InsanKnitty

Well, we were away for a wedding this weekend… loads of fun for sure… best picture though is this one…

My hubby John dancing with the groom during the Dollar Dance! Nick was mortified that his male friends jumped in his line… but hey.. it’s money right!

I’m living this whirlwind life right now… we’ve moved into a new home, we’re hardly unpacked, we went to Rochacha for the wedding and returned home today.. and in the morning I’m leaving for Maine… along the way I’m meeting up with Devon for a yarn crawl, and Isabelle as well! I’m also going to meet up with a weight watchers buddy, Missy.. it will be a week of visits with my best friend Beth and her family, and meeting 3 other online friends for the first time! FUN! When I get home my mom’s coming into town to help us with our camp duties for the first few days of Camp… (she’s watching the littles while we get through the first few hectic days with registration and all that stuff!)… I think life will MAYBE settle down after camp ends… that’s a very LARGE and unlikely MAYBE!

So … if I’m not around very much… please accept my apologies.. I’ll try to get the chance to blog, but I’m thinking that the chances will be minimal… so instead I’ll probably do a photo blog of my trip when I return… in the meantime… keep knitting my friends! I may even have a few more Harry Potter cloths to post when I get back.. you never know!

and before I forget….

Anne Meme’d me.. and I’m going to hopefully quickly go through this..

Instructions:
Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot:

1. Fat Chick Crafts
2. Put a Sock in it
3. Sacha’s Nation
4. The Bag Lady and the Pro
5. InsanKnitty
Next, select 5 people to tag:

1. Isabelle

2. Kathy

3. Kristi

4. Mia

5. Tammy

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was living in Rochester, dating my now husband, in fact, 10 years ago we were engaged…. I was working in Infertility still at The Institute for Reproductive Health and Infertility. I loved my job. I was also nearly finished with my Master’s Degree coursework and begining my thesis work. Wow… that was 10 years ago?? weird…

What were you doing one year ago?

Ugh 1 year ago we had just put our house on the market.. and I was working like a freak to keep my home in Museum, show room quality for potential buyers (not an easy feat with 3 children under age 6!

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Caramel or Butterscotch candies
2. Goldfish (Ahh the joy of kid snacks!)
3. Bananas
4. Pretzels (the honey wheat twists!)
5. Grapes

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

1. Anything by The Wiggles
2. Anything by Laurie Birkner (hmm I’m sensing a trend)
3. Piano Man - Billy Joel
4. American Pie - Don McLean
5. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Open a Yarn Store with a Coffee & Pastry Cafe attached, and complete with a kids playroom. (Anne, you copy cat!)
2. Set up trust funds for my kids.
3. Travel to Europe and then Africa.
4. Buy a beach house in the outer banks.
5. Pay off my mom’s debts and buy her a house.

Five bad habits

1. Biting the skin around my nails (NOPE NOT MY NAILS)… I get called on that all the time.. I swear I’m not biting the nails, just the skin around the nails.
2. I drive too fast… even with my kids in the car. I’m typically 7-10 miles over the speed limit… which probably isn’t as bad as I think it is since I’ve only been pulled over 1 time for speeding. And yes I paid the ticket instead of fighting it because it was in Virginia!
3. Coffee… I don’t think of it as a bad habit, but I probably waste more weight watchers flex points on creamer than it’s worth… but still.. I love my morning coffee!
4. I’m a people pleaser. I have to learn to work harder at pleasing myself first and worrying about pleasing everyone else later. But… I can’t seem to get a grip on that. I’m so intensely concerned with making everyone around me happy that it often leads to my own discomfort and stress.
5. I’m a ‘YES’ woman… I know that this can be very closely tied in with being a people pleaser. But I think it’s two separate things… at least for me. I cannot say no… I want to attempt to do all the things that are asked of me… even when I’m quite sure I will be staying up way to late to get them all done. I’m an incredibly organized person, and can handle a lot on my plate.. but saying no once in a while would do a number on my stress levels!

Five things you like doing:

1. Knitting
2. Scrapbooking
3. Reading
4. Playing with my kids
5. Running

Five things you would never wear again:

1. A tank top without a bra… I may be very small, but 3 kids, 3 + combined years of nursing has done NOTHING good for my silouette in a tank without a bra!
2. Spanky’s, bloomers, whatever you want to call the blue, spandex, grannie undie-like strack shorts we were required to wear in college for track and field and cross-country meets!
3. Men’s Pyjama pants as pants
4. High Heels, man why why why do I torture myself at weddings. John’s 6′5″, I’m 5′ 1″… heels are NEVER going to change the height differential enough to be worth it!
5. Braces, thank God.. .4 years was WAY too long!

Five favorite toys:

1. My Laptop
2. My iPod
3. My Garmen
4. My Heartrate monitor
5. My palm pilot

So… it’s been over about a month now since I received my Tea Swap and my Harry Potter Sock Kit Swap packages and today I finally got to take some pics of my loot!

First the Tea Swap. I got to meet my swap partner (which I did previously mention) Mia… it was so cool to meet her in person. Not only did she give me the BEST Swap package EVER… she was really really cool… and… she threw in a bunch of washable wool yarn since we were in the middle of our move from NC to PA… and here in PA, my kiddos will need warm hats, mittens and scarves… and I’m sure that I’ll be able to knit plenty with the amount of yarn she gave me! Holy Moly girl!

Here’s my luscious loot!

mmmm Berry Wine…

yummy yummy yarn… LOOK AT ALL THAT YARN PEOPLE!!! This goes way above and beyond the requirements for our swap!

Ok, I’ve never spun before.. but she sent me the prettiest drop spindle and some raw wool… while it’s not something I’ll get to soon… I am really going to enjoy trying it out this fall!

More fun knitterly goodness…. I LOVE the key chain and it’s already attached to my keys!

And onto the Tea component…

A very “ME” Madeline Engbreight (I know I’m spelling that wrong) Mug, with cool felt flowers and a beautiful Silk Gerber Daisy head… soooo cool (it was on the top of the box when I opened it)

And some great loose leaf teas, a brewable Iced Tea and a flowering tea (which I can’t wait to try but will probably have to at least until next week… The Tea pot is amazing!!! Again WAY above the call of duty there!

And.. some cool Gettysburg PA reading materials..

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I can’t thank you enough Mia!! You’re an amazing swap partner!

My Harry Potter Sock Kit Swap partner is Helena… Helena had a medical problem that surfaced during our swap, and a month went by without her posting. I just saw yesterday that she’s back… and is trying hard to quit smoking to help with her medical issue… stop by and wish her well!

Look at this awesome bag and the cool yarn and yummy Hogwartly candies!

And finally… my dear friend Chan

… she sent me this awesome surprise gift… some beautiful stitch markers, made by Alabama Fiber Dreams… who’s link I’m currently missing but will update soon…

I leave you with some of our flowers and a new Sparky relaxing in the back yard photo…

Sparky… playful and happy to be back with the family it seems. He even let Chelsea (who’s only 2 3/4 hug him and kiss him last night. This is him this morning though, just prior to breakfast (I was certain I’d get a photo if I waited to feed him!)

I have unfinished business… and I tried to get this done last night but John was using the laptop to do ‘camp‘ business so I couldn’t get ahold of the computer… besides I was too busy finishing the Deathly Hallows… Devon, I hope you’re done by the 31st so we could potentially discuss it!

First… AGES.. and I mean AGES.. (well, to me.. a few days seems like ages anyway) ago, Isabelle nomiated me…

Thank you readers, and Isabelle for considering me worthy of this award! I’m so flattered Isabelle that you think I rock, because you are the reason I started my own blog! (well I had been thinking of it for quite a while, but after following yours I finally got busy on mine!)… I obviously cannot re-nominate Isabelle for this award… so I will nominate the following seriously Rockin’ girl bloggers!

Anne, Chan (who’s already been nomiated), Devon, Anny, Aunt Kathy, Donna (Because she bought yarn AT the Blarney Woolen Mills) and Kristi.

And since I’ll never get this posted if I don’t stop somewhere along the way…

Here’s a little contest I joined after reading about it on Chan’s blog.

I keep singing in my head the song ‘My boyfriend’s back and he’s better than before… hey la, hey la, my boyfriend’s back!’

Our cat disappeared the day we moved into the new house… he’s an outdoor cat, and has done this disappearing act before.. but never for more than 2-3 days… its been a little over a week! John and I had decided to call the animal control folks and hang posters in the neighborhood today.. it was going to be my project this morning to find the printer, and start making fliers…

I went out onto the back stoop to feed the dogs and Sparky came sauntering by.. meowed at me as if to say.. ‘ok, where’s MY food’… I mean, I’d put it out for him every night for the first 5 days… and it never got touched! Even WET food which I despise…

He chowed down on some wet food (since we have it)… and seemed pleased… we tried to bring him inside, as if to say ’see… we’re here now.. this is our stuff, it’s going to stay here’… but he was less than thrilled with the idea of coming into the house for a visit… we let him back out and he took off into the woods on our side yard. He watched me put his food bowl and water on the front porch though so I’m certain he knows where we are now and will stick around!

Thank goodness too, because after the whole Chewy ordeal and telling the kids that their dog is going to die soon… well I was less than thrilled at the prospect of sharing the news that their cat was gone too!

**Note… I’m not really reading my friends blogs right now for fear of Harry Potter spoilers… so gang I’ll be checking back with y’all when I’m finished reading… I’m a bit more than half way through… I’m limited to night time reading only right now…

Ok, I just want to scream at myself for rushing and posting this pattern before knitting a completed cloth… I have changes… sorry folks! I didn’t realize the pattern would result in a rectangle… grrr… so I am re-posting the pattern. If you want the original pattern feel free to email me for it. I have updated the pattern below with the ’square’ (normal shaped) dishcloth. Can you say ‘GRUMPY!’?!?!?!

Cast On 40 Stitches
1-5 Knit
6 (and all even rows) K4 P32 K4
7 Knit
9 Knit
11 K23 P3 K14
13 K8 P1 K1 P2 K10 P1 K2 P1 K14
15 K8 P1 K1 P2 K10 P1 K2 P3 K12
17 K7 P17 K3 P2 K11
19 K7 P17 K3 P2 K11
21 K8 P2 K3 P1 K2 P1 K2 P2 K1 P1 K2 P3 K12
23 K11 P2 K2 P1 K2 P1 K1 P1 K1 P1 K2 P1 K14
25 K10 P1 K3 P1 K2 P1 K1 P1 K3 P3 K14
27 K9 P5 K3 P2 K21
29 Knit
31 Knit
33 K27 P5 K8
35 K16 P3 K7 P1 K2 P2 K9
37 K16 P1 K2 P1 K5 P1 K2 P1 K5 P1 K5
39 K14 P3 K2 P1 K5 P3 K4 P1 K1 P1 K5
41 K13 P2 K3 P17 K5
43 K13 P2 K3 P17 K5
43 K14 P3 K2 P1 K4 P3 K5 P2 K6
47 K16 P1 K2 P1 K4 P1 K2 P1 K12
49 K16 P3 K6 P1 K2 P2 K10
51 K26 P5 K9
53 Knit
55 Knit
57 K4 P32 K4
58-61 Knit
Bind Off

Happy Potterly Knitting!

I would be able to post my new Harry Potter dishcloth…

and no.. sadly it’s not the Dark Mark I’ve been painstakingly frogging every other day…

This one is a Sorcerer’s Stone dishcloth… :-)  Hope y’all will like it!

Check back later tonight!

I’m supposed to be out running… enjoying the cooler PA temps.. and what am I doing?

Surfing…

blog land… yay! I’ve been reading up on my swap partners for Knitters Virtual Vacation, and Dog Days of Summer… and reading on my Weight Watcher’s threads… I haven’t been able to do this for two weeks! But the scale tells me I should be running

I need to vent/rant here for a moment about the Dark Mark cloth I’ve been trying to design… I’m so frustrated…

My Harry Potter cloth that I recently designed and posted here was my first design… it was a lot of fun and turned out exactly as I had imagined it in my mind… but this dark mark.. dang if I can get it to look right… I’ve knit it 3 times and ripped it 3 times… and still… NOT what I want… I may have to put it aside and do something else Harry Potter… I have a quidditch one in mind, and a Dobby… so maybe I’ll start work on those two and come back to the Dark Mark… I just thought that the DM was so much more appropriate for the upcoming book release… maybe just maybe I can get it right in time for the 21st… we’ll see… with all the unpacking that lays ahead of me this next week I’ll be surprised if I can get knitting time, but I’ll certainly be trying…

we close on our house today at 2! wahoo!

Ok, that run is calling louder and louder by the second…

Ok, that’s not entirely true… it’s only been 8 days, but it feels like longer.. and I owe some BIG posts…

I attempted several times to post my July 4th Pikes Peak post, and failed… my in-laws are on a dish network at home and I dont’ know if it was their speed or the weather or what but I could just never get it posted… I will attempt to get that done in the next few days, but will probably NOT as I am so overwhelmed right now with our move… and Chewy… and just life… I am so sorry Firefly for failing in my end of the bargain for Pikes Peak.. I WILL get it posted soon, I promise!

I have a number of photos to share.. quickly and then I have to get… thank goodness for free wifi at Brueggers!

I have news on Chewy to share… her cancer is a malignant form that is highly invasive and metastatic (meaning, fast growing, and will spread easily)… we have probably up to 6 months left with our dear girl… so we are taking the extra time each day to tell her how much we love her and just enjoy her… we told the children, and they took it rather hard… which doesn’t surprise me given how much they love her… we made a stepping stone with her pawprint on it for our new yard, and will do the same with our other pets as a way to honor their lives and our memories of the fun we’ve had with them.

Suzanne, one of Chewy’s original owners, took some time to take a nice nap with Chewy…

I took the time to relax a bit at my in-laws and knit… I got a number of things completed, including the following…

A fun fur hat (for fun) for my Father-in-law

A cupcake dishcloth for a friend

A shower scrubby for my Mother-in-law

A house warming present for my sis-in-law

And I received my Tea Swap package from Mia, here’s a quick pic…

I also received my Hogwarts Sock Kit swap package from Helena, and I love it, but forgot somehow to take a photo, so I”ll put that in here sometime soon!

I took an afternoon for myself and went to a few LYS in the Rochester area, including The Yarne Shope and Knit n Purl (which wasn’t open but I oggled the store from it’s glass windows… I’ll definitely be going back there!)

I have their info/links etc and will update Anne’s LYS blog as soon as I can…

We met up with friends and their Quad’s for a day of fun at the playground and a yummy Pontillo’s pizza and wings lunch.. YUM!

We had a ton of fun with our cousins for the fourth of July at my in-laws home… sparklers, fireworks, etc… it was great!

We celebrated one cousin’s birthday with a yummy cake and tons of fun at my Sis-in-law’s new house…

Happy birthday Suzanne!

I did get in a good amount of running as well,… John and I ran in the Sodus Point Lighthouse 5k race on the fourth and I placed first in my age group with a time of 22:16. Not my fastest by far, but still a good race… We enjoyed ourselves and our prizes..

When I get more time I’ll update this post with links etc… I just have to get moving. (pun intended)…

First to Helena, for a super awesome HPSK swap package.. I love my monogrammed bag, it’s so cool!  And the yarn is lovely and just everything.. I really love the little matchbook notebook and the stitch markers are beautiful!  I’m sure I’ll end up having to share my goodies with my kidlets.. but that’s how it goes ;-)  I haven’t had the time to find my camera yet… so I’ll take picks tomorrow and hopefully get a chance to get back online (that’s slim to none)…

Second to Mia, wow… Mia.. you’ll be getting another package from me… I haven’t even had the chance to completely go through my box yet for my Tea Swap… you WAY outdid yourself…   Meeting you was really very very cool!  I’m sorry my kids were so chatty and demanding of my attention.. because it would have been so nice to actually have more time to chat…

I will have extremely limited email and blog time while I’m in NY…  I’ll send along Chewy updates as I get more news (including now.. we have gotten the news that her cancer is malignant, and is likely already spread… we are just watching her for signs of pain, discomfort, loss of appetite etc., at which point it will be time to help her go over the Rainbow Bridge… and to the field filled with woodchucks, bunnies and squirrels for her to stalk and chase all day long… )

Coming soon… check back on July 4th for the adventure!