Baby Hoodie Times Two

I won't bother sharing the picture of the second hoodie (which was really the first) again, just scroll down to see it in the post before this one. I love these little hoodies. I suppose they are cardigans, but doesn't hoodie sound more hip? My kids have informed me I'm a walking blast from the past, so I need all the help I can get. :p

Specs:

Pattern: Easy Baby Cardigan

Yarn: Knit Picks Cotlin, 1 skeins. The sweater in my previous post is Kramer Yarns Little Lehigh in the It's a Boy colorway. Let me just say, I much prefer the KP Cotlin. One thing about the red though, it bleeds....a lot. Rinse it realllly well when blocking.

Needles: Size 7

Yardage: I barely used anything from the 2nds skein of Kramer Yarns. Cotlin, takes about a skein and a half to knit the 6 months size.

Modifications: None, other than the fact that I picked up stitches and knit I-cord ties rather than crocheted or twisted ties.

I would definitely knit these sweaters again. They're great mindless knitting, which, let's face it...we all need mindless knitting sometimes. ;-)

Tomorrow, I pick my Mom up from the airport. We're going here on the way home. I can't wait.....

Up From the Grave He Arose!

Sharing a bit of Easter goodness with you....

And, a finished knitting project. Details to come....

Happenings

Lots of happenings going on around here during the month of March. Liberty broke her ankle. Such a freak thing really. She fell. That's it. Nothing spectacular, she just fell. Of course, she cried. Me being the fantabulous mother that I am, told her to just get in bed and quit crying. Really, I thought it was no big deal. Until she got up the next morning and couldn't walk. That's when I knew we had a problem. Thankfully, Mike was able to take her to the ER. Of course it happened on a day when I had a gazillion things to do because we were having company for dinner that night! The ER doctors didn't think she would need a cast, but apparently she did. This picture serves a two-fold purpose. See that green stuff Liberty is sitting in? She declared the day we got grass as the "best day of her life." Too funny. Atleast we can let the dogs back there now.

Devin had his JROTC ball on Saturday. He had a blast. I think the most fun event of the evening maybe have been going into the basement because the tornado sirens went off. Fun stuff, let me tell 'ya. He didn't bring a date, even though he would have liked to. He had to buy his ticket at the end of January. Since he had only been attending the school for a couple of weeks, he didn't know anyone well enough to ask them to go with them. However, he did inform me that he danced with a few girls. Yee-gads.

Last by not least, Mike got a promotion!!!!!!!! I am so proud of him. If you speak "Army," he went from E-5 to E-7 in five years, AND he was a reclass! Of course, as soon as his ceremony was over, he was already talking about E-8. Silly guy. :-) Not the greatest picture in the world, but atleast it's something. Mike's friend Brian drove to Knox from Campbell for the ceremony. He ripped the old rank off so I could stick the new rank on. Can I just say, pinning rank isn't the same now that it's VELCRO!!!!!!!!!!!

Poison Vinnlands

I am so glad to be done with these socks. They were a joy to knit, but I'm quite ashamed they took me so long. I probably shouldn't even admit it...they took 11 months!!! They were a bit out of my comfort zone...I had never knit with a 16 row chart before. I never did memorize the pattern. HA! I guess the reason they took me so long is because I was knitting other things at the same time. I'm not a very good multi-tasker when it comes to knitting I suppose.

Project Specs...

Wollmeise Poison Number 5 (LOVE this yarn...would love it more if it wasn't so stinkin' hard to get!)

Needles...Knit Picks 2.5mm

Pattern...Vinnland

I knit them toe-up, with Becca's Toe-up Heel Flap formula. Easy-peasy...you should try it.

Stash Enhancing

I've done a bit of stash enhancing lately. I don't really have much of a yarn stash. I've outgrown one rubbermaid tote, which really isn't much at all. I do think I'm going to have to quit buying yarn until I can get some more of it knitted up though. I really am more comfortable staying within the one rubbermaid tote. :p I figured I would share some of the yummy new yarn that has recently come into my life.

First, we have Dream in Color Classy in the Good Luck Jade colorway. I'm planning to make a sweater for myself, but am not 100% sure on the pattern. I'm thinking this, #257.

Next, we have Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Iris Garden. This yarn was a surprised from The Loopy Ewe when I became a groupie. I love it! Iris' are one of my favorite flowers, and purple is my favorite color!

I scored this from someone on Ravelry hoping to destash it. I had a bit of help from Becca, because I never find cool destashes on my own. I absolutely adore this yarn, and can't wait to knit it up. It's a Wee Skein Sock Kit by Knitterly Things. The 4 colors are Oh Lollipop, Verbina, Muddy Waters and Sweet Summer Sky. Yumm-o.

Next, I'll show you something I think is a little fun. I don't have a particular plan for it, but I couldn't resist. It's a Sock Turtle Kit! She also sells Sock Monkey kits, I think there is a giraffe kit, lots of fun stuff. Check it out!One last thing, lest you think I don't actually knit with the yarn that I buy. Although, I do feel quite happy with my knitting progress as of late. ;-)

Another pair of Mitered Mittens in Noro Silk Garden. I wish they were a bit more matchy-matchy, but I didn't have enough yarn. I used nearly a full two skeins for the mitts! I think next time I'll shorten the cuff. I had lengthened it when I made Katie's mitts, which works well for kids (no snow in there coat sleeves) but not so much for me. In all honesty, I'm not really going to be trampsing around in the snow enough to actually get snow in my coat sleeves, eh? ;-) I do love them though. Mikayla is already asking me for a pair for her. Our winter is nearly over here in KY, so I'll shoot for next winter for her.

I finished a baby sweater a couple of days ago and have already cast on for another. There are lots of people having babies these days! As soon as the finished sweater is blocked, I'll share it. :-)

Sweethearts

Valentines Day is a pretty low key holiday around here. I would much prefer to be shown love for the other 364 days of the year, rather than just one day. Rather than focus on the "holiday" ourselves, we (I should really say, "I" since the other person who makes it "we" isn't home enough to have a say these days) decided to do some fun stuff with the kids. I picked up dinner from Papa Murphys....

Heart shaped pizzas. They were rather yummy. I'll be ordering from Papa Murphys again, that is for sure.

I stayed up late Friday night making some little trinket candy holders for the kids, as well as Mike. This is what I came up with....

Here is the card I made for Mike.

The inside:

We snuggled on the couches after dinner and watched Igor. Dare I say, that movie was d.u.m.b. I might have a different opinion of it had I been able to stay awake, but I digress. Atleast the kids liked it. :p

Someone finished a couple of knitting projects this week....

She actually finished 2 of them. One for me, one for my Mom. She has plans to knit me a dish towel next. She's chomping at the bit to start it. We purchased the yarn, I just need to get a new printer so I can print out the pattern for her. Sadly, the movers didn't pack the power cord to my existing printer in the same box as the actual printer. We are unable to find the power cord. Ugh. Sam's Club has a printer on sale for cheap. I'm going to buy it hopefully tonight while the kids are at BJJ and TKD.

February Lady in February

The February Lady Sweater is FINALLY finished. I'm ashamed about how long it took me to complete, but it is what it is. I mailed it to my Mom yesterday. I'm hoping she'll get it tomorrow, but the mail is ever so slow when you live in Podunkville. :p I absolutely love this sweater. I really wanted to keep it for myself. So much so that I dared not even try it on, lest I couldn't help myself. I'm hoping Mom will send me a picture of her wearing it, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Objects of my Affection

I've been a very bad blogger. I'll not spare you with all of the boring details (we moved to KY, brought my mother-in-law with us...she stayed for almost a month...we had an awful ice storm that left us without power or heat for a few days, etc.). I dare say, we are finally settling in. We're trying to discover our new normal, since Mike works all.the.time. Did you know there is no such thing as a weekend in Drill Sgt. land? He was home by 6pm tonight. That would mean it's been his shortest day yet, well except for Sundays when he only works a half day. Today, he only worked 13 hours. He has worked as many as 17, twice. Fun stuff, let me tell ya. Other than the ridiculous hours, he doesn't seem to be minding it too much. Anyway, on to more important business. Check these babies out....

The washer is a GE 4 cu. ft. Front-Load Washer with HydroHeater™ Internal Heater for Cleaning Tough Stains, and of course, the matching dryer. I *heart* these babies. They're so pretty! And so quiet! I feel like I should display them in the living room for all to see! If I had guests, I would wisk them to my laundry room to have a little look see. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have guests? :p I agonized over which brand to buy. Samsung, LG, GE, no how about Whirlpool, no, LG....no, Samsung...GE? Mike was every so grateful when I decided on the GEs. I was interested in the Samsungs because they have noise reducing technology or something like that. The LGs were interesting because the salesman at HHGregg was going to give us an awesome deal. Sadly, when we went to purchase them, the deal wasn't as great as originally offered. The GEs though, we got a great deal on them. No pedestals as of yet. I'm trying them without to see if I can justify the extra $400. Really, the pedestals are just storage drawers...spendy ones at that! My laundry room is pretty small. I'm not even sure how well they would fit with pedestals. It would be nice not to have to bend down to rotate the laundry though. Amazingly enough, I've been caught up on my laundry since these were delivered. :-)

Next...this isn't a great picture, but my new sofa and loveseat...

Please excuse the messy TV stand. I cleaned it today, so it's much tidier now, thank you very much. :p The sofa reclines. Very comfy. Very, very comfy. I sleep on it nearly every morning. 'Cause you know, I'm not a fan of mornings, so when I get up to send Devin to school (really all I do it tell him good-bye...sending him off to school would require me getting up more than 5 minutes before he has to leave the house), I crash on the couch for another hour or so before I get up to start the day. We had our hearts set on red, reclining sofas. They were not to be had. Well, I take that back. We could have had them for double what we wanted to pay, and I would have had to wait 5 weeks to get them. Those of you who know me know waiting isn't my strong point. So, chocolate brown it is. I LOVE them. We're mean though...we don't let the kids recline them without permission. Could you imagine? Five rough, tough kids yanking on the reclining mechanism all the time? Nope, these couches need to last me a few years, thank you very much. They don't complain about it too much, and I'm grateful.
Here's a little Valentine craft I worked on this week. 'Cause you know, I'm bored out of my mind since my husband works all the time. HA! It's a banner that I hung on the wall. The rectangles are 4x6, so it's pretty good sized.

Here's a close-up of my favorite square...

I should probably mention that this wasn't my idea. I stole it from my copy-cat sister. heehee

I have been knitting. Quite a bit, actually. Here's a sneak peak of a Loopy Ewe package I got in the mail the other day. It was like Chirstmas, I'm telling ya.....