Blossoms

This weekend is going to be crazy. It already is crazy and it is already Saturday afternoon. I worked this morning, I'll go to church tomorrow morning, then I have a graduation party and a family reunion tomorrow afternoon. It's also the last weekend before Zach comes home, and I'm trying to get everything done that I wanted to before he gets here.

My mom is not a baker. She makes really good brownies, and that's about the extent of it. (We love her anyway... mostly for the brownies). So when I found out she was planning on making brownies and break and bake cookies for the family reunion, I decided to help out and make cookies (from scratch- none of that break and bake stuff for me). My mom requested peanut butter blossom cookies, and I happily complied.
They taste good... of course I had to try one to make sure they were ok. Now if they will only travel well tomorrow... the reunion is about an hour away.

I also got some yarn a while back, and I'm pretty sure I didn't put pictures up (if I did, you're getting them again). This first one is the yarn I got for my Socks for Soldiers socks. I am still waiting to start these because the needles I need are currently being used. I'm hoping to have these with me on the LONG drive to North Carolina this week. I think it would be very fitting to be working on these on my way down to Zach's military graduation.
These next two are yarn I got in an order from Alpaca Direct. There was some yarn I wanted that was cheapest from here, and of course you can't oder yarn without buying enough to get the free shipping, so I bought these. This color is called Londonberry, and I just fell in love with it.
This yarn I got because it is my mom's favorite color. She has a lot of things in this cobalt blue, and I thought she needed a nice pair of comfy hand knit socks to go with her collection. I'm hoping to do these for her birthday or Christmas (which are 4 days apart, so it really doesn't matter which).
And lastly, what would a post be without a cute picture of Elliot?

One week, 9 days, and who knows?

So it's been a week since I last blogged. I was in Rochester for the weekend, worked both jobs on Monday, and worked, had my charity knitting/crochet group, and went to a movie night at a friends house yesterday. Therefore, I have not blogged.

9 days until Zach comes home :) Although, I get to see him before that. We (his parents, my parents, and myself) are leaving Wednesday afternoon for North Carolina and should get there Thursday afternoon, so I will get to see him then. It will be so nice to have him home again. It's hard to describe what it is like to not have him here. I miss him for the big stuff, like dealing with issues with our bank accounts and trying to decide where we are going to live. But I miss him for the small stuff too, like dinner and movie nights, cleaning the apartment, playing with the kitten, and lots of other little moments you never realise mean so much until you don't have them anymore.

As for the who knows in the title, that is relating to the knitting. Who knows how long it will take me to finish something. Anything. Who knows what I will start next? Who knows why I start so many things? Still working on Sydney's hat. Honestly, I'm thinking of ripping it out and doing the fair isle (or intarsia, can't remember which) version instead of the solid color version. It's kind of boring, both to knit and to look at. So I may be ordering more yarn in complimentary colors for the girls hats. Also still working on my first sock, although I am past the heel and working down the foot. It ended up kind of large, but other than that I am happy with how it is turning out. Also plugging along on the charity baby blanket and the afghan that I am making for Zach and I. I really need to finish one of these.

So I decided that since I originally started this blog to talk about books and knitting, I realised I have fallen short on the book part. So I figured I would start with what I am currently reading. I'm actually reading 2 things right now (does this really surprise you?). The first is Wealth on Minimal Wage by James Steamer. It's not a new book or anything, but its really interesting and has given me better ideas on how to manage out finances. The other book I'm reading is Chicks with Sticks (KnitWise) by Elizabeth Lenhard. This si the 3rd (I think?) book in the Chicks with Sticks series and, as you may be able to tell from the title, its about knitting. The books are a little below my usual reading level, but they are a nice easy read to pick up and breeze through.

Lastly, a picture of the kitten...

Sukiyaki

What is Sukiyaki, you ask? It's this. (I know. Wikipedia. I have mixed feelings about it. But its getting late and it has everything you could wanna know about it). My cousin is with me for the week, and he is super into Japanese culture and food. He has even taken lessons to learn the language for a few years. It's cool. So two of my friends came over and he made us his version of it. I regret now that I didn't take a picture, although it did look similar to that picture up there. You cook everything in its own section of the pan (or wok. whatever). I ate most of it. I found out I'm not a big fan of tofu, but I tried it.

Anyway, knitting is going ok. I got past the heel on my sock and I'm decreasing toward the foot. That's exciting. I've been thinking of not finishing the second sock. I know, I know. Second sock syndrome. But I should be getting my yarn for the Sock for Soldiers socks, and I know I'm going to want to work on those. And I also have my New Bern socks, which are just fun to work on because they go so fast. Guess we'll just see. Maybe I will do the other one just for more practice.

Lastly, a much cuter picture of Elliot than the one I posted last:

Progress is as progress does

I have actually made decent knitting progress the past few days. I have 4 squares done for my charity baby blanket I am working on. Can't remember if I have mentioned that before or not. While I was looking for yarn to start Socks for Soldiers socks I decided to make a baby blanket with squares. The ladies were picking on me because I only get one square a week done... which is the square I do during our knitting time. I really should start working on it during the week too so I finish it before Christmas.

I also have almost finished the heel flap on my "lets try this again" socks. I'm excited to get further on those, but I can almost feel like I might get second sock syndrome. I am going to have to explore doing 2 socks magic loop. My other socks, the New Bern socks, I am doing magic loop and they are going pretty well. those socks are fun to work on because the yarn is so squishy and pretty colors and its thicker than the other yarn, so it goes faster. But I'm trying to make myself work on other stuff like...

Sydney's Thorpe. It's still going... it just seems to take forever. Probably because I only do a row or two at a time because I get bored. The yarn is nice... but I'm frustrated with the pattern. I wish I would have done the fair isle version because this one is boring and plain. I may just rip it out and start again. Also there was the whole sizing problem. Let's not get started on that again.

So all in all its working out pretty well. Maybe I should have Alex here more often :-)

And lastly... a picture of the crazy kitten...

Elliot: I have to eat to be big and strong!

Rough Patches

It's been a rough few days, with losing our friend on Thursday, but we're making it through. It helps that we have so many other friends that knew him, and we're all supporting one another. It will be a while before we are able to have get-togethers without that weighing over everyone's head.

On a more positive note, I have managed to get some knitting done. Nothing finished, but I have started the heel on my "lets try this again" socks. I have been plugging along on Sydney's earflap hat... I'm hoping it will fit. I had talked in an earlier post about the sizing issues with this pattern. I'm not totally in love with it, but I think I will see how it goes. I may end up frogging it and making something else. We'll see. Then there are the "New Bern" socks that I started on my trip to NC on one magic loop, because I didn't have dpns (see? I'm flexible). Those go much faster than my other socks because the yarn is heavier. I'm kind of dragging my feet on those until I get further with my other projects, if that makes any sense.

Today's project is so clean out my office some. It's become a dumping ground for wedding presents with no home and military junk alike. I did manage to get most of my yarn stored in the entertainment center before sitting down to write this. Off to more cleaning... hope your weekend has been less depressing than mine.

Losing a Friend

What do you say when you have lost a friend? Someone to talk and laugh with during Sunday School, or to message on facebook. Someone your husband had things in common with, and talked to earnestly about their respective branches of service. To have it happen so suddenly is shocking to the soul.

Of course, we know we will see him again. There is no doubt that he will be waiting for us. But it doesn't make it any easier knowing he left behind a mother and a sister. He joins his dad again, and that must be amazing for both of them. But for all of us here, its a lot of sorrow and sadness. A lot of wondering why, and how.

There can't be understanding with this. Now now, not this soon. It never seems like the right time, and its always blindly putting one foot in front of the other that gets you through. This time is different. Its someone so close, someone so honest and real. To quote my brother, "The world has lost both the nicest and most humble man it will ever know- and Heaven has gained that same man. See you on the other side Daniel Miller"

Pictures

The place we stayed was a hotel and marina, so we could walk to the back of the hotel and see out onto the river and the docks.

It's a corny picture, but I wanted at least one of the two of us!

This was the bridge that they were redoing. Further down it looked like they were starting to tear it up.

My handsome husband ;)

Yes, this is a real town in North Carolina. We had to take a picture just for laughs.

This was a park we stopped at when we were driving around. It also opened up onto the river, and there was a place where people could put their boats into the water.

This last one is a little blurry, but I wanted to put it in here anyway because this is our view from our window. You can see all the boats waiting for the fireworks to start!

Home again

I'm finally adjusting to my normal schedule after my crazy trip to North Carolina to see Zach. We had a really nice time just hanging out, driving around to see different hings, and watching the fireworks from our hotel window across the river. It really was a great trip. Getting home was a completely different matter. The airport I flew out of was so tiny the same people that worked the desk for the airlines were also the flight crew. It was crazy. My first flight was delayed, which was going to make me miss my connecting flight in Charlotte, and they told me there wasn't another one they could get me on until 4AM Monday. I was so upset I walked outside and called Zach and my parents. It wasn't a pretty call. My dad advised me to take the flight to Charlotte, whenever it came in, and that I would probably have more luck getting on a flight from there than trying to do it through this tiny airport. When the guy put me back on the flight to Charlotte, he stuck me on a flight to Buffalo that they told me earlier was full. I had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte, but I was just glad to be going home.

I have pictures from the trip that I will have to put in a later post. I also got some YUMMY yarn from a little shop 10 minutes from where we stayed. The shop was called Weavers Webb, and they had a nice selections of yarns, knitting and crochet supplies, and weaving supplies. I was really surprised that we found it, because it wasn't something I had looked up. I practically ripped Zach's arm off when we passed it trying to make him turn around, which he did. He even went in with me and helped me pick out yarn. What a guy!

So, more pictures and project updates to come. Hope you 4th of July weekend was as great as mine was :)

Travel Plans

I leave bright and early tomorrow morning to fly down the North Carolina to spend 4 days with Zach. Its the first time I have seen him since I left him at the airport June 1st. I'm really excited about it :) I have plans for us to watch fireworks over the river, but mostly we are just going to relax and enjoy spending time with each other.



Not much knitting progress has happened. I haven't worked on Sydney's Thorpe hat in a while, because I decided I would take that in my suitcase down with me for times when we are driving and such. Plus I thought Zach would like to see it. I am taking my socks with me as airplane knitting for the flight down and back. I'm knitting these on bamboo needles, so I'm hoping they wont give me a hard time. I think that is all the knitting I am going to take.



I had my charity knitting and crochet group again last night. We didn't have as many people as we did last week, but thats ok. I know summer is hard for people as far as vacations and sports and such, so I'm hoping the group will really pick up in the fall. After casting on and ripping out 5 different things Monday night, I decided to start knitting squares for a baby blanket for the Linus Project. Thats what many of the women are working on also, some in squares and some as whole blankets. My mother-in-law is just getting back into crocheting after a few years, and didn't want to tackle anything too involved, so she is crocheting a hat that is so cute. Its made out of this soft burgandy yarn (probably acrylic) and is an open stitch pattern, so it could be worn in the summer. This will be donated to Chemo Caps.



Thats about all for now. Of course we can't have a post without a picture of Elliot, the kitten. This was one we took soon after we got him. We lovingly dubbed it, "The Kitty Taco".