mama's world

A long, long time...

It's been a long, long time. Wouldn't you say? I would. 9 months. A lot has happened in that time.

My last post was in about mid-March 2009.  Less than two weeks later, I found out that the company I worked for was closing.  I'd worked there for nearly 9 years; it had been around for over 100 years.  Just like that (or so it seemed) it was over.  Even now---9 months later---it's still a bit hard for me to believe.  I couldn't talk about it then.  My head (along with everyone else's) was spinning and all I could think about was finding another job during the 8 weeks notice we received for the closure.

I was fortunate.  Very fortunate.  Within 4 weeks of the announcement, I found a new job.  I had the 9th anniversary of my employment one week and my last day there the next.  I started the new job the first week of May; my old firm closed its doors forever the end of the same month.

Starting fresh was hard.  Very hard.  No sense re-visiting everything---the past is past---but new jobs are always a challenge.  Add to that the shock of suddenly leaving the old one unexpectedly and taking something that maybe would not have been your first choice (or any choice really) in other circumstances and it just adds to the difficulty.  Add in co-workers that are not very "friendly" and you have fun.  Sorta.  Not.

Time has passed.  I sort of like my job now.  We are just finishing up my first year-end there (I am in Finance) and it was good.  I'm getting used to things.  I'm more positive.  I'm hopeful.

I don't spend as much time on-line as I used to so I won't make any grand statements on how I plan to post and yada-yada-yada.  But I will try to.  The question is...will anyone read?

knitting fiend

I haven't scrapped a thing in almost two weeks, but I've been knitting up a storm.  All for Malabrigo March.  I still have a bunch to cast on to be worked later, but this is the progress I have made:

This is k2togkate's Mal Traveling Scarf.  My section is complete I used the reversible cable pattern from the Palindrome  scarf and added some ribbing and a garter stitch edge.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Dusty (?)

 

This is my completed Meret Beret as it blocks on a serving dish.  I love it!  The ribbed brim is a bit stretched out since the plate was too large and I didn't cinch the ribbing, but it fits well so I will likely leave it be.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Red Java
 

This is the result of casting on for my Forest Canopy Shawl.  I completed through the set-up rows and haven't touched it since.  It's calling to me, but not as loudly as the Shalom Cardigan is.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Silky Merino in Caribeno
 

Here is my Shalom Cardigan.  The photo was taken a few days ago when I had worked through the first ribbing repeat and begun the second.  Last night I knit through to casting off for the arm holes and I am loving it!  I'm finding this experience (both loving the knitting of it and loving the project as it transpires) very odd since I was ho-hum about the project.  I was hoping to get farther on it tonight, but it might need a break until the weekend.  I am contemplating bust darts and I don't think I should be figuring them when tired.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Chunky in Verde Esperanza

This is the beginning of my section of dorayme's Malabrigo Traveling Scarf.  I am using the Cascading Leaved stitch pattern from The Harmony Guides:  Lace and Eyelets.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Red Java

Here is the first of the set for Mockery Socks.  I am a little disappointed that the yarn is less blue than I thought it was, but it is still very lovely and feels oh so dreamy!  These will definitely be a very comfy pair o' socks.  I believe the photo is through the third repeat and I am now on the fourth (I think).
Yarn:  Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita

 

What's Cookin'?  This is an impromptu photo I took for the Malabrigo March photo contest.
Yarns:
Worsted - Stone Blue, Pagoda and Purple Mystery (hiding in the center)
Silky - Caribeno
Dos - Bleubellis

I haven't worked any more on my lace ribbon scarf.  I really should pay it some attention.

slow week

I really haven't gotten much accomplished this week.  The plan was to get some scrapping done and cast on tons for Malabrigo March.  Unfortunately, I got sick Monday afternoon and wasn't quite myself again until Wednesday night.  It's still lingering and I am now wondering if what I thought was a tummy bug/food poisoning might actually be an old issue rearing it's ugly head.  Methinks it's time for a check up and new referral to the GI doc.

P-nut and Daddy-o are both fine.  Both have cold symptoms but are weathering it well.

I finally started reading Twilight and I love it!

On Wednesday, costumes where handed out in P-nut's dance class.  They are so cute and she looks adorable in both.  I can't wait to get photos up!  Tonight Daddy-o is having the guys over so she and I are going to "open gym" at the local gymnastics place.  Her buddy attends there I am thinking of sending her.  It will be a good evening to try it out and see if she likes it.

This week I managed to cast on three of my Malabrigo March projects.  They are:

Lace Ribbon Scarf
 
...and that is about as far as I got on it. 
Yarn: Malabrigo sock in a test color.

Meret beret

This is going quickly and I am really enjoying it!
Yarn:  Malabrigo worsted in Red Java

Mockery Socks

Yarn:  Malabrigo sock in Indiecita

Joining them (not cast on yet) in my list of items to cast on for Malabrigo March are:
Shalom cardigan in chunky, Verde Esperanza
Amelia in worsted, Stone Blue
February Lady Sweater in worsted, Pagoda
Felted clogs in worsted, Lettuce
Pleated Ballet Flats in worsted, color to be determined
Squiggle cowl in worsted, color to be determined
Evangeline cowl in worsted, color to be determined

And a few others that I am thinking about:
Patty mug warmers in worsted, scraps
Lush and Lacy Cardigan in worsted, Purple Mystery
Forest Canopy Shawl in silky, color to be determined
Button Bracelet in worsted, scraps
Ariadne fingerless mitts in Dos, color to be determined

Yeah, it's official, I am crazy.  There is a saving grace.  These do not have to be completed before the end of the month; they only need to be cast on.  I do plan to finish at least a few (the beret, maybe a cowl or two and the socks), but the rest will be worked on in the coming months.  I will have nice, warm sweaters for winter and maybe a few gifts to put away.

That's it.  I'm ready for the work day to be done.  I am looking forward to visiting the gym with P-nut tonight and taking lots of photos.  Maybe I'll even get to knit once I get home.

drive by posting

Yup, that's what this will be.  This week was exhausting with work and fighting off some unknown ill.  I am feeling better now though I definitely need to keep going to bed early.  Not necessarily a bad thing.

I am nearly set for Malabrigo March over at the Junkies group on Ravelry.  This will be our second annual Mal March and we have tons of KAL's planned.  As usual, I've bitten off way too much.  Thankfully it does not all have to be finished by the end of the month.  Some of the items are small; so it's not quite as bad as it looks.  Here is my cast-on list:
Shalom Cardigan - in Verde Esperanza Chunky
Amelia -  in Stone Blue Worsted
Mockery Socks - Idiecita sock
Meret Beret - Java Red Worsted
February Lady Sweater - Pagoda Worsted
Pleated Ballet Slippers - to be determined (tbd)
Squiggle Cowl - tbd
Lace Ribbon Scarf - tbd
Evangeline Cowl - tbd
Felted Clogs - tbd

Yeah, that's alot!  lol  The socks will be for one of my BFF's.  The other BFF has the last of a pair of socks on my needles and I am hoping to be done with them in the next week or so.

I was all set last night to swatch for my Mockery Socks and then finish a LO I had been digi scrapping. I wound the Mal Sock for my Lace Ribbon Scarf with no problem at all and I’m happy to say both hanks were knotless.

Then I got to the Idiecita for the socks. OMG! It was a mess. It was impossible to wind…I couldn’t get it untangled and ended up pulling the whole swift down and was left with a huge tangled mess. I was already tired and cranky before I started and I seriously thought about chucking the whole mess. Fortunately, reason took over. After 1-1/2 hours of slow, deliberate untangling I successfully detangled 1/2 of the hank. Yeah, 1/2. How do I know this? Just before I put it away for the night I arrived at the “intentional knot in the skein”. I’ve got more detangling to do this weekend.

I just keep reminding myself how lovely the colorway is and how much I think the intended will love the finished socks.  I will be taking a break from the tangles tonight, but will finish it before the weekend is out.

I did a layout earlier in the week and have one about 1/2 done now.  So I will have some LO's to share tonight or tomorrow night.

I've been on Facebook for about 2 weeks now.  Well, technically I was on there for about a year, but I never bothered to actually use it.  It's been pretty neat finding old school friends on there and also reconnecting with both of my BFF's.  I know that sounds silly, but we all have hectic lives and don't get to touch base often.  Facebook has been allowing us to chat and catch up.

Okay, that's all for now.  Pizza is on the menu for tonight (it is Friday) and I'm sure we will be watching The Wheel of Fortune since that is P-nut's new favorite show.  She picks it hands-down over Hannah Montana reruns.

ahh....so much for a drive-by post. 

feeling a bit overwhelmed

Nothing major...just me getting too bogged down in too much.  On the knitting front, there are quite a few UFO's and more than a few of them want my attention.  Usually that doesn't bother me; however, I really, truly wanted to take a stab at my first sweater this winter and I just can't start.  I resolve that this coming weekend (too late for this one) I will pick up a few crochet hooks in varying sizes and get my test knit #1 finished.  I will then search for the missing US5 needles and finish test knit #2.  Then I can go into Malabrigo March without guilt and cast on for a sweater.  A girl can dream, right?

I've also been trying to organize my digital "supplies".  So, this means that I have been tinkering with the EHD's when I sit down to the laptop instead of scrapping.

But tonight, tonight I feel good and that is thanks to Sue Cummings.  Her designs are fresh and simple and set to get you scrapping quickly.  I took one of her quick pages and some of her word art and very quickly did this:

I Love You
 
*click on the image for full credits*  I did absolutely nothing to this layout except plunk in a photo, drop on the "title" and fiddle with the three little hearts.  The photo placement, the background word art, etc. were all there for me already.  And the best part?  Sue usually has a few versions of the quick pages in the pack...each with a few little changes to the details.

And the best part?  I've been wanting to scrap this photo for months and wasn't sure what to do with it.  The simplicity of Sue's quick page is absolutely perfect!

If you have a minute, please head on over to Sue's blog, My Chalkboard and check her out.  While you are at it, take a peak at her Oscraps store.  You won't be disappointed.

scrapping and knitting and life

Sounds a little philosophical, doesn't it?  Well, sorry to disappoint, but it's really just a summation...lol

I got home Friday to find that Daddy-o had decided to make homemade pizza for dinner.  YUM!  The downer?  As I was eating, I began to have tunnel vision in my right eye.  That's the term, right, when you lose peripheral vision?  Not pleasant.  I've never had a migraine (that I know of), but a few months before we were married (12+ years ago) I had a really horrible sinus headache that started like this.  Not the normal sinus headache.  I was getting sensitive to light and sound.  Not good.  I finished eating, took Tylenol Sinus and laid on the couch in the semi-dark while P-nut finished her dinner.  It subsided some (and the tunnel vision went away), but my sinuses were in an uproar and I had a hard time watching tv.  Also, the tv combined with P-nut and Daddy-o talking drove me to distraction.  At 8:30, I decided it was bedtime and jumped in mine after putting P-nut in hers.

I woke around 4:30 and still had a really bad headache.  I took more sinus meds.  When I got up a few hours later, it was there--but bearable--so P-nut and I got dressed and headed to the office.  She was so psyched to come to work with me.  I ended up having the headache (varying degrees) all weekend so I laid low and knit a lot. 

Saturday night I felt well enough to make a layout for me new CT.  I am happy to announce that Deb Fisher (aka DebF) at Pickleberry Pop is designing again and invited me to rejoin her template team.    I made my first of two layouts with her Templates Vol. 12.

And here is A Little Reminder:

Click on image for full credits and journaling.

My knitting over the weekend consisted of working the SKA January Mystery Beaded Socks.  One sock is done through the heel and the other is very nearly ready to do the toe decreases.  YEAH!

On Monday, I met Ruth and a friend of hers for lunch.  We chatted and gave one another moral support and tried to figure out the square Ruth and I are working on (is it really working on it if we knit 4 or 5 rows on Jan. 2 and haven't touched it since?).  I had laid out the written pattern in Excel in what was (for me) much more understandable than how it is laid out in the pattern book and it seemed to help us both.  I did 4 more rows at lunch, found a few fixes I need to make to my "chart" and feel better about the project.  Also, after talking about it, I think I have decided to make two 6-square lap-ghans instead of the 12 square afghan.  Honestly, what am I going to do with a huge cashmere afghan?  Don't get me wrong---if I do it right and well it will be a thing of beauty---but I have a child.  and a dog. and a husband.  'Nough said?  I am going to keep one and put the other away for P-nut---hopefully as a wedding gift some day.  This will also allow me to skip the squares I don't particularly care for.  On the months I'm not fond of the suggested square, I will do a repeat of one I have already done and that will be a square for P-nut's afghan.

I was going to scrap tonight, but I am woefully behind on two test knits (different designers) and I could also use a new pair of mittens.  So, what better time to do the second mitten for one of the test knits?

I am woefully behind in posting my Project 365 photos though I so I need to spend about an hour working on those before I knit.

Have a good day.  If you are sledding with the kiddos (or without) don't forget to take a few photos.

so, what have i been up to

Can't tell by looking here now can you? 

We've been dealing with some behavior issues with P-nut.  Nothing major, but still troubling.  I think we may have the bulk straightened out, but positive thoughts are much appreciated.

I spent a good bit of my spare time last week cleaning up my digital supplies.  I took a bit more time looking at my back-up EHD and found that the back-ups for the drive that died were still there (YEAH!) I just hadn't been looking in the right place for them. 

So I copied all of them to a brand spankin' new portable EHD and started the loooong process of going through the files and deleting a bunch of stuff I'll never, ever use.  I freed up over 30GB by doing that and I'm not done.  Now I need to move some stuff from the other portable EHD to there and I'll be in business.  Ready to tag some more in ACDSee.

I did manage to get a LO in (and will have at least two more a some point this week).  First, take a look at the kit:

Charmed by Micheline Martin.  Gorgeous, isn't it?!

And here is what I came up with:
 
Full credits can be found HERE.

I haven't given up on Project 365 either.  I did miss a few days (and took some extras), but I haven't given up.  I just need to get the photos on here.  Maybe tonight or tomorrow night.

I also finished the first sock for a late Christmas giftie for one of my BFF's.  It'll likely be the weekend before I get a photo though.  Need to wait for some decent light.

days 12 and 13

Yeah, I forgot again.  I thought about taking a photo last night and then forgot.  Bummer deal.  So today I took two and they relate to each other.

day 13

This, this is sweet.  It's our new all-in-one.  In November, I realized that our flatbed scanner had died.  Have you looked for one lately?  I had...I've known for months it was on it's way out (nice little white artifacts in scans) and I priced them earlier this year.  Very limited options.  I also priced all-in-ones and I just couldn't justify the difference.  I have a 4 year old HP photosmart 7950 that still prints beautifully.  Why get an all-in-one.  So, after the holidays, I started the hunt again and realized that I'd have to go online if I really wanted a flatbed.  After shopping around, I found this all-in-one for a steal.  It's the Canon PIXMA MP610 and I got it for 1/2 price since they are discontinued (the newer model was released).  I read the reviews online and they were all great.  I hooked it up on Saturday and the prints are SWEET.  Better than my HP (which, btw, is going up on Craigslist soon).

day 12

My trusty HP.  I bought this when P-nut was about 2.  We weren't ready to upgrade the camera yet (old Kodak digital from 2000... 1MP...lol) so I decided to upgrade the printer.  I was a good buy.  Great photos...even the Kodak's photos came out a bit more crisp on this.  I wasn't ready to retire it, but the all-in-one has won me over.  Goodbye, dearest Photosmart; you will me missed.  Well, at least remembered fondly.

a quick LO

Yesterday I wrote about the budding photographer that I seem to have.  Here is a layout showing a few of the dozen or so photos she took of herself (click image for full credits)....

She also took about 20 other photos of all kinds of things in the house.  One photo is of me while I am knitting.  I think I am going to need to use that one in a LO too!

I did not take a photo yesterday.  I thought about it while scrapping and then completely forgot again.  I'll take at least two today to make up.

a budding photographer?

P-nut loves playing with the camera. I toyed with the idea of getting her an inexpensive P&S for Christmas, but I already have a P&S (in addition to the dRebel) and I could already see DH's eye roll.  Much of the time that she asks to take pics I do let her...I mean what's the harm....it's only the battery. I don't waste film.  Here is a LO I made back in November with her Littlest Pet Shop Photo shoot (click on image for full credits):

About a week and 1/2 ago she was playing with the camera again while a friend and I visited and knitted together. I knew she was taking more photos than usual, but again---what's the harm? I also caught her taking some silly self portraits. I completely forgot about all of it until last night. I had taken the last 3 Project 365 photos with the P&S and wanted to get them off the card. I sat there laughing and laughing as I watched them download. Most pics are poor quality, but there is so much more to it than that. It was really funny to watch her ham it up--completely unencumbered. There has to be at least a dozen "self portrait' photos of her. I think I'm doing a layout!

She also took a bunch of other photos including her Littlest Pet Shop toys (which is why she wanted the camera), my latest yarn stash additions, my friend and I deep in concentration on our first afghan squares, and odd objects around the house.

I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have her do a Project 365 too....hmm....On second thought, that might be overwhelming for her.  Maybe instead I will give her the camera once a week to take shots of whatever she likes.  Then we can go through the images and she can select 1 or 2.  I'll print them and she can start her own scrapbook.  She has a little stash from her 5th b-day when both her aunt and cousin gave her small scrapbook kits.

I'm going to talk to her tonight and see what she thinks.  Methinks she'll LOVE the idea!