Who's ready for Thanksgiving?

I'm definitely not ready and can't believe that it's already November 19. With the holidays and an expected move in December, I'm trying to get the personal stuff in order as much as possible.

Jeffrey had a look at the unit we're interested in and is now on-board with the idea of moving. It would be downsizing, so he would share a room with Ethan. The living room is quite spacious and the plan would be to have the boys bedroom be for sleeping only with their clothes and storage in their closet. I've been looking at a few different ideas for bunk beds.

Today was full of errands and I've started going through our stuff to try to purge a bunch of things. I went through much of our DVDs and books earlier this week. We'd been holding onto a lot of Ethan's clothes to pass along to my sister-in-law. We had almost a full bin of 9 month clothing that didn't get used so that's going...going...gone. Scaling back on the things we're keeping from Jeffrey to Ethan helped too.

Then, I had to start digging into my yarn stash. What a nightmare! I definitely have a problem. I pulled out all of my partially completed projects.

You can see the mound of  projects. There are a few that I'll try to finish. I'm getting rid of the rest of the UFOs (unfinished objects). I didn't even get through all of the bins this evening.

Some of the items are done besides a few hidden ends, so I'll get those it finished and send most of them off to a charity that helps the homeless.

One Christmas I wanted to give Groots. Each time I talked about it someone more wanted one so I gave up having three of them mostly done.

Here is a great start on a lovely shawl. The yarn is a bamboo, which makes it super soft. It's a very delicate lace.

Here is hat that I made because I didn't have the patience to do an entire scarf in the lovely pattern.

Lastly, when I was going through my sons' clothing, I found a pair of socks that I knitted for Jeffrey a couple of years ago. He came to the yarn shop with me and picked out the yarn. They came out beautifully and he actually wore them (Don't mind the pocket change all over the floor and toys. The kids definitely made a mess this weekend).

I'm making progress on the test knit pattern and am excited to get that wrapped up quickly. Thankfully, the sleeves knit up faster.

Today will be big day. My nephew's first birthday party should be a hoot. It's so amazing to think it's almost been a year since he has arrived. He seems like such a cute, sweet, and good baby. I'm hoping my kids can behave.

I hope everyone has a great week and a nice Thanksgiving.

Happy crafting!

November is in full swing...

I'm almost to 20,000 words in my novel, which is the total I need for today. I found out that Sammy has been reading it a bit. I didn't give approval, yet I don't care.

I'm going to have the front of the sweater completed tomorrow night. Then, I'll only have two sleeves to go... :)

Andrea Mowry put out three patterns recently that drew my attention. My favorite of the three is The Weekender. It's a boxy relaxed fitting pull over. I spied some yarn on KnitPicks Color Mist: Vermillion. I think five skeins will do, but I can't get myself to pull the trigger to buy any new yarn given the concern over moving costs and having to then move the yarn.

We're probably going to have to move. We asked to sign a new lease, but the owner doesn't want to make that commitment. The rules here are that a 90 day letter is required for a no cause eviction. My fear is that we'd get the letter and have to move while I'm in my busy season. We like the place we're in, but don't want to risk it. I'm going to reach out to the property manager. Having this place vacant for a few months would likely be more costly then signing a six month lease.

I looked at a possible option, but it's taking us farther from Jeffrey's school and we'd be in an apartment complex setting. The place would be cheaper and not much smaller. I'm looking at another complex as well, but I'm not sure if we'd be lucky enough to get a larger unit.

I had the chance to see my nephew today. He'll be one year old this month and it's amazing to see what a happy boy he is. He liked being held and goofing around with his Uncle Sam today.

My dad and his lovely wife, Lori, were in town today. They had fun spoiling the grand kids and hanging out with my in-laws.

I'm behind on my holiday crafting to no one's surprise. I might have to make coupons for gifts to be delivered in January or February. Hope that's ok...eek!

Have a great week!

Nanowrimo and Charity Crafting

It's November, which makes it National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). I remember reading about this when I was younger. It's been around since 1999. It's a project that encourages people to write a 50,000 word novel from November 1 - November 30. I have about 5,500 words and need to add a few more this evening to stay on track. It's been a personal goal to complete it. Maybe 2017 is my year! I didn't start with an outline so wish me luck. Let me know if any of you would be interested in reading it. It's an alternate reality of my life with a spooky note piece.

I wanted to be a writer when I was kid. I used to type up scary and adventure stories on an old green screen.

On to charity stuff...it was nice to hear from a local representative of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), who is looking for handmade hats, scarves, gloves/mittens for gift bags to go to the homeless in Portland. It sounds like my office is willing to collect items as well so we'll make sure they have lots of stuff.

Whenever I'm making things for charity I try to find nice simple patterns that can work with many types of yarn. My favorite site for inspiration is Purl Soho. They have a ton of great free patterns. I love their hat and scarf patterns. I've made a baby blanket or two from their designs as well.

A buddy, Margaret, is making squares for high risk babies. There is the purple hat campaign for Shaken Baby Syndrome awareness (Twisted Yarn Shop Page). There is also a group that meets regularly to make baby hats in Beaverton (Hands on Greater Portland). There are a lot of charitable crafting opportunities around Portland. You can even ask a local homeless shelter what they would like to have to give to their clients.

One last thing...here's my best Halloween picture of my boys. They had a fun night, and it was awesome to share it with their cousin who is turning one year old soon.

Have a great week! Happy crafting. 

Halloween Festivities

The weekend before Halloween is such a fun and busy time. Tons of candy and scary stories. When I was on my home from work on Thursday I picked up several books on hold and saw a fun book The Most Frightening Story Ever Told by Philip Kerr. It's a kids book, which I thought would make reading it to Jeffrey fun. We finally started reading it tonight. It certainly won't be a quick read, but seems enjoyable so far.

Friday was the Big Boo at Jeffrey's school.Three hours of games, food, and sugar crazed kids. Each year I try to volunteer for the event. It takes lots of volunteers to pull it off.

I was stationed at the little Rubber Duckies pond for the evening and it was lots of fun. It was an easy game for all ages so I got to see so many little kiddos. Jeffrey and Sammy stopped by a few times. It was fun.

Saturday was cleaning and trying to get caught up on things at home. I made some progress on the test knit. The back is done and the front has at least four inches completed. I'm hoping to have the front done in about two weeks.

Today was lovely. The cub scouts did the annual pumpkin race and we held a couple of games. The day wasn't very sunny, but the lack of rain was very welcome.

Work and home life have been busy so crafting has taken a bit of a backseat. I'm hoping to squeeze more time in before year end planning is in full swing.

Here is one of my favorite Halloween patterns that I haven't had the chance to cast on. It's free and fun.

Customizing is also a fun aspect of this. I had bought some funky colors of acrylic, but haven't gotten around to it. I had a purple, orange, black, and white. I was hoping to find colors closer to the sample, but didn't have luck that day.

Trick or treating will be a fun next week. It's my nephew's first Halloween. Even if he doesn't make it to our family festivities, I can't wait to see a picture of him as Han Solo with his furry siblings and loving parents.

November 1st, all saints day, is my late grandfather's birthday. I miss him and look back on our fun times in my summer visits. He had a great sense of humor and I loved his cooking. As I grew older, I'd help him more and more in the summers. I feel blessed that I went back to South Dakota the summer before I had Jeffrey and spent time with him and my grandmother. Playing cards, talking...even the littlest of things will remain with me and be treasured.

Have a fun festive week! Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de los Muertos! Happy All Saints Day!

I hope everyone has a great week :) 

Another deadline done!

It's been a wild and crazy week at the office. A Monday deadline and waiting to find out if I need to show up to court...I was told on Thursday (the day before trial) that the date had been moved to the end of November. Just in case you didn't know I do some divorce financial work and rarely that takes me into the courtroom.

In the transition to other work I'm hoping there will be more time to craft and catch up on various housework.

The great news is that I completed the back of the test knit sweater I'm doing that generally means that 1/3 of the knitting is done. I'm debating if I want to work on the front or start a sleeve. It's amazing how gratifying it is to see progress so a sleeve sounds tempting. I might try to do two sleeves at a time, by doing a segment of one until there is a change and then switch to the other.

I've signed up for too many knit and crochet alongs at this point. Another one pops up and I think to myself...that's crazy. There is a contest to knit one sock each of the Socks of Narnia by November 30. I've started two and am thinking it would be almost impossible to get that done with the test knit and holiday knitting. I started looking at my progress on holiday projects. That definitely made me realize that I need to get focused.

I found a sweet little pattern for a chick that you can make a lovely egg that opens. I thought it would be a nice for my nephew and his first birthday is coming right up. The jacket that was requested for him will take more time. After completing the little chick, my two year old decided it was his and ran off with it. I guess I need to make two or possible three. Jeffy will want to claim it as well. I might make the second one out of a brighter yellow.

Here is the first little guy and I still need to make the egg halves.

Such a cutie :). Here is a link to the book in Ravelry: Amigurumi World . You can buy the patterns there or in paperback form. A newer edition came out in 2014. This was a hand me down book from my mother-in-law with some nice ideas. There are so many adorable animals and foods. These are simpler, which I greatly appreciate. I have some cute little dinosaur patterns, but 5 - 6 little pieces to sew together is not my idea of fun right now. Some of the patterns have closer to 10 - 12.

I completed the 10 day initiate design challenge from Aroha Knits and wrote a pattern. There is still more work to do on it: a sample and a test knit. We'll see how far I take it. I thought of a new idea this evening that I might try to pull together as my first pattern for purchase. It's going to take some thought as to how to make it work, but I don't think it will be too bad. I wonder if it's unique enough.

Seeing several knitting buddies tomorrow will be such a treat. We're at the Beaverton Library. I can't wait to see what everyone is working on...that reminds me. Sadly, one of our friends lost her husband recently. I have not met him, but he is so very missed. I hope I to see her soon.

Final side note, I wanted to start a mystery hat today so that I have another hat to wear...hmmm, maybe tomorrow. I'm hoping to make one more chick tonight and maybe start on the eggs.

Everyone, have a great week. If you've started your Spirits of Life wrap...I'm so jealous :).

Happy crafting :)

Knitting Design Class

Aroha Knits is putting on a #initiatedesign challenge that started on Monday. Here is a link to her page that briefly discusses the challenge:  Yarn Alchemist. She does these periodically, I didn't participate  in the previous one. I'm following it on Facebook and she has a live session discussing the assignment and answering questions. This challenge is free and then if you want to dive in further, she has a class you can pay for call Swatch Studio. Currently, there is a $247 fee..not quite in my budget at this point, and I'm not sure how far I'll get on publish patterns for sale.

I turned in my homework for the course with a picture of my swatches. Here is picture of my design. and swatches. It's time for me to start writing and knitting. Based on my progress, would anyone be willing to test it? If you're local, I could give you yarn. The color scheme would differ, but it could be fun. I'm doing a modular knit cowl. The colors remind me of comic books with the black outlines.

Work has been very busy and I have a couple of engagements that will kick into gear immediately as well. Billing and readying for tax planning will also kick into gear. Ahh!!!

Hopefully, there will be time for knitting. I need to finish up that test knit and continue on holiday knitting. There is never enough time (understatement).

I'm excited to get through this work deadline and will be able to enjoy next weekend. We have birthdays to celebrate tomorrow so that should be fun. We're in charge of bringing party favors. Sammy picked out something fun today and I'll find something more tomorrow morning.

Lastly, I found a beautiful collection of patterns...I want them all:  Twist Collective Fall 2017. There is no budget for buying patterns these days. I either get them free or have to wait until I've caught up on everything. Catching up sounds like a good plan. I was good and didn't buy any yarn from Knitpicks Spooktacular yarn sale. I thought of  lovely sweaters with oranges, purples, and grays all mixed together...someday.

Have a great week.

There is a lot going on in the world...

Ok, start with a random question...Have you seen the movie V  for Vendetta? This is not a kid friendly movie (rated R). It's based on comic of dystopian future with heavy fascism and fear. What spoke to me most were words from one of the victims who simply wrote her memoir shortly before passing. Even when this character was at the darkest point of her life she thought of love.

Given all of the craziness in the world I wrote this. To be honest, this puts me in a vulnerable place. Now that I'm in my thirties, I'm not as worried as I once was.

Just remember you're loved

It's hard to cope and love might feel lost
Being so sad and alone
If I could make your world better
Make it all clear
Make you happy and remove
Feeling of loss or fear
If you knew that you were loved
Even by a stranger like me
Would you escape this woe
Could you find love and peace
If there is a hope or a chance
Just remember you're loved
Not only by me

When I was a preteen...so long ago :), I would write poetry. I figured out how to print on some lovely Lisa Frank paper and I saved them in an envelop. I know I would giggle and laugh if I found them now. I wrote about feelings and I don't think I've ever had a literary gift.

I actually wrote a lot as a kid and slowly over time I found the idea silly and that no one would want to read my thoughts. Teri, one of my knitting buddies for the last five or so years, is a creative writer. She is truly inspirational. She clued me into NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month. I remember seeing the articles about the November challenge to write a novel in one month. This is a national organization. I've tried to do this a couple times in the past. Is this the year? I have the idea for a scary story about the strange rooms in the storage area of the rental property we're happily living in currently. My hubby said not to share it with our eight-year-old. I totally agree :).

To crafting, I've started a scarf for my sister-in-law. I finally decided on a pattern and have made progress. I ordered some lovely Danish yarn for a woolly sweater and decided to treat myself to a grab bag that is based on one type of yarn and a color scheme. I might need to pull a bit from my stash to make sure the scarf is long enough but the majority of the scarf will be crocheted in a 95% Geelong (specific breed) wool and 5% cashmere. It's fancy for me, but will be perfect for my sister-in-law. The feel of the yarn is very nice and luxurious. Check out Holst Garn. The prices are actually quite reasonable and the shipping has not been problematic for me. It's much cheaper to buy from their site directly.

There is a crochet along starting on October 18, that I'm super psyched about. Check out Tatisana's blog for the Spirits of Life CAL at Lilla Bjorn Crochet. The yarn amounts and colorway information has been posted. I dug through my stash and created my own little kit. I was tempted to purchase a kit since $62.50 and free shipping isn't too bad given the amount of yarn included or make my own kit from Knitpicks for cheaper. There is another sale...eek! Knitpicks Spooktacular Yarn Sale. Who doesn't love yarns in orange, gray, black, or purple....so tempting. I'll post picks of the yarn I pulled from my stash. The colorways that they picked in the kits are lovely.

I'm still working on the test knit and hope to have the back completed in a week or so. I had forgotten how much I love color work. The tough part is that it's time consuming. Here are couple of pictures from the last sweater that I completed during the summer.

I'll be wearing this sweater soon enough now that it's getting cooler. It turned out great.

Have a great week!