It has been far too long….

I guess I better dust off this blog and show some knitting.

There was no knitting for the year of the tendon problems with my right hand. I’m still having a trigger finger on my right ring finger but I’m ignoring it.

So far I have knit 2 hats for Tom. The Blue Barley hat was the first on. The second is the Bankhead Hat.  The Blue hat is Cascade 220 and the Green is Web’s yarn in Green Heather.

Then I finished a hat for ME! Cattywampus Hat. I held Lorna’s Laces and Regia together. I like the way the black made the colors pop.

Then I knit a Louie the LoveBot for my Great-Granddaughter.

And I finally finished her Bea the Basement Monster for her. They were gifted to her for her 4th Birthday.

Currently I’m working on a Louie the Lovebot in Mardi Gras colors for me. And I have 1 active sock on the needles, in a teal color dyed by Mad Color Fiber Arts. (I love Heather’s colorways.)

That’s about it for now. Hopefully it won’t take me 2 years to blog again.

Happy Knitting!

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West Virginia is beautiful

We are on our way to Parkersburg, WV. Tom’s aunt passed away and we are going to the services. She was a very nice lady, Sorry to say that we had not seen her  as much as we would have liked in the last few years. She had moved to Colorado to be near her 2 sons.
It will be nice to see his cousins which we have not seen since my Mother-in-laws passing.
I am writing this in route. We are on Interstate 80 in PA. We spent last night at Amanda’s. She has only the 2 little ones home, the other 2 are with their Dad. We will be spending Tuesday night at her house then heading back home.
We stopped at a rest area because it was raining so hard you could hardly see the road in front of you. But we are back on the road.
This week at work will be the beginning of Camp Madness 2. Second session starts July 22. Oh Joy. It is nice to get away from it for a few days, but I have a feeling I’ll be at the pharmacy a lot for the next week or so.
I’m really enjoying this lap top. Someday the newness will wear off, but for now I think this is so cool. We are driving down the road and I’m typing a blog post! I think I’m starting to get just a little bit “geeky”. Cool.
I have been knitting on my “Little Silk Shrug” from Lace Style book. I am making it with Cotton Ease. So it seems a little strange to call it Little Silk Shrug.
When I bought the yarn at Michael’s in Wilkes Barre, PA, I had bought 2 skeins of 6 or more colors. Brought the yarn out to the truck to ask Tom which would be the best color to match a dress I had brought along. He didn’t like any of the colors and suggested I should use white yarn. Good thing we were still in the parking lot! Just imagine, I had to buy more yarn!
I have almost 12 inches of it knit. I don’t think I’ll have it done in time to wear, but at least I’ll have a shrug when I am done with it!
I bought so much Cotton Ease because I want to knit some “shopping bags”.
I’m going to put the computer away for now and knit some more. I’ll post this tonight. Happy knitting.
We have arrived safely and have met with family. It’s late and there’s a lot to do tomorrow. Have a nice evening. I just might finish the shrug tomorrow!

cj

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Why, just why

I decided to go into work today. Finally got going and left the house about 12:30. I got to town (GB) and the traffic was unreal! It took almost 30minutes to go 3 or 4 miles. While waiting in traffic an ambulance came through, it has to drive in the other lane because our line of traffic was going nowhere!

It really is not fun living in Touristville. I must have been insane to go out on a Saturday afternoon. A Holiday Saturday afternoon. I must have forgotten to take my meds again.

Traffic was so bad I didn’t dare try to knit. I would have rear-ended the car in front of me if I tried it. So not much knitting done in that half hour.

When I got home my Knit Picks package was here! Yeah, Yarn goodies! Now that I have an Options Bag I have Knit Picks wooden interchangeable needles. US Sizes 4,5,6,7 & 8. Also 24″ and 36″ cables. I have some large metal Metal options needles. Also some Wool of the Andes. Colorways: Fairy Tale, Cranberry, Tulip, Spruce and Amethyst Heather. I want to make a felted bag and I think these colors will work nicely.

I have a baby/toddler shrug to make/finish before next weekend.

While at Bob’s house yesterday Jess and Tom tried to get Jazz to get into the water. Here is a picture of Jazz this is as close as she got to getting into the water. There was one point when she almost backed into the water, but stopped when she realized what she was doing. (Click on pic to read note)

I did try to take pictures of the fireworks. (click pics to enlarge) I have a tendency to shack the camera a bit so it made the pictures come out kind of cool.

Well, I better get back to knitting, this shrug isn’t knitting it self.

Have a nice evening. Happy Knitting!

cj

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Birthdays can be fun!

Monday was my Birthday. I want to thank everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes.

JessaLu and Roger gave me an Options Tote bag. It’s a really nice bag. Check out the pics of it.  The center divider comes out, there’s a detachable vinyl pouch. It’s got pockets, pockets and pockets. It’s really cool.

Now I must find a project worthy of it.

Amanda and the kids were here to celebrate with me too. The children painted me some very pretty magnets.  Jess & Roger had a cake for me and Amanda made Cupcakes. They were good. (She made the cupcakes because I am allergic to milk and she wanted to make sure I would be able to have cake. Did I mention they were good?) It was nice to be with the family on my birthday. The only one missing was Heather. She had to work.

This has been quite a week. Camp (3 of them) started this week. We are doing the meds for the 3 camps. Thanks to all the hard work that Angie has put into this everything has been going well. It has been nothing like it was last summer. Thank goodness for that!

I finished a pair of socks Wednesday morning. And I’ve picked up my Dream in Color sweater. Working on the second sleeve. Also doing a couple of rows on my Large Funky Monkey.

I’ve been trying to accumulate CE for my Re-Certification.  I have to have that all together before July 20. I have to really buckle down and get this done. I was able to get my 2 Law credits Tuesday night. I have to re-certify every 2 years, you would think that  I would not wait until the last minute, but no.

 Well, that’s about it for now. I need to get to those CE’s. And knit.

BREAKING NEWS FLASH: Friday, June 27, 2008, Massachusetts; Jane uses BB gun and doesn’t hit her truck!! Truck was parked in another state! Lucky truck!

This last paragraph was added by Tom. Smart A$$

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Reason #27 why Jane should not use a bb gun.

Earlier this morning I tried to shoot the black squirrel, he was in the birdseed again. Well I took Tom’s bb gun, pumped it and pulled the trigger. The bb “spit out of the barrel” and bounced a couple of feet away from me. The squirrel was safe, he was very safe.
Later after Tom got home I told him what happened. So he grabbed the bb gun and we went outside to see if it was me or the gun. It was me. I tried again, pumped it, aimed at the paint can, squeezed the trigger and……. I hit something.
Upon investigation I discovered that what I hit was…….
my truck.

Now this is not 100% my fault. I do not usually park my truck in this spot. It was parked there Saturday so that Tom could take the Bug Eye to the cruise in Cannan than evening. I was going to move it the next day, but he wanted me to leave it there, in case he needed to get into that side of the garage for some reason. So see? It’s not ALL my fault. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

See my pretty side window now? Now everyone is going to want one. Right?
There has been knitting on the home-front. I’m at the ribbing on the bottom of my Easy V neck sweater.
Have to go watch the Grand daughter march in her last Memorial Day Parade.
Bye for now!

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Senior Prom & Mother’s Day

(Click on photos to see notes)

Well tonight is my oldest Granddaughter’s Senior Prom. Tom & I went to see her & her BF all dressed up. I did take pictures. This is Beanie, who was very happy to see us. (Tom always gives the dogs “cookies” whenever we visit.) And this is JessaLu (She doesn’t like it when I take her picture.)
Oh, you wanted to see a picture of the kids? I’ll let Jess post those pictures first. Besides, my pics look a little fuzzy.

And today I got Flowers! Blue Iris & Pink Tulips. (The flowers are from Jess, Roger, Dobby &crew)  I can’t wait for them to open up.

I have finished my Charlotte’s Web Shawl. Putting on the fringe was a lot of fun. After I gave it a “hair cut” I put the trimmings out for the squirrels & birds for nest making.

As I have mentioned in a previous post I’ve been making a few cloth napkins: So far I have made about 35. They are really fun to make. At this rate I’m going to have to start giving them away!

I’ll see if Tom can take a picture of Charlotte for me tomorrow. Or Sunday.

Have a nice weekend, and if I don’t post Sunday, Happy Mother’s Day!

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Spring is coming to the Berkshires.

Last Tuesday, April 8, I decided to take some pics of the ice still on Lake Garfield.
 I had a really great post to go with it. Only problem the post was in my head, never made it to the blog. My week got busy and all of the sudden, it’s Sunday!

Well, the ice is all off the lake now.  And yesterday it was actually Hot! I think it got up to 70 degrees. Today it’s been in the 40’s.

My sister & I got together Saturday and went to the Library in the little town where she lives. When we went inside (at 10am) it was a little chilly. But when we came out at Noon it was very warm! What a difference in just 2 hours.

I have been knittng and finished crocheting the edge on my Charlotte. Now I have to weave in the ends and block here. Then I get to make the fringe!

My wrist is aching, I’ve been working on my (one of many) sock(s).  So there has been knitting.  

I drove to Pittsfield today. Had to buy some light blue flannel so that Amanda can finish the quilt I started for Corra. (I did the top just have not had the time or “steam” to finish it.)

Well this has certainly been a rambling blog. I’m tired and guess it’s time for this little knitter to head off to bed.

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It’s snowing, again

Well it’s changed over to snow and I have to admit that it sure looks pretty.

Today I got an early Christmas Present from Tom.  I’ve been looking at the iPod Shuffle and Tom figured he better give this to me early before I went out and bought one for myself. Kind of funny, because he’s the one that always buys himself stuff and there’s nothing for the rest of us to get him.
I’m starting a stocking for myself. Using Nero wool, different colorways. Cast on 40 stitches and knit on 10.5 US needles. I figure I’ll felt it and call it my own.
I’m going to get back to listening to my book on my Sansa ® Clip.

Good Evening. cj

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Not a typical Monday

The day dawned (at least I think it did, couldn’t tell with all the rain clouds). I arose cheerfully, looking forward to a wonderful day at work. (Right)

I had to wake Tom up to follow me into town. We went out to our vehicles to discovered a 1/4 inch layer of ice on the windshields. Man that took a while to get off. Used a lot of the deicer and almost froze my fingers off.

I had an appointment to have my oil changed and tires rotated and the usual stuff you get done when you drop your truck off at the garage.

The person, whom I went to school with (this guy is anal about everything. I know he’ll check everything) noticed that my inspection sticker had expired. He said that he would check everything and make sure it would get a sticker. (Not really a big deal, it’s only a 2000 Tundra) The truck would be done by noon time and Tom would go and pick it up and get it inspected.

Tom picked up the truck and drove down the road a short way, when the wheel fell off. The mechanic had a crazy morning. People stopping in to have him check things and phone calls. Just enough things to distract him. He felt absolutely awful. He said that he will fix anything that may have broken. Tom thinks something may have gotten bent because of a noise the felt. He’ll pick the truck up again tomorrow and try again. It was a good thing that he was driving. Usually we pick it up when I get out of work and I drive it home. I could have been crossing traffic. I shutter to think of the things that could have happened.

I don’t blame the guy. He’s by himself and has to do everything. He’s really kicking himself for not double checking the lug-nuts. He had put them on finger tight and got a call or something. He’s a nice guy, and I know this was something that will never be repeated.

On a happier note. I’ve gotten some knitting done. Most of the hand of a mitten for Corra. I’m worried that I don’t have enough for a pair. It’s what’s left after my mitts. I’ve stopped a couple of rows about the thumb. Now I’ve started the other one and knit and see if it looks like there’s enough to finish both. If not, I’ll get more yarn (oh darn, more yarn) and finish them.

With all the excitement I almost forgot. My Blue Moon STR arrived today! Hurray! 

That’s about it for today. Hope everyone has had a simpler day than we had. Happy knitting.      cj

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They’re Done!

I have finished “The Mittens”. I will not hear again “I have 1 1/2 mittens, she won’t finished the other one.” (This said with a lot of pouting.)

Well they are done.

Particulars:

The kit was purchased at the Massachusetts Sheep & Wool Fair in Cummington, MA. (It was in the spring of 2006, I think!) I bought it from GREENWOOD HILL FARM’S

Merino Fleece Stuffed Mittens Kit

The yarn is a Chocolate Brown, the softest Merino you have ever touched, and Pewter fleece.

I would have finished these a lot quicker, but later that summer I was a little distracted. Tom himself took center stage with me because of health reasons. I did manage to get a lot of socks knit though.

One thing I found out was that I should not stop something when I’m half done. My gauge was off and I way over stuffed the second mitten. I have been so close to ripping out the second one. I’m done with them. I swear, I will not reknit that second mitten!

He seems to be happy with them. (Or he just says he is because he knows how upset I would be if he didn’t like them.)

Now I get to knit without hearing him mumbling under his breath, “I wonder if you’ll ever finish my mittens.”

Well that’s about all for tonight. I’m going to sit and knit on a sock or two.

Happy knitting

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