in a car for long periods of time. Could you imagine if I dropped the beads? Oh no, not a good thing.

My Namaste Zuma Bag in the limited edition colorway eggplant finally came in the mail and I am in love with it! Its a lot smaller than my other Namaste Cali collection bag (cant remember the exact name). but it holds a lot of stuff none the less.

My daughter celebrated her 9th birthday this month! I cant believe she was born 9 years ago. Where does all the time go?

That's all the exciting news for January!

The Best of Friends

If this story doesn't bring a tear to your eye then I don't know what will.

The First Finished Object of 2009

This hat is Half-Pipe from Deb Stollers Stitch n Bitch book with all the men's patterns. After knitting it you insert a plastic mesh piece thats cut in the shape of a crescent and it becomes the brim of the hat. Its very easy to do and I actually stitched it in place while my husband had it on his head as to not make a mistake or have the brim fold the wrong way. He LOVES it! I used Tahki Tweedy Alpaca (1.5 skeins) and I fell in love with it. Its so soft and fluffy and feels so good to knit with it makes me want to go out and buy enough to make a sweater with. BUT it is a little pricey for me to make a sweater. There are only 81 yards in each skein so you would need a lot and at almost $9/each it would be more than $100 to make a sweater. Right now I am trying to use the yarns I have in my stash and save money for bills and our upcoming vacation next month.





I am in the process of finishing a seamless baby kimono that I was making for my friends brother's new baby girl. I realized however that its way to small to fit her since she's turning 3 months at the end of January. The pattern says its 3-6 month size but I dont think she is going to get much use out of it. I've decided to make something for a 12 month old and send it to her so she can have something to wear in the Fall when it gets cooler and she will be able to wear it and have it actually fit her.
There are also the Rockin' Sock Club Socks that I havent finished from the summer. The 2009 club starts sending out the first package the 3rd week of January so my goal is to finish them so I can start the 2009 clubs socks. I always get the first 3-4 pair knitted and then things get crazy around the holidays and I slack off. It happened last year also. It didnt help that last year I was in 3 sock clubs either. This year its just 2 clubs: The Rockin' Sock Club and Woolgirl's Sock Club. They both are awesome but I am really looking forward to Woolgirls this year. She is promising its going to be awesome!

My daughters 9th birthday is this weekend and we are going to see a movie of her choice. She wants to see HOTEL FOR DOGS. Everyone else wants to see BEDTIME STORIES. Hopefully HOTEL FOR DOGS wont be too bad.

Since its a new year I usually post goals for the year and now is as good a time as any. Here are some of my goals for 2009:

1) Reach my goal weight this year! I am slowly working my way there and have lost 27 lbs so far. I have about 20-25 lbs to go to reach where I want to be.

2) Exercise more whether I join a gym or do it on my own.

3) Become a faster knitter while still being a quality knitter. I know I knit slow and I do get distracted easily so I have to finish what I start. Either finish it or frog it. I joined a group on Ravelry dedicated to this purpose.

4) Get a part time or per diem job to bring some income into the home. Times are tough for everyone and I am trying to get a job as a RN in my town so I wouldnt have to drive far and I can work around my husband's and kid's schedules.

5) Take a romantic vacation alone with my husband after the family vacation.

6) Sell more jewelry on my Etsy shop.

7) Walk with my Mom in the 2009 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This will be my first year doing it and my mothers 3rd. I have been unable in the past due to my leg issues but I am getting into shape and it should be OK by October.

I am sure there are some I forgot but I'll add them later.
Hope everyone has a great long weekend and stay warm!

A New Year

WOW, its been a while since I posted but I do have some good excuses as to why I havent been here. There was the holidays and every one in my family excluding me was sick on a holiday. My son, as you know from a previous post was sick on Thanksgiving and in the hospital. My husband then was very sick before Christmas and I actually started an IV on him at home because the weather was so bad we couldnt get to the hospital. See there is a benefit from having two RN's in the house! After he had a chance to recover on Christmas Eve night my son starts to puke again and my husband has a relapse so we stayed home on Christmas Day. That was fine with me because my sister pulled some stupid stunt on Christmas Eve and I really didnt want her to ruin my Christmas. I cant just leave it at that now can I? OK, I will tell you what happened but I will make it fast because I have a lot to cover here. Here goes...

On Christmas Eve my family opens presents and those presents are all put under the tree. When it comes time to open them we all grab the ones with our names on it and bring them to the sunroom and open them up. My son grabbed the ones with his name on them and of course he was able to feel that one of them was a train. He is totally and completely obsessed with Thomas since he was 2 and thats OK with me. It can be much worse in my opinion. We dont own a Wii yet or an XBox so yes, it can be worse. Anyway my sister gets mad not once, not twice, not three times (you get the point) but at least 4 times and said to my son, "You're not opening THAT present tonight and if you dont put it down I am going to give it to another little boy who deserves it more than you." She then said to me, "I am going to teach your son a lesson and not give him that present because he isnt behaving." Now, if she said this once I would not be mad. Its Christmas and the kid can feel the toy is a train so whats the difference if you give it to him tonight or tomorrow? There is no difference and you shouldnt have put it under the tree if you didnt want to give it to him until tomorrow. She said these things with such malice and hatred that I truly felt bad for my son and he didnt deserve that said to him from his aunt who never calls him (on his birthday and when he was in the hospital on Thanksgiving) spends time with him or comes to visit him. She was treating both my kids like shit and it really made me mad. Who the hell is she to say that he didnt deserve his gift? Does she think that she deserves hers? NO she certainly does not. If you have a beef with me and want to treat me like crap thats fine. I am a big girl and I can deal with it but mess with my children and your going to pay the piper bitch. At this point my son was crying and howling like he was in pain. I couldnt calm him down and he was just getting more and more hysterical by the minute. I will be the first to say that I am a strict disciplinarian and I dont let my kids get away their way when they act out BUT my son has issues and there are certain ways to deal with him and this spiteful way wasnt one of them. She wouldnt know how he is or how to deal with him because she is never with him. She never even inquires about him or my daughter. Hell, she doesnt give a shit about anyone and its quite obvious. So now he's hysterical and I am mad as hell. I said just to give it to him and let it be the end of it. She she starts screaming at me in front of my family and I am standing there not saying a word. I was trying to say, "Why are you yelling? Give me a minute to spit out what I was going to say" I confronted her about what she said and she lied and said she never said that. I told her that my husband heard her and that she said it to my face. Finally, she walked away in a huff saying that she did say it BEFORE. OH, you DID say it then but since you said it before it doesnt count? Where is the logic in this? My Mom said to her, "but you did say it." Apparently that made her furious and she stomped up the stairs calling me a F*cking c*nt. My husband and daughter were standing there and later my daughter asked me what that word meant. This is how I found out she called me names. Throughout our whole discussion I never once lowered myself and called her anything. It wasnt about that it was about how she treated my son like shit. I wasnt going to make this long but I did and I apologize. It was the only way to explain it. So thats why I am very upset AGAIN with her. Nothing new. I was so happy she did this in front of the whole family because you should have seen their faces. CLASSIC. She looked like the ass that she is.

Whew, I am glad thats over...

Now, on New Years Day my daughter started to vomit. We were supposed to go to my cousins but couldnt. I was a little upset but what are you going to do? You cant control when someone is going to get sick. I for one know this VERY well! LOL
I did take some pics over the break.

Our Christmas Tree


A Deer in our yard


This is a sign I put on a beam in my kitchen to always remind me of the train ride called life


Christmas morning


In front of the RC Christmas Tree


RC Christmas Tree


Swarovski Crystal Tree in Radio City Music Hall


My almost 14 year old doxie, the best in the world


I havent been able to do much knitting so there are no finished projects to post. I have to get back into my knitting groove. I am almost done with that baby sweater I am making for my friends brothers daughter. I had to frog the first one because I made a HUGE mistake in it. As soon as I am finished I will post it here. Its going to be cute and I hope it fits too. The baby was born in October and I am making the 3-6 month size so thats why I am rushing to get it done!

Back to knitting!

Crash and Burn

"Crash And Burn" by Savage Garden

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

'Cause there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breath again

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

Out of the Frog Pond a Finished Object Arises (and a mini-rant)

I can't tell you how many times I started this scarf and then frogged it. This happened at least 5 times, at LEAST. It's not that I didn't like the yarn or the pattern but my interest in it waned. The yarn is Misti Baby Alpaca Grande Bulky in a pink and grey colorway. I had only one skein of this color so the Ribs and Ruffles pattern that Misti puts out specifically for the yarn was perfect. The scarf is not very long measuring in at 46" or so but perfect the wrap around my neck and keep it cozy warm. Baby Alpaca is as soft as cashmere and some say its even softer. I absolutely love alpaca and especially when its mixed with other fibers like merino wool and silk.





Notice my little wooly friend sneaking his little head there in the first picture? I think he is jealous because it's alpaca yarn and not wool that I used. Silly sheep! That Folkmanis Sheep Puppet came from the first NY Sheep and Wool Festival my family & I attended in October of 2006. My son wanted the big sheep puppet and my daughter got a lamb puppet. They play with them and pretend and have puppet shows all the time along with the other hundred stuffed animals in their rooms! LOL Ever since I was a little girl I have collected stuffed animals and love to play with them with my kids. I own a few Build a Bear stuffed animals that reside on my bed. I knit & crochet clothes for them all the time. The Build A Bear animals we have are: The Black Lab (the first one that came out, not the new one thats out now), The Beagle, Boxer, Border Collie, Pink Poodle, 2 Cheetahs, 2 Brown Bears, Rudolph & Clarice, The Groundhog, The Orange Cat, & the Pink Breast Cancer Bear. I think that's it but I could be missing some. The minute Build A Bear makes a dachshund I will be the first in line to buy one or two!

An update on my son: He was admitted on Wednesday to the hospital for severe dehydration due non-stop vomiting from a bad gastroenteritis infection (both viral and bacterial). The doctors said it was most likely one of the Norwalk Viruses that are highly contagious and hit you really fast. They usually last anywhere from 12-24 hours but the bad thing about them is that you do not feel better after you vomit like your typical stomach bug, but worse, and you continue to puke which is a vicious cycle. He is feeling much better and my Mom brought up Thanksgiving leftovers yesterday so we all had our fill of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.

The next few weeks leading up to Christmas and New Years are going to be crazy busy for me. I am hoping to blog as much as I can because there is going to be a lot to talk about. We are going to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in a couple of weeks. The kids have been begging us to go every time the commercials come on TV. They are at perfect ages to appreciate it now. I was in the 2nd grade when my school took us to see the show for a class trip. I went to Catholic School most of my life and that must have been a pricey trip even back then. If you want to see the show on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday the prices go through the roof but drop considerably if the show is on a weekday. Hey, its the same show whenever you go see it so it doesnt matter to me. Plus, I would much rather avoid the city and Rockefeller Center on a weekend! Talk about crowds in NYC, they are CRAZY during the holidays and especially after the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit! Speaking of the HUGE tree, we are going to see it after the show. My kids have only seen it when they have the special where they light it live on TV. That show used to be 30 minutes when I was little because back then it wasn't so commercialized with all these Hollywood movie stars, singers, reality show jerks and everyone who has already earned their 15 minutes of fame. Anyway, (sorry for that tangent), I cant wait to see their faces when they get a glimpse of this HUGE tree!

Christmas shopping this year should not be to difficult. I am planning on making gifts for my Mom, Dad (maybe, not sure yet) my Aunt, teachers at my kids school, the mailman, sanitation workers, and whomever else I am forgetting. People love handmade gifts because they mean so much when they come from the heart.

Here comes a rant which I have to get off my chest/
My sister is not getting a gift because she refuses to acknowledge the existence of my children, her godchildren. Now, whatever her beef with me is thats fine and dandy but by ignoring my children she has gone to far and her behavior is more than unacceptable, it atrocious and despicable. She never called my son on his birthday which was in October and never gave him his gift after she asked him what he wanted. He then obsessed over it and talked about it every day. With all the ways people can communicate these days (cell, regular phone, answering machines, voice mail, snail mail, e-mail, etc) there is no excuse for her not to contact my son. He is a little boy and its just not right to do that to him. Should I expect anything but this type of behavior from a person who actually said to me after my son was born on the same day that she was born, "Did you HAVE to have him on MY birthday??" She said this with an attitude and not only said it to me but to my parents and my Aunt who couldn't believe someone would actually say that. Number one, most people are honored when a child that they are related to is born on the same day they were. Its an honor to share your birthday with a child, in my opinion and most other NORMAL human beings opinions. My cousin is due with her first child in April and I would be honored if she had that little boy on the same day I was born. Notice I didn't call it MY birth DAY? Because (number two) millions of people share that birthday and not just my sister so get a life idiot. You are not the only person in the world who has that birthday. By the way, jerk for brains, I had no choice when my baby was coming out of my body just like most other women who have babies and give birth! My due date was originally 10/31 then it changed to the 20th. My doctor was going away on the 17th for 2 weeks and didn't want me to wait and go past my due date. By this point the baby was big enough, plus she wanted to deliver me and not have another doctor in the group do it. Sorry to make this a long story but I have held in my anger for quite some time and I have had it. The straw that broke the camels back (and believe me there was many of them but this was the last and final one) was when my son was in the hospital for Thanksgiving. My Dad and my great Aunt went to visit him at the hospital. He asked my Dad, "When is Aunt____ going to give me my birthday present?" My Dad didn't have an answer for him but he told my sister when he got home that my son was asking for his birthday present. She didn't say anything to him but according to my Mom she has it and she is waiting to see him. The same thing happened last year and she didn't give him his birthday present until January!! That is totally uncalled for and not right at all. I could care less if I ever get a gift from her but I can say with 100% of certainty that she will never get another gift from me EVER again. Once you mess with my family and ignore the existence of my children you are nothing but the scum of the earth in my book. God forbid she pick up the phone and call my son at the hospital! No, she rather leave the family, just like she left my dying Nana when she was on hospice to go and be with her boyfriend and his dad, who was ill at the time but not on his deathbed like my Nana. Totally disrespectful and an immature little prick who is such a narcissist that I will never understand her and why she treats people like shit. Well, I have news for her. When I go to my parents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, she will be there. I told my Mom that if she says one thing out of order I will not hesitate to embarrass her in front of people and make her feel 2 inches tall. My kids right now are very forgiving and whenever they see her they always are excited and happy and want to spend time with her. She, on the other hand, cant wait to get out of the house and away from them as quickly as possible. Friends of mine that have nieces and nephews usually dont mind spending time with them or even offering to watch them a few hours while the parents go out to dinner and a movie. This is something that has never happened to me and never will. She wants nothing to do with me, my kids or anyone in the family and its not right at all because we (the family) have been nothing but good to her all her life. If anything she is a spoiled brat and needs to grow up. Let's see where her friends will be when she really needs them because I can almost guarantee they wont be anywhere to be found. /end of rant-thanks for listening The holidays are usually difficult because I am forced to remember how much she hates me and it hurts. It really hurts. :(

Happy stuff: I am working on an baby sweater for my friends brother who just had a baby girl last month. Lots of babies coming so there will be lots of baby knits and crocheted stuff to show off (keep your fingers crossed, LOL). I am finishing a silk scarf/wrap which I was supposed to be done with Thanksgiving but obviously not, also a crocheted shawl which I am embellishing but not in a rush to finish. A tank top I never finished last summer for when we go to Florida, lots of socks that are always in the works and a sweater which I keep trying to start but havent yet. Hopefully I will have pics in the near future of some of these FO's.

Quote of the Day (I just felt like adding this): Stand for something or you will fall for anything.

Beam me up Scotty.

The Most Important Thing in this World

Last night I was up most of the night with my son who was vomiting his guts up. The minute he finished vomiting he would feel a little better, fall asleep for a half hour or an hour then wake up and vomit again. This started at one in the morning and my husband and I didn't get much sleep. I felt so bad for my son because he couldn't stop even with the anti-nausea medications I was giving him.

He last vomited this morning at around 6 am and of course stayed home from school. We were giving him little sips of Coke and Gatorade to keep him hydrated and he was actually able to hold down some Tylenol to get his temp down. Then at 1pm he vomited everything up that he had taken in from this morning. He was so lethargic he couldn't even move off the couch if he wanted to and if anyone knows my son he is extremely active and NEVER sits still unless something is really wrong.

After he puked at 1pm I put a call into the doctors office which was closed for the holiday weekend. I had the Dr. paged and she called me back within a half an hour. I told her what was happening and she told me to bring him in to the office right away. My husband took him and called me just a little while ago with an update. They are going to admit him to the hospital due to extreme dehydration. They did a finger stick to see what his hemoglobin (O2 in the blood) & hematocrit (the ratio of the volume of red blood cells in the blood) was. Normal hematocit for his age is anywhere from 35% to 45% and his measured in at 65% which means he is very dehydrated and needs fluids immediately. As soon as they admit him they will start and IV to get him hydrated and will continue to monitor and hydrate him throughout the night. In the morning they will see if he is able to hold down any liquids and then go from there.

We were supposed to go to my Mom's for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow but it looks like thats not going to happen. I am more upset that my son is in the hospital then not being able to attend Thanksgiving dinner. I have always said that the most important thing in this world is your health. No matter how much money you have, how many cars, TV's, computers, phones, gadgets, toys, whatever, THEY DONT MATTER. I am thankful that my son is getting the medical treatment he needs right now, I am thankfull that I am alive and able to be a wife and mother to my family and I am thankful that God has shown me the things that really matter in this life and how everything else is not really as important as I thought it was.

Its a shame that there are people who don't know what these important things are and are always bitching, complaining or unhappy at something that's wrong in their life. There are always going to be others in this world that have it much worse than you, that are suffering more than you, that are in more pain that you are. We all need to remember these things and be thankful for all that we have and no matter how difficult we think it is, it could be a lot worse.

Have a Healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Better Late Than Never

I know posts in these parts have been scarce but I haven't really had to much to talk about and have been busy with the everyday goings on of life. Well, I do have stuff to talk about but don't want to share them at the moment for fear of furthering my acid reflux into a full blown bleeding ulcer. So, lets move on to something that makes every knitter happy, a FINISHED PROJECT!! Can I hear a Woohooo!!! This should have been completed by the end of the October but better late than never! It is my Breast Cancer Awareness Beret made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Heavyweight that I bought at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck). The color is absolutely fabulous and is called Hot Flash. Its an assortment of pinks that range from pale to BRIGHT hot pink. Pink is my favorite color so I love it and its something I will definitely wear and actually wore it today to take the kids to school. So without further ado:






That's my daughter modeling for me. I have a small noggin so it fits us similarly and its kind of hard to get a picture of it on my head!

On another subject I reached a goal with my weight loss! A few weeks ago I received my 10% weight loss goal award and I am so happy! Back when I joined WW in July I couldn't even think of reaching this goal. I set my goals small and slowly but surely I reached them one by one and there it was! Another great side effect of the weight loss was dropping my cholesterol and triglycerides to a normal level. High cholesterol runs in my family on both sides so I have to be very careful. My triglycerides were at dangerously high levels. Levels high enough to double a persons risk of stroke. My risk is even higher then a normal persons because I am a woman, I suffer from migraines and I have had cancer. When I started WW in July I was a size 14 and now I am wearing a size 10!! Can I get a Whoohoo!!! The size 10 is actually loose on me so thats even better! Thanksgiving is around the corner and I told my Mom I am making a healthy dessert. The dessert is called Black Bean Brownies and I got it out of one of my WW meetings. All you have to do is mix one package of brownie mix with a can of black beans that have been pureed in a blender. Follow the directions on the box of brownies and watch them. They will take a bit longer to cook but they are fabulous! I fooled my family and even my Dad. Lets see if I can fool them all on Thanksgiving!

One last super exciting thing I have to mention is that we booked a vacation to DisneyWorld!!! Our family has not been on a vacation since 2004 when we last went to DisneyWorld. My daughter was 4 and my son was only 18 months so its going to be a whole new and exciting experience for both of them. When I was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer 2 years ago my Mom had said that when I was all better she wanted to take the whole family on vacation. At that moment I couldn't even think of what it would be like to go away on a vacation because I wasn't sure what the future was going to bring. I told her when I was ready to go I would let her know. Well, we desperately need a vacation. Especially after all we have been through. Not only me but my husband and our 2 kids deserve to go away and have fun. Our Christmas present from my parents is the trip to Disney. We couldn't be happier or more thankful. We're going to DisneyWorld!!

Check out my updated Etsy Shop

Just "Froggin'" Around on a Friday Night

FINALLY!! I finished these socks! These were the sock kit from WOOLGIRL for the month of June. I didnt use the pattern that came with the kit and decided to stick to an easy K3, P1 pattern with a twisted rib cuff. The yarn is Dancing Dachs Sport Weight in Tree Froggin' colorway.





One pic is in natural light and the other is with a flash. This is a very loud, bright colorway and I received a lot of compliments on it when I was working on it at the past two Weight Watcher meetings. I found it funny because a couple of people who attend are actually knitters and they had said they never had seen a yarn with such beautiful, bright colors in it. I cant imagine my life without handpainted yarn in it!

Flora in Fall

OK, OK, I know I am being a very bad blogger but there are so many things going on right now, you have to cut me some slack. I do have a finished object to show off! I made this for my Mom's birthday last month and I just finished it a few days ago. The pattern is from FLORA from Knitty.com I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran held together with Rowan Kidsilk Night. The flower is Cashmerino Aran with a strand of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie Socks that Rock in Tidepool. I want to make myself one of these in the future.






I also received my October Sock Kit from Woolgirl



How fabulous is that kit! I dont think any other sock club can top Jen at Woolgirl.com
Go over there and check out all the gorgeous indie dyers she carries.

I forgot to mention that my Mom completed the AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER the first week of October. I didnt get many pics worthy of posting but I brought my daughter down with me and my Dad to pick up my Mom. She raised a lot of money for a good cause. Next year I will walk the 40 miles with my Mom for the first time.

Weight Watchers is going great and I am down a total of 23 pounds!! (14.6 lbs on Weight Watchers and 8.4 lbs on my own before joining WW) I am only 1.4 lbs away from reaching my 10% weight loss goal. I am hoping that next week I will be there!

My sewing skills have been limited to practicing hemming my daughters pants. I bought some fabric to make her American Girl doll pajamas. I am hoping I can do that without getting frustrated to much! LOL

This past weekend we all went to Rhinebeck to attend the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival. The kids were so well behaved I was pleasantly surprised. My daughter, who completed her first scarflet for my Mom, (with a little help by me) was extremely excited to pick out some yarn of her very own. She certainly has great taste because she picked out Araucania Aysen which is 70% merino wool, 20% alpaca and 10% silk. Its perfect for her because it calls for a size 9 US needle and its 191 yards, enough for a scarf. Maybe she will make me one next? I also picked up the book by Melanie Falick on Kids Knitting to help her out a bit but I think I am going to get her a lesson at Knitting Central for her birthday. Even though I can teach her I think it would be better for her to have a formal lesson or two. The only thing I worry about is if there is enough room in this house for 2 yarn stashes??? Oh NO!

My Etsy shop has been picking up business! Yay! The holidays are right around the corner and I have lots of stuff to add to the store. Right now I have 61 items for sale so go on over and take a peek, you might find something you like!

Ten Years

Its been a while since I posted to my blog with good reason. There have been family issues that have taken up lots of time and causing lots of stress. I haven't been sleeping well and its causing more grey hair to grow on my head! Knitting and crocheting time has almost been nonexistent but I am working on changing that. In order for me to de-stress I need to make time to do some fiber related therapy.

Now we are into the month of October and I am late with my anniversary entry. My husband and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on September 26th 2008. We also had a wedding to go to the following day which gave us reason to have this picture taken looking so nice. Notice my husband is wearing a tux! LOL I am not sure when thats going to happen again so thats why I made sure to take these pictures.





My husband got me a beautiful Pandora bracelet with charms representing our 2 kids, our anniversary, breast cancer awareness, and a tiny cross. I absolutely love these charms! They are so cute and I cant wait to add more to my bracelet. I bought my husband a watch because thats what he wanted. He's very happy with it and I told him not to be afraid to wear it.

I also got a sewing machine! Its the Audrey by Baby Lock. So far I hemmed a few pairs of jeans for my daughter, made a Thomas the Tank Engine pillowcase for my son and a storage bag for my knitting. I am in the learning phase right now so give it some time before a finished object is photographed on this blog. I figured it would bore you to death to see some hemmed pants here! LOL. My husband is having more fun than I am planning what I am going to make next! There are so many things to make and not enough time in the day.

Hopefully this entry will get me back on the blogging track!

CurlyBrunette's Creations is OPEN for business!

For the past few weeks I have been hard at work doing my research to open up an Etsy store of my own. I wanted a place where everyone can go to buy my jewelry and creations. Not everyone has the time to have a party due to work, kids, school and just hectic schedules of life. I am so excited over this and I am hoping lots of people come and browse and even buy some of my wares. The web address can be reached by clicking on the CurlyBrunette's Creations Etsy button below my picture on the sidebar or you can just click here: CurlyBrunette's Creations
Please be patient with me as I add more items daily. I am hoping to get as many different designs out there for the holiday shoppers because they are coming! Right now there are necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and sets up but I am planning on adding more categories that involve other crafts. I don't want to say what they are going to be just yet because I am still planning. Keep your eyes open for some really neat stuff! So, head on over to Etsy, they have lots of beautiful handmade stuff that you can browse for hours. Have fun and thanks for looking!

I also took the "Buy Handmade Pledge" which is the link below my Etsy button on the right. I would love if you all would take that pledge along with me. Handmade has heart unlike all the mass produced crap that comes from countries I wont mention, but you get the picture. Go ahead and take the pledge!

(U)FO's and Aliens Sighted on the First Day of School

Here is the UFO (unfinished object) that really is a Finished Object:





I have had those two skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca's Bulky Hand Dyes for 2 years and finally have made something with them! I bought them when I first started knitting and I thought I could make something with 45 yards of bulky yarn. Well, I did try to make a baby hat but it was way to uncomfortable for me to use size 17 DPN's (this is before I learned how to use the magic loop). Then I tried to make a neckwrap with it in stockingette and the edges curled it up into a tube so that was a no go. So there it sat in my stash waiting for the perfect project. Its definitely a very colorful and artsy scarf but I like it a lot. The big pink ribbon in it is just for decoration.

First day of school for my kids was on Thursday so my husband and I brought them in with their HUGE boxes of supplies. I went with our son and my husband went with our daughter. Her classroom is all the way on the opposite end of the school so we had to split it up. Later on we caught up with a few friends for a cup of coffee in the school cafeteria where it was so noisy you couldn't hear yourself think. It was crazy and this week is Open House. I have never been to Open House at my kids school but this year I think I should go to meet both their teachers. I met my sons teacher on the first day but I haven't met my daughters yet. Here they are on the first day of school and don't let those smiles fool you:



I bought this awesome dessert cookbook last week at Barnes and Noble called HELLO, CUPCAKE. The kids were dying to have me make some of the really cool ones in there and let me just say there are some really artistic and funny cupcakes in this book. I highly recommend it. What I like is that the materials you need to decorate are in your grocery store and they are simple to get a hold of. My daughter picked out the ALIEN cupcakes so thats what I made. The only thing I didn't have were the chocolate dipped sunflower seeds for the eyes so I used chocolate chips instead. I also omitted the antennae made from red string licorice. They kind of look like green ghosts without them but hey, thats OK. No one has ever really seen an alien, right? Well, we will just leave it at that. Here are the aliens:





"Beam me up Scotty"

A Trip to the Bronx

After two months of working on this baby polo for a co-worker of my husband, I finally finished it!! The pattern was from Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino 3 and easy to follow. I think if I make this again I would probably try to do it in the round. I absolutely HATE seaming. I do however love the finished product and I hope the mom does also. I had different buttons planned but these caught my eye at JoAnn's and they looked great with the color which is a slate blue.







We took the kids to the Bronx Zoo with my Dad at the beginning of the week. We all had a great time except for my legs and feet which hurt like hell from all the walking. Here we are in the Children's Zoo (where I used to work many years ago) in the Blue Heron exhibit.



Pretending to be Prairie Dogs



What a great shot of this tiger! Except for the clarity of the picture that is. If the glass window wasn't between us it would have been a much better picture but then again I might have been on his lunch menu that day if that were the case!



I love Polar Bears and when we walked up to the exhibit the Polar Bear was sleeping and just below the rocks. When he started to stretch and chew on a tree branch I started snapping away and this is what I got. I had planned to take my other camera with the telephoto lens but I didn't want to have to lug all that stuff AND the kids stuff on my back. Hindsight is 20-20 and I would have had some awesome shots!



I could see him thinking, "What's going on over there?"



My son wanted to ride the Skyfari and we were unable to all go together due to the 4 person limit. My Dad took the 2 kids and my husband and I had 5 minutes of alone time 150 ft in the sky. I was just a tad nervous because a few weeks ago the Skyfari got stuck and the people on it were up in the air for a few hours until it was fixed. That would not have been fun if it happened to us. You can see my Dad and my son in the cab that was in front of ours.



A picture of the Irawaddy River (aka The Bronx River) as we rode the Bengali Express Monorail to Wild Asia



Bactrian Camels



This is something I am designing for my Aunt to wear to her son's wedding (my cousin) in September. I am calling it "The Keystone Project" because I am using Swarovski Keystone crystals which are absolutely gorgeous, as you can see. The colors here are burgundy crystals with Swarovski Glass Pearls in the same color and Crystal AB clear crystals and Swarovski silver component spacers. I am making a necklace, earrings and bracelet for her. I will post pics of the whole set when I am done with it which should be in a couple of weeks.



On the weight loss front I am still losing weight, slowly. I am hoping to step it up a notch when school starts later this week. After I drop the kids off at school I am planning to either walk with my friends and/or do my exercises at home that I used to do when I went to physical therapy.

In other news I am finally going to set up an ETSY shop to sell my jewelry and other wares!! I am excited about it and gathering all the information on how to go about doing things the right way. Expect to see me over at ETSY in a few weeks!!

Sad News

When my daughter first started her religious education at our new parish last year she was assigned to a wonderful 19 year old boy named Robbie. He was a wonderful young man, full of life, funny with a great sense of humor and great with the kids. After a few weeks of teaching we found out he was feeling sick and later diagnosed with leukemia. He fought bravely and courageously for almost a year but he lost his battle on Thursday August 14, 2008. When he was going through his treatment during the winter I made him a hat to keep his head warm. I wanted to do something and I thought through my knitting I could make him feel a little better. His parents and sister shouldn't have to be going through this now, no one should lose a child. I cant say how upset I am over this because words cant really describe how I feel. As a cancer survivor it hurts even more because it makes you realize that not everyone, though brave and strong in their fight, survives. It makes me mad, mad as hell, because its not fair and it makes no sense. I am mad that his Mom, Dad and sister have lost their 20 year old son and brother. He wont be there to hug or talk to or just hang out with. I don't want this to happen to any more families. I want a cure for this damn disease. My daughter heard me crying a few minutes ago and got out of bed to see if I was OK and asked me why I was crying. I couldn't tell her just yet. I didn't want her to be up all night upset. I will tell her tomorrow and I know it will upset her.
God Bless you Robbie. I know there is another angel in heaven watching over us tonight.

Give that Monkey a Gumdrop and Something for an Ass Kicking Headache

I sitting here in bed with an ass kicking headache so bear with the type O's and other grammatical errors because I cant focus. There is good news though. I received my July Rockin' Socks Club shipment and here it is:



I absolutely LOVE the colorway and the patternS that came with it. I chose to do the harder of the two which is called Gumdrop Socks, because I didn't do the pattern for the last kit as many in the club didn't and for different reasons ranging from dislike to difficulty level. I felt a little of both these reasons. The colorway, as you can see, is a pastel and the first time that the Sock Club has made one. The colorway looks fantastic with the pattern is knit up. That's from what I can see of the 2 inches I managed to knit last night. I love to watch as the pattern grows before your eyes with all the beautiful colors of "Goody Goody".

These are the comleted NO PEARL MONKEYS made from May's Rockin' Sock Club Kit colorway called "The Incredible Shrinking Violet" The other pattern looked nice but it was way to difficult (after reading how others were fairing on the Ravelry forums and the RSC Blog). I usually like Yarnissima's patterns but this one just didn't go well (in my opinion) with the colorway. As you can see these are almost knee socks, well almost. They are MUCH higher than any of the other socks I have made in the past for myself. I had about 5 yds of yarn left over! Nothing like cutting it close right! I was thinking that I was going to have to dip into my emergency sock yarn but thank goodness I didn't have to do that.



They fit like a dream and I love the way the colors came out even though there was some major pooling issues going on. Most of the RSC yarns I knit up seem to pool on me. At first I didn't like it but I have grown to love the pooling. I even joined the "Pooled Knits" group on Ravelry! Its good to know that I am not the only one who has this happen to them.





I finished these in just under a month also which happens to be record time for me. I was also working on a bunch of other projects to so this IS record time for me. I started them on July 1st and finished July 31st. Not lightning fast granted but fast for me. I am trying to build up my stock of hand knitted socks for the colder months.

A few days ago I received my last package for my LYS, Knitting Central's Sock Club. It was a design by one of the lovely ladies that work there and the yarn that she chose was Alchemy's Temple Sock Yarn which happens to be a sport weight yarn that knits up real quick. I was going to cast on for these also but realized that I don't have my Addi size 3's available. They are currently in another sock in progress so they will have to wait. Its OK because I don't think I am going to re-join the sock club if they offer it again. Its not that I didn't like it because I did. There are a few reasons why. One is that money is extremely tight. I haven't even made any yarn purchases or used my Woolgirl or BMFA discount coupons yet because of this. Second reason is that when I get the kits I don't knit them up right away and I usually let them wait. Knitting Central makes the pattern available for everyone else outside the club 3 months after the sock club gets it. I can certainly wait 3 months for the pattern since I have so many other kits from Woolgirl that I haven't even started yet. Last reason is I rather chose my own yarn and colorway then have it picked for me. Don't get me wrong, the colors were all really beautiful and I was happy with all of them but like I said, if I can save my money then later pick and choose when the pattern is made available then that's a better option for me.

In Weight Watcher news last week's weigh in wasn't the best. I had a 1 lb weight gain. I was a bit upset with myself but my leader spoke to me and I think I had to much salt in my diet the night before which made me retain water. I went over my journal with a fine tooth comb and that was the only thing that would cause me to gain. I also had an almost 3 lb loss the week before which they consider a big loss (they like to see anywhere from 1.5-2 lbs a week loss). She told me that when there is a large loss the week before you can see a slight gain in the following week. Another thing she said to everyone that made me feel a lot better and made perfect sense to me. She said that if you come to meetings thinking that every time you are going to see a weight loss then you are going to be sadly disappointed because the losses come with the gains and vice-versa. Thats the way it is. Your body has a way of leveling itself out and its OK if you have a slight gain just learn from it and get back on track for next week.

I am hoping that my weigh in on Tuesday will show a nice loss and maybe I will get another 5 lb star! I never mentioned that I received my first 5 lb star 2 meetings ago. Recap of the stats:
Before starting WW: 176 lbs
Starting WW weight: 167.6 lbs
Current weight: 161.8 lbs
Total loss to date: 5.8 lbs

If you look at the whole picture I lost 14.2 lbs total but I dont look at it that way or I should say WW doesn't look at it that way. They take the weight you are at when you weigh in at your first weigh in which for me was 167.6 lbs.

Another thing I wanted to mention. I spoke about my Mom's Avon walk in my last post and I would like to ask everyone who hasn't donated to please read the post and donate to my Mom's walk. Its a good cause and I have some great prizes I would love to give away. If you are interested in donating please click on the link in my sidebar and it will take you there. Also, if you donate please e-mail me with the amount and your info so I can put you in the raffle for some prizes. Remember for every $10 you donate one ticket goes into the raffle hat. Twenty dollars is 2 tickets, $30=3 tickets and so on. So far there is no one in the raffle so if you are reading this you have a very BIG chance of winning something if there are only a few people in it. Its not the way I would like it but at this point I will take what I can get to have my Mom reach her goal. Please donate to a great cause so we can save women's lives. Thanks!

I Can't Think of a Title for this Post

Its been a while since I posted. So much going on so I will try to catch you up on what's been happening the last few weeks.
I finally made it to the ear, nose and throat Dr and he took a look at my vocal cords with a camera scope. It goes up your nose and down your throat and is uncomfortable at best. Yup, its annoying but at least the numbing spray really helps ease the discomfort. He told me that I had some nodules on my vocal cords and I need to see a Speech Therapist. He said that the nodules can occur for many different reasons and one is vocal abuse. Now, all of you out there will automatically think that it comes from yelling to much and yes that can be ONE of the reasons. I found out however that whispering puts more stress on the vocal cords than yelling. I never knew this. Also, since I had throat surgery a few years ago (thyroidectomy), my voice changed and was never the same. It was upsetting to me at the time because I have been a singer since age 6 and I was actually going to continue on to music school with my singing. I decided that even though I loved to sing more than anything, not to go to music school for fear that if anything happened to my voice I would be out of a job. Seems I made the right choice! The Dr also said that the area behind my cords were very red and inflamed from severe acid reflux. I say severe because I already take a medication for my acid reflex and its supposed to be a 24 hour medication. He suggested I go see my gastroenterologist and get an endoscopy. I am due for a colonoscopy also so I might as well get them both done at the same time to spare the torture of going in twice. Originally I was supposed to go into have a colonoscopy when I turned 35 because colon cancer is on both sides of my family and the Dr seems to think that we (my parents, me and my sister) might carry the gene for colon cancer. This is the reason he wanted me to have my first colonoscopy at 35. I had a few other things happen that delayed my colonoscopy but I promised that I would get one in the coming Fall/Winter.

Speaking of Dr's appointments, my next PET Scan is coming up due next month. Can't wait.

My Mom is doing the AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER for the third year in a row. Its a 40 mile race in NYC thats done over a period of 2 days. I was going to do it with her until my leg surgery in 2007 threw a monkey wrench in my plans. I can do a 5K walk, maybe even 10K but there is no way in hell at this moment in my life that I can do 40 miles even if its over a 2 day period. If I do to much walking now I get severe charlie horses in my thigh under the incision site. It sucks. Hopefully with me being on Weight Watchers and losing weight, I will be able to do the walk with my Mom someday. If anyone would like to donate to her walk, you can click on the link in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the AVON Website and my Mom's page where you can donate. She hasn't reached her goal yet but she has a few months to go. I am hoping that she raises more than her goal like the first year she walked. Last year I made up this whole plan on how I was going to get more donations for my Mom but it didn't work the way I had planned. This year I have a special offer for readers of my blog. I know that there are not that many out there but there are some. In no way am I as famous as the 'Yarn Harlot' or Ann and Kay of 'Mason-Dixon Knitting'. If I was I would have a hell of a lot of money raised!

This is what I am proposing. Anyone who reads my blog and donates to my Mom's walk can e-mail me with your name and amount donated. For every $10 you donate you get a raffle ticket put into my magic hat. After my Mom's walk I will have a few prizes raffled off using all the names in my magic hat. The more people donate, the more prizes there will be. Since most readers of my blog are knitters I think yarn and knitting related prizes will be part of the raffle. Maybe even some of CurlyBrunette's Creations Stitch Markers and Jewelry designs will be a part of the prizes. I am hoping this will help my Mom reach or even surpass her goal. This raffle is only for readers of this blog who donate and then send me their info via e-mail. My e-mail link is on my profile page. I know times are tough right now with everything being so expensive and all but I want you all to know that any amount is greatly appreciated and its going to a wonderful cause. Someday soon we will eradicate this horrible disease.

This is Knit Picks Bare DK weight Superwash Wool that I dyed with some Kool Aid and extra food coloring. Not bad for a first time dyeing experience hey? I gave it to my neighbor so she could crochet something with it. I knew she would love the color and she needed some cheering up. She was so surprised to hear that the color came from Kool Aid! I cant wait to see what she makes.



I finally finished my Garden Anklet socks from my LYS-Knitting Central's Sock Club! These were made with Colinette Jitterbug in the Florentine colorway. I also had some leftovers which surprised me since the yardage with Jitterbug is skimpy at best. I LOVE this yarn and how it knits up and I will definitely be using more of it in the near future.





Here are my No Pearl Monkeys made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts-Incredible Shrinking Violet colorway. I decided not to use the pattern that came with the yarn. The pattern was Cleopatra's Stockings by Yarnissima. After all the chatter about it being a little of a challenge I decided to use a different pattern. I will probably knit it in the future but I wanted to make sure I was finished with these by the time the next ones came along. The new kit is due to arrive soon since its the 3rd week in July already. I am hoping this next color is one we havent yet received such as PINK, which happens to be my favorite color. Whatever it is I am sure I will love it.



Another thing I hate to admit since I said I wasnt going to do something that I did. Well, I wanted to get my hair cut the way I used to-the Curly Girl Method invented by the head Curly herself, Lorraine Massey. Up until I discovered Devachan in NYC (thats her salon) I was abusing my curls and straightening all the time. I bought her book, The Curly Girl Handbook in 2002 and within a week I had an appointment with Carlos, one of her top stylists that trained under her wing. He was AWESOME and FABULOUS and I never loved my hair more. I let it grow to my waist and I only needed it cut every 6-8 months. Then it became harder for me to go to the city so I changed over to a stylist up here in CT where I live. SInce my hair was all one length at the time it was easy to trim. This guy I started to go to was fabulous but after chemo I didnt need to see him for a LONG time. After my hair grew back I got attached to another stylist who is also great but sometimes can be a bit scissor happy. He is still great none the less. Anyway, I wanted to go for a Curly Cut last week but no one had anything available so I caved in and went to the guy who used to cut my all one-waist-length hair. He didnt do a good job and cut my bangs so short that when they attempt to curl up they look really bad. I am so pissed at myself I could spit especially since I have a wedding to go to in September. I hate when I get impatient with myself and act upon my impulses. This is why I need to be patient and let it grow. Sometimes a bad cut can turn good once an inch or two grows in. After it grows in I think I need to either return to Carlos, Devachan, or another Deva trained stylist. I will not make the same mistake twice.