Thursday, January 29, 2009

Where Did January Go?


Evil Kitten
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
OMG, what happened, it can't be the end of January already! I have so much to do! 3 birthday's in February, Valentine's Day gifts to make, an Arts & Crafts show to go to in Asheville, NC and I need to alter some clothes! I have nothing to wear!
Plus look at my evil kitten who is not helping me get any work done. This was me trying to make a shirt for my niece's birthday gift! I have 4 of 7 parts done! I'm hoping she's all tuckered out from harassing me this afternoon, so I can get work done this evening!
I visited my neighbor last night and I learned so much I just have to share! She bought this awesome book called The Knitter's Book of Yarn. Which tells you everything you could ever want to know about yarn, there weights, how warm they are, etc... I learned that wool is not the friend I thought it was. It will not keep me as warm as angora from a rabbit. Which is 8 times warmer than wool! Seriously that's a lot when it's in the negative numbers! Or alpaca which I think is eight times warmer than wool but is much denser so an alpaca sweater will weigh a ton compared to a wool sweater! The info can go on and on. So I need this book but it has to wait until I have the time to sit and read! I can tell there will be some serious knitting changes around here in the up coming year!
So good bye January, Helloooooo February!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Little Conversations


After Bath Head
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
These are conversations between my husband and my youngest who is 4.
Her on potty problems to my husband.
Dad I'm a great poop wiper, it's the front that drips a little sometimes.
Her on being born.
Dad who came out of your belly?
My husband, No one came out of my belly. You came out of your mother's belly. You are 50% genetically mine. I gave you your blue eyes! Your welcome!
My daughter, Thanks?!??????? As she walks away trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Be Quiet...


Persephone
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
So the voices in my head can talk! Is what I wanted to tell my one coworker today! Unfortunately she's not right in the head and I was afraid she would start telling me about all the voices in her head and then Oi!
I try not to judge people but having met many people from all walks of life you know when someone is just not right. No matter how nice they are, you need to put a wall between you and them so they don't follow you home.
One of my co worker's is named Mary aka Crazy Mary because she is bloody talkative you can't get her to be quiet. She trapped me today in the break room. I sat down for dinner and I made the biggest mistake of my life. I looked her right in the eyes!
We all know the story of Medusa and how you should never look her in the eyes or you will turn to stone. Well this is what happened to me. I frozen, trapped at the table to eat my dinner in nods and uhh huh's! Too scared to tell her to go away and I had too much crap to make a run for it. Thankfully she has a bum hip so in the future I'm going to run.
I had heard all the stories from other coworkers how they had gotten trapped and heard about her maniac depression and all the meds she was on. I got to hear about everything else. I didn't even need to talk. I think the only 2 things I said was drive home carefully and yes I've been knitting for 20 years.
So my peaceful dinner was anything but peaceful. My lovely coworkers who are guys came up to watch me trapped. Not offering to help at all just to sit back and laugh! No knitting was accomplished either, I didn't want to make any sudden movements!
I thought this picture was appropriate. When we received the kitten she was having upset stomach issues and the meds we gave she didn't like! I've never seen a cat drool!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

One Sock Two Socks, Two Mismatching Socks


M's Socks
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
I finished these last night but then couldn't find a needle to sew the ends up with. Darn you Murphy's Law!!!!! Then when I did find the needle I couldn't get them on the child's feed. Her concern. They don't match! They aren't supposed to is what I had to explain to her. After thinking about it they went on and I think she likes them. I didn't realize there was a hole until I took the picture. The other sock doesn't any holes and I thought I did the same thing because I knit them at the same time. Opps. There's always next time to fix the problem. I did not knit the heels at the same time. One sock does have 40 stitches for the ribbing while the other one 38. Oh well they just need to keep her warm!
Hope everyone is staying warm. I am totally missing our wood stove! The house felt warm, well at least there were really warm parts in the house. Now it's cold, frigid and frigid freaking cold! Can't wait for the part to arrive!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Warm Happy Thoughts


Fire
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
Of course the weather plunges into the coldest part of the winter months and our wood stove is in need of a new baffle. What does this mean? You ask... The top of the firebox looks like it's melting. So it's sinking lower and lower and lower. Thankfully they can be replaced! We've order one and it will only set us back $150 plus shipping. Still under $200. Take that old furnace! Anyone who has replaced a furnace knows that you can't get away with anything as cheap as that.
If you have a wood stove and have any questions that you can't find an answer to I highly recommend this website Hearth.com. It's board of those who love wood stoves, pellet stoves etc... You have a question you will get all sorts of answers but these guys know there stuff. They hooked me up with websites and all sorts of other things. Of course they want me to upgrade to an EPA approved stove but it's not happening anytime soon.
I do not enjoy being stressed out! I know some people thrive off it. Not me. Last week my husband's union called a meeting to talk about all the job cuts because of the budget problems. Well there was a snow day last week, so it was postponed until this week. I don't know if I'm happy about what they told him or even more worried now. They are going to try to keep all the full time teachers. Which he is but he may only be working just enough to keep his benefits which means he loses a big chunk of his salary. So it's like I'm sort of happy but how are we going to make up for the lost wages? Yes he does own his own business but just because he makes things doesn't mean they will sell.
It just takes me back to my childhood and the instability of my life. Our constant moving, would there be food on our plates, would there be clothes on our backs for the next school year?
Thankfully my health is way better than my mother's! Plus I'm very resourceful. Which means lots of gardening! On the super plus side my SIL has offered me a plot to plant my vegetable garden at her house! I'm going to take her up on that offer. I hope she realizes that I will be working my butt off up there!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Cloth Lunch Bag


Cloth Lunch Bag
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
Another project that is done and just needed to be photographed in my fabric lunch bag. It is really big. Bigger than I intended but I couldn't find the paper bag I wanted it to match so I took a small one and guessed on the measurements. Now I know what size it needs to be and will make one over the summer? It still needs a handle or a tie of some sort. I figure if I use it, the solution will reveal it's self.
So the next one will be perfect?
This was sooo easy to make! It took maybe 2 hours. Well technically it took 6 hours but 3-4 of those hours were spent making dinner, eating dinner and putting children to bed. If I come up with a good design for the handle and ties I may make a tutorial. Please don't hold your breathe. Time here very limited for that sort of thing. If you can't wait, leave a comment and I can tell you how I went about it. This only has 6 panels and technically it's reversible. How great is that?! It practically makes it's self!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Done And Hopefully Worn A Lot!


R socks
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
I finally finished these socks for my oldest. It took forever. She never makes things easy for me. She didn't want wool socks, so we had to look through tons of acrylic yarn that I was given. What I had and what she wanted were 2 different things. She picked out super finger weight yarn. So I had to combine 2 yarns to make one manageable yarn to work with. Then I started running out of the one weight (the red, white and pink) thin stuff. So the last sock that is all red has a heavier weight red in it. Hopefully she will wear these.
Today was the funeral, so I had off from work. It was really nicer than I expected it to be. I didn't have to say anything. Which probably wouldn't have happened because my mom spoke and our whole row lost it. Ever notice when you go to a funeral no one has tissues?! I was passing them out to my brother, my SIL and my oldest! Thankfully my nose runs a lot in cold weather so I have a good stash of unused (sometimes used) tissues! Then the funeral director gave a really awesome speech. Seriously this guy was good! He talked about how his father passed away and how angry he was. It took him 7 years to grieve. He really put life and death in a perspective we don't usually think about.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pirate Melia


Pirate Melia
Originally uploaded by catscluttercrafts
Yesterday my youngest was complaining there was something in her eye. So I looked in it and saw nothing. Washed it out to the best of my ability. Four year old's idea of washing and an adults idea of washing are two totally different concepts.
I noticed she had a scratch on her nose. I asked her about it and she told me the kitten scratched her. She has been forbidden to pick up the kitten because she ends up getting scratched for being to rough with the the kitten. She unfortunately has not taken the wounds seriously because I'm positive the kitten scratched her eye. So I call the doctor as she cries every 5 minutes because her eye hurts. The only way she is happy is covering her eye. Which I let her, unfortunately she's applying too much pressure and by the we see the doctor it's extremely swollen and red.
To make a tragic story short and an experience I would like to forget. The doctor couldn't find a scratch after putting the dye in the eye and shining the light. If you think my daughter sat still like she was in a coma you are very wrong. More like Tasmanian devil on drugs! It was bad! The doctor thinks she is allergic to the kitten and she wasn't scratched. I think she's wrong because she never complained of itching just lots and lots of pain! Hence lots of tears and clutching only one eye not two. So she's on antibiotics galore.
Her eye is feeling much better today. I bought the patch because she didn't want to let go of her eye or if she did she was walking around with both eyes closed! It was very pathetic picking up her prescription because I told her no more holding her eye. So she walked around holding my hand with her eyes closed! Yes we received many strange looks but she was happy and not crying.
I am so behind on house work from waiting on her hand and foot yesterday! Plus spending a good portion wrestling her down to get eye drops in both eyes!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

A Moment Of Silence

Yesterday my grandmother past away.  I haven't seen her in 2 years, which I kind of feel bad about but not terribly horrible.  She had dementia and once she sold her house and moved into a senior living apartments it was downhill from there.  She didn't stay long because the change didn't help her mental health.  
The home she moved into was a locked down unit.  The only time I visited her was Christmas Day and she thought I was her SIL.  It was a nice visit and the girls had fun.  When we went to leave there was no one at the desk and my grandmother was going to walk us out.  She couldn't go past the doors but there was no one at the desk to let us out.  The lobby was right there and all the residents were sitting there.  There was on gentleman who was laughing maniacally!  It was extremely uncomfortable and took forever for someone to show up to let us out and redirect my grandmother.  
I'm relieved she went quickly. 

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Cathy Carron's Berry Bobble Hat

Look it's the hat that took FOREVAH! All those little bobbles are a pain in the butt! Which is why it took so long. There's 6 knits into one stitch for everyone of those puppies! I didn't follow the pattern exactly because my yarn was a heavier weight than was recommended but I like how it turned out.
Want to knit it? It's from Interweave Knits Holiday 2008. They have some nice fingerless gloves too that I need to knit for work! It's cold when I hang tags in the freezer section!
The yarn in from Lotus Knits Big Ass Yarn Club. It was November's yarn called Mulled Wine! I think?!
I worked during the day and it is sooooo boring seriously my brain turned off because there was nothing to do except stock! Hope you all are nice and warm. Temperature going to work this morning, Negative 2!!! Now that is cold!