Joey on the Mower and FO's

My finished project for the week, a crocheted baby blanket....

Chilling on the couch Sunday morning, we had to bring all the blankets and stuffed critters out to the couch...

Outside pic playing

Took a video of Joey mowing the lawn(kinda)...

Topic of the Week Fall into Autumn #3

Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!!

What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why?

The most favorite thing is the changing of colors. I have a most gorgeous drive once the leaves start turning, (small point I am describing my drive to work into New Brunswick, NJ, so don't worry if you are lost:-) I drive south on Rt 18 over the Raritan right at Johnson Park, wonderful view of the park, the trees, the bend of the river, makes my morning no mater what the weather, but fall is when it the best, so full of color, the mist off the river in the morning. Best part of going to work.

I also enjoy the cooler weather, but still warm enough to just need a light jacket or sweater. Some day that will be a shawl, which is still a WIP....

Two package Day

I was stalking the mailperson... I saw them drive down the other side of the street, that means in 10 mins give or take a couple, he will be deliverying to my side of the street. I was expecting a swap package, didn't now which one, Jane Doe emailed me so, knew it would be this week. And I had some new stuff coming in from Jen at Woolgirl for a baby girl present, got this but in the pink, some Shrek for Joey. Don't know if I will do socks or may be a hat scarf, something that will last a while. Socks I worry he may outgrow them, even though I can lengthen them..... Will have to see what patterns grabs me I guess... And then there was this for me, Lime slushy from Zen Garden. Much better in person. The front door was open, I was standing in the kitchen, watching, listening(mail trucks have a distinct sound), waiting. He pulled up and put stuff in the box and I waited, he hadn't pulled away yet... Then he backed up...huh... ahhh cant get out of the truck parked next to the mailbox. I intercepted him before he was even on the porch. Mine!

But the best was the package from my SITM swapper. Thank You so much Kietha, the Baudelaire socks are gorgeous, this was on my some day list, when I was ready for cables. They are made in this wonderful red colorway, dyed by Keitha herself. I dont want to put any shoes on they are so pretty. I almost cryed when I saw them, I love them so much!! Ok here are the pics....


Also in the package were... A KnitPickers Travel Bag with little wrapped goodies. Wonderful smelling red clover hand and Cuticle salve from JR Watkins(I love apothacaries), gorgeous stitch markers and a big bag of Halloween Peanut M&M's(hidden from hubbie and children) and a skein of tofutsies that will make a wonderful pair of Fall socks.

And loaded with a project already...
Thank you so much for a wonderful swap Keitha!!! You are the greatest!!!!

Faal Into Autumn Topic of the Week #2

When you knit or crochet dishclothes, washclothes or face clothes, what do you use? Right now a lot of Peaches and Cream and Sugar and Cream as it is the easiest available. But I like the Cotlin from Knitpicks and Tahki Classic and Mercerized Cottons.

What size needle or hook? with knitting size 7 straights crochet usually a F or G.

Wood? yeap with knits and what type? Bamboo. Metal? for crochet good old Susan Bates Plastic? have some, the Susan Bates crystals for knitting.

A specific Brand? not really, usually what I have on hand Why do you love that needle or hook so much? Bamboo and woods, because the are lighter and flexible and don't hurt my hands as much. and the crochet hooks I have had for so many years and couldn't use anything else really.

Is there one you are dying to try? Hmmmm, the new Harmony by KnitPick any and all of them.

Is there a particular yarn you love and use all the time for clothes? nope. Though I do like the wool and tencel and wool/nylon blends for socks to date.

What is so special about it? It softier IMO and a little cushier.

Wonderful Tea Swapper!!!

Someone hid this from me when I got home tonight. Didnt find it until after Joey was in asleep....

I must have the most wonderful, generous Knit 1 Tea 2 swapper in the group, at least I think so....

An absoulutely gorgeous china tea cup from England in St Andrews(guess what DH's name is and isn't saint by a long shot) which makes it even more perfect. Strawberry green tea and strawberry scone mix AND a wonderful skein of louet gems in cardinal, which will work into a wonderful pair of socks for moi....

Thank you so much tea pal of mine... this has been my best swap ever!!!!!

Saturday, What a day... with spoilers and yarn P0rn

The day started rainy. It really needed to stop that or I would be going to the Garden State Sheep and Wool Festival by myself and I really wanted Andy and Joey to go with. The rain tappered off Andy woke up finally and off we went.

Jacob Sheep or two, dig the horns...

Joey made a new llama friend-


and met a goat...

Then it was time to come home -

and when we got home....

this was between the screen and front door. Ooops, good thing yarn is not fragile cause it took a 8.5Us with a kick and squish.

And Jen is a wonderful, most splendiferous person in the wool world right now... The swag was superb, the yarn is sublime and the stitch marker... I ran out of s's for the moment but really, really pretty... and the journal and pen I LOVE 'EM!!!! This will be a great sock club.

The pics really dont do the yarn justice, the blues, purples all the shades in between are gorgeous, from MissBabs care of Woolgirl.com. I can't wait to cast on.

Oh and some additional yarn p0rn from the fiber festival portion of our journey. Had a wonderful conversation with , I am so sorry I forgot your name, lady from Wool and Gray Alpaca in Flemington, NJ and picked up these lovely skeins of 100% alpaca the cream color is from on of her own Honey-Rose and some from one of her co-op folks, I believe, called Cinnamon. They are so soft and lovely. Then in the back building I found a most lovely renaissance place with baskets of handpainted and spun yarns. Roving in such gorgeous colors and so soft to the touch, really wish I knew how to spin. And the skeins of silk blends, oh my... but my budget was minimal today and I came home with this loveliness
From Dragonfly Fibers in Squishy Sock Yarn color: flame. It is sitting on my desk in front of me for frequent pettings, right next to the Cherry Blossom Fibers skein. This same booth had fibers and yarn from On My Tip Toes and The Sanguine Gryphon (her site is still in progress, but she told me she would be up and running next week). There respective yarns were just as lovely and soft and pettable and definetely on my must try list, once funding is available.

Well Saturday is almost done, well except for dinner, play outside with joey, fire up the grill and have a nice piece of london broil, with mashed potatoes and green beans. Maybe see how I feel later and try the lemon scones recipe.

til later....

HSKS 3 Scavenger Hunt

Who is the Hogwarts teacher that Voldermort performed the Avada Kedavra curse on in Deathly Hallows?b. Charity Burbage

2. Who replaces the Muggles studies teacher in Deathly Hallows?c. Alecto Carrow

3. When Harry meets Mr. Olivander for the first time, which wand law is introduced?c. The wand chooses the wizard.

4. According to Mr. Ollivander, what is not necessary to take true possession of another wizard's wand?a. to kill the owner

5. If you know anything about Harry Potter, you will know that Harry's Patronus is a stag. But what is his best friend Ron Weasley's Patronus?d. Jack Russell Terrier

6. Now for the third member of the trio. What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?a. Otter

7. What did Mrs. Wealey make to eat the first night that Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place? a. Stew

8. In book 5, at the start of term feast, what is Ron eating when trying to talk to Nearly Headless Nick? c. Roast potato

9. A half-giant called Rubeus Hagrid takes you to Diagon Alley for the first time. To get there, you go into the courtyard of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. There, Hagrid taps a certain brick on the courtyard wall three times with his pink umbrella, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley. As he decides which brick to tap, he mutters instructions to himself. What instructions does he mutter? b. ‘Three up... two across

10. The first place you go in Diagon Alley is Gringotts bank, where you can withdraw money from your vault and Hagrid can withdraw a top-secret package from Vault No. 713 on Dumbledore’s orders. On the second set of doors leading into the bank you notice a poem written. These are the first two lines:Enter, stranger, but take heedOf what awaits the sin of greed,What is the next line? d. ‘For those who take, but do not earn

Picture Scavenger - click name for link to pics

Rolanda Hooch -

Firenze

Argus Filch -

Moaning Myrtle -

Colin Creavey -

Its done!!!!! Well almost....

I received my final grades for my associates degree. I PASSED my last classes, I did it, I did it (Dora's theme BTW is running through my sick little head) yippeee, now all I have to do is finishing paying the bill and I get that lovely piece of paper that says Associates in Science - Management. YEAH!!!

And Joey is back to his 2 1/2 year old self today. Spent the afternoon with Gran, hopefully she will survive. It's been like he's making up for being sick for a day and a half in one day. He's a good little bink though....

The Pics from my tea swapper, with a note of more to come!! The yorkshire tea, was tested earlier today and very good. The blend Murches #22 will be tomorrow, Going to make buttermilk scones for breakfast... and then there is Girlie checking everything out...

Catch up

A quick post, Jeoy is sick, viral gastro thing, only throwing up thank heavens. Received a wonderful package from my Knit 1 Tea 2 swapper. will post picks tonight, quick rundown which wont do justice to the package, ceramic teapot in a lovely shade of red with a GORGEOUS red and gold tea cozy with matching hot pad. Cookie crunchies with chocolate filling, yummy. Loose tea that smells delish, german rock sugar(both in these cute little marmalade jars) fillable tea bags for the loose tea and some Yorkshire tea(had with breakfast this morning and lunch) which was very good. Hit the spot as it has been raining all day today.

Two-fer post today, and other stuff plus Joey

Okay today is going to be a two-fer post as I cheated just a smidge. Yesterday I baked SCONES!! First ones ever.

Scones are made with semi-sweet chocolate chips and I used the football shaped cookie cutter. So now I have snacks for the NO/Colts game tonight. Creativity at it's best you know...

I also tried a "clotted cream" recipe using heavy cream and cream cheese that came out good as well. Will post the recipes on the google group later on. Will be trying gingerbread biscotti today when joey goes down for his nap..

Speaking of Joey...

In knitting news, finished the socks for my hogwarts pal, Ophelia, a few more owls to bring in goodies and that will go out. Started the Monkey socks this monday, almost ready to turn the heel on the first, my they do knit quick. her box is almost packed, a few treats and it will go out as well soon.

Picked up some materials for a couple of sock bags for swaps and stuff, won't tell what materials cause it's a surprise, sshhhhh....

Then there is SOCK WARS. It has a Ravelry group and a Yahoo group. I probably shouldn't have signed up(I say that a lot lately) but it was irresistable - "A place for only the hardiest yarn warriors in the original and bloodiest death-by-sock tourment.There can be only one survivor!"

See why I couldn't resist it. you knit a pair of socks for your assignee as fast as you can. As soon as you are done you mail them off to them and bam... their done/dead. Then they mail their incomplete pair to you, and you finish them and mail them off. Assuming you dont get a pair in the mail in the mean time, knocking you out.

I'm weird I know, we just live with it and adjust...