It's Percy Day!

We are so excited to see the Percy Jackson movie that opens tonight! I made Kerry this hat to celebrate.

I'm rather pleased with how it turned out - except

apparently my gauge was a bit off. oops.

So, is everyone tired of the snow yet? I think just about the whole country has gotten at least a little bit. I hope you're all keeping warm and cozy.

That's all - short and sweet! Happy Valentine's Day - hugs!

New Warmers

The assignment for divination was to make something to protect our palms. Well, you all know how I love my mitts! These are made out of the same Handgefaerbt that I made socks out of last year - the skeins are so big that I still have some left!
Right now I'm working on a couple of February assignments - transfiguration and herbology. I have an idea for both charms and DADA, too - and my brother's sweater is still going strong. No, I'm not overdoing it. I'm trying to cut down on nutrasweet and the best way for me to do that is to keep busy. I'm not one to do a ton of big projects, either. I want to make sweaters for myself and have the patterns and stash to do it - I just need to make a plan to get it done.
What else is new? Khloe got straight A's on her report card - again. I don't dare try to pay her for good grades or I'd be broke. She's still not interested in Harry Potter, though. She watches the movies with us but the books just don't grab her. Kerry and I are very excited about the upcoming Percy Jackson movie - the ads look great. I hope it comes here so we can watch it a couple of times - I don't like driving, especially at night, so I don't go to movies that aren't here. (Why don't I like driving? Tiny car, big animals in the road, no cell phone...you understand.)
I'll be going now - more pics as the projects get done!

I Apologize

I know that you come here to see pictures of my kids and projects and to hear stories or to see what kind of rambling I'm doing - but lately there's been alot of personal stuff going on in my life. Oh, I've been knitting - it's amazing how much stockinette in the round can get done when the thoughts are fighting in my head. I'm just not very wordy right now. I'm kind of keeping things in because that's what I do and besides, this is a fiber blog, not a life blog. Once things settle down a bit I'll be back better than ever, I promise. I'll be showing you what I'm making for the House Cup, too, so you can see how my work is getting better. I just need to rock back and forth in the corner for a bit.
Please, if you can, donate to Doctors Without Borders or the Red Cross. If you want something for your donation, ravelry has a huge list of designers who are donating their proceeds to charity. You can even gift patterns to other ravelers, too. I don't know if any groups are collecting afghan squares - please let me know so I can crochet some. My heart aches every time I see those sad children.
Hugs to you all.

Ten in '10

The latest episode of Stash and Burn discussed an idea called Ten in '10. The premise is to select the ten projects in your ravelry queue that have been there for awhile but keep getting pushed back for whatever reason and resolve to make them this year. I decided to give it a go - I have a few patterns that have been in my head for awhile. I only have six that I tagged in my queue but I intend to get them done soon. I'm going to apply the concept to other things as well. For example, three podcasters have talked about the book The Outlander. It's now on the list of must-reads. I know there are other books that I've been wanting to enjoy but just haven't for whatever reason. They are now another Ten in '10 list.
I've decided to write to the DIY network about fixing the house. With Eric's hours cut and me not exactly on the top of the hiring list it's going to be impossible to take care of the things that need to be done. Of course, thousands of people try all of the time - but it's worth a shot anyway - unless any of you want to get some roofing experience under your belt! (trade ya some knitwear!)
The new year has been lazy so far - cold and snowy, but lazy. We've been relaxing with Harry Potter and some of the TeenNick shows but mostly just the usual being together. I can't wait to get back to normal - kids at school, knitting group, killing the phone battery talking to Jenny.
Can anyone design a custom avatar for me? I'd like a combination of Ravenclaw and Battlestar Galactica that says "Cosmo" on it - Cosmo being my new call name.
Gotta be going - Legend of the Seeker is on now and, well, Richard is eye candy.

My Pretty Tree!

I just wanted to share a picture of my tree. We don't have any ornaments on it - might not put any on at all, either. The way the lights glow off of the white is festive enough for me.

Thanks, Bro

So I have this little brother. Well, little in that he's seven years younger. He's actually alot bigger than I am considering that I'm kind of the runt in the family. He's a great recipient of handmade gifts. A couple of years ago I crocheted him a pair of alien-faced hot pads and he uses them all the time. I've offered to knit him a wool sweater since there aren't any in the stores around here. He's kind of an outdorsey type of guy and spends alot of time bicycling all over and adventuring with his friends. He asked if he could send me a link for something he'd like to have made and of course I said yes and now I have a problem. He needs some cords. I love knottong cords and such - and the site he sent had links to some awesome knotwork sites. I've always wanted to make gorgeous knots - think of the closure possibilities for sweaters and bags! I could make some out of wires for shawl pins or other jewelry. I could combine all of my fibery stuff with some great cording and a big, spectacular knotted accent and just blow everyone away. I'm doomed. Do you see the problem? Yep - who's going to feed the kids? Ha ha!
This month, and a good part of last month, have been all about making things for others. It's really killing me. I usually only make stuff for me - being a spoiled little brat and all. Well, Anna Dalvi, the designer behind all of the gorgeous Mystic shawl knitalongs, has a new one that started today and it's free. I signed up last week for it and I think I'm going to cast on tonight. Maybe a few rows for yours truly will make the last of the gifts a bit less work.
For all of you in the big weather areas - drive carefully! I'll talk to you all again soon.

Wrackspurt attack

I had a list of everything I wanted to talk about - more shawls, mom retiring, gifts, etc - but my brain has been attacked by a wrackspurt and even the notes to myself aren't helping. I've done it to myself again. A couple of weeks ago I figured that there's plenty of time to make a few things for people for Christmas. Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, I'm working on some things - but my dad isn't getting the socks that he asked for. Know why? Because a size twelve is a heck of alot of stockinette and I have kids for mental anguish so my knitting should relax me - not make me want to pierce myself with dpn's.
I'd really like a day of doing nothing but hanging out with the BFF at the farm supply store. I could look for unusual food stuff for my brother, she could get Chicken Poop for her hubby, we could laugh at the goofy things everywhere - and maybe buy ourselves some tools - and then go someplace with warm caffeinated beverages to talk about Harry and the Doctor and all of our other commonalities. (Chicken Poop, for those who don't know, is a brand of lip balm. She probably wouldn't buy him a bag of the real stuff.)
I need to clean out the corner of the room where our tree goes. The girl child is driving me crazy about getting it up. I don't really want to, though - Armand Assante is playing Odysseus on TV and I'm a huge fan of both mythology and handsome Italians.
Oh! Before I go, I added a link to the shopping section on the side. See it? I'll wait here while you check it out - it's the most gorgeous clothes......back? Why, I would love a gift certificate for my birthday! How thoughtful! No, I'm not full-on goth. It's mostly in my head because I've still not worked on my sewing skills - because there's no freaking sewing supply store around here! Grumble grumble grumble.
Okay, now I'll go. See you soon!