I.Must.Knit.Socks.

I thought I had a great idea the other day while thinking of blogging material, pull out & photograph my sock yarn stash. Whoa. There is a lot of sock yarn in this house. The funniest conversation took place as I was setting this up.
Lara "I've never seen that yarn."
Me "I haven't either!"
he he he he he he he
Pretty bad if I think I've never seen yarn in my own stash.

Clockwise starting at Casey's back paw:
Knit Picks Sock Garden Color-Daffodil
Koigu KPPPM Color# P511
Artyarns Supermerino Color# 104
Knit Picks Sock Landscape Color-Spring Prairie
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Color# 312 Lucky Stripe
Regia Stretch Color# 81
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Color# 401 Neon (already wound in balls)
Fortissima Colori Color# 9094 (blue)
Opal Magic Color# 1043
Sockotta Color# 12
Lana Grossa Merino 2000 Print Color# 707

Lara was trying to get Casey out of the way and all he wanted to do was play.

Finish a Pair of Socks **Take 2**

Since I finished my lollipop socks ahead of schedule I decided to cast on for another. Again, I began knitting these socks last summer and somehow got sidetracked (Me? Sidetracked? Never!). According to my notes from before, I've named these socks the pink Converse socks. I believe that's because I want to wear them with my pink Converse high tops that I love. Now that I've been searching for a link to the pink tennies, I see a few others I may want to consider for this summer.
The yarn used for this pair is Lana Grossa Merino 2000 Print cool wool color #703.

I know at the beginning of this month I set a few other project goals but that didn't happen so they carry over into April. Is that OK with you?

A Good Day

This afternoon I had Lara over for an egg salad sandwich lunch. Last week she mentioned craving egg salad and I had all those pretty eggs to use up so why not? After lunch we tied on our sneakers and hit the road for a 1 hour walk...Casey even came along. It was a beautiful day, right now it's still 70º and breezy. I think a rain storm is on it's way in. When we returned from our walk we knit of course! I started the hello yarn hat over again since the other day I cast on too many stitches and Lara worked on her color on color scarf. Tonight Kyle & I are going to dinner with a group of friends to a really yummy restaurant Mojito's.

I spy lollipop socks...

Easter Eggs & Easter Legs

First I'd like to show you my beeeauteeeful dyed eggs. This will be my centerpiece for today's meal. Yes I'm cooking a meal for 6 this afternoon: ham, cheesy potatoes, honey glazed carrots, grilled pineapple and Caesar salad. My mom's bringing dessert and I also whipped up another batch of the iced sugar carrots cookies.

Surprise! I finished the lollipop socks! Well before my deadline too! Can you see how they mostly match too? I apologize for the ladder and the football in the photo, we were kind of in a hurry and I'm not a photographer remember? I just play one on my blog.

Of course no photo session is complete without Casey getting in on the action. I love this picture, he's prancing.

Casey was extra excited this morning when he received his Easter surprise...a Peep!! He's gentle with his babies so I the Easter bunny tends to get him the 'high-end' animals.

Have a great Easter! It's already 50º here, it'll be a great day. Kyle's running his motorcycle as we speak...

**socks are knit using Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Multiringel color # 2250

Thumbs Up

Last night my friends & I met at the new Yarn Cafe in Maple Grove for our Crafty CHIX get together. We ate yummy turkey sandwiches and I sipped on some wine. It's a cozy, yarn filled store with lots of seating if you just want to knit the afternoon away. It got a tad hot next to the fireplace but the ambiance was nice. I managed to find a few skeins of yarn I had to take home which wasn't too hard since they carry oodles of it. If you're nearby, go check the place out! This first bundle is for another booga bag. I'll knit the Fizz around the top like I did on this one.

Then I found this alpaca which will be a better yarn for the cabled neck tube. Plus it will be a bit more versatile when matching outfits. I'll use the orange handspun yarn for a hat as I originally planned.

It's been a while since I posted a photo of Casey so here he is as seen from my lens.

Phalaenopsis

I was perusing the flower shop Sunday afternoon and happened upon the orchids. I came home with this lovely phalaenopsis. I've never grown an orchid before so this should be interesting. I may need tweak my plant keeping abilities to keep this baby alive. There was an orchid I liked slightly better than this one but I couldn't bring myself to spent $60 on a plant...yet :-)

Tonight is my Crafty CHIX get together except this week instead of going to Lara's house we're meeting at the new Yarn Cafe! I'm excited.

Sticky Needles

Yesterday I went over to Lara's for a iced sugar cookie lesson.

I made carrots (my favorite one), sheep and bunnies. We met at the cake supply store for a few supplies which was good because now I know what to buy when I make a batch by myself-gasp! Lara made us a yummy lunch of spinach artichoke dip and fruit. We knit a little when we were finished and then called it a day. I am going to bring these as an Easter treat for my co-workers. I hope they like them!

I didn't capture any of my bunny cookies, the pink one up in the corner is one of Lara's peeps. For a peek at her cookies click here. She's much more creative with the icing than I am.
Thanks again Lara! I had a fun afternoon!!!

Ahh Cables

I've decided to use the yarn I purchased from Hello Yarn to make a cabled neck tube. This pattern was designed by Adrian of Hello Yarn. If I can get it whipped up this week I might even be able to wear it this year...Minnesota's fickle ya know.

Since I'm using this yarn for a neck tube instead of a hat...and it's yummy yarn at that, I may have to make another trip to the Hello Yarn store.
Today I'm headed over to Lara's to make iced sugar cookies, yum. I'll bring the camera.

Surprise Knits Revealed

Remember back in January when I bought 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces Cool sock yarn? Well, I can finally show you what I made with it because I gave these socks to Paula for her birthday! Even though I never revealed what I was knitting and for whom, the project made a breif appearance on my blog...right here. Were you wondering what that was?

Last week I packaged these puppies up and dropped them in the mail...Hawaii bound.

I enclosed a trial size ball of the yarn just because I thought it was so darn cute.

Lollipop Squared

This is the progress thus far on the 2nd lollipop sock which I vowed to finish by March 31st.
I've been reading a lot about the sockapalooza swap wishing I would have joined. There are some really cool socks out there. Maybe next time...

And for the weekly journal installment...
The week of March 20th, 1994.
Sunday Paula*27, go to Tanya's: exercise & eat dinner, watch Calendar Girl, return camera bag, Tan 2:00, talk to Paula
Monday Go to Maplewood Mall *bathing suit *candy, Kyle over
Tuesday Talk to Tanya, Garett stopped by at work, sick today, go to Leo's for dinner w/Kyle
Wednesday Tan 7:30, Lunch for Carol's birthday @ Singapore, Kyle over *go to Target *socks *candy bars *batteries
Thursday Talk to Tanya, Go to Kevin & Tammy's, get paid today!, Talk to Paula, express bill
Friday Go to Tanya's, Go w/ Kyle, Garett & Jessie to D2-Mighty Ducks, get car washed, Tan 12:00, Kyle dental appointment 1:00, Go with Kyle to Maple Grove Meats, Target, Arby's *workout video *easter bag & bow, *heart*
Saturday change contacts, Leave for AZ! Flight 8766 6:00am

Happy Birthday Paula!

It's my sister-in-law's birthday today! Paula, Kyle & I wish you a very happy birthday and hope you're having a great day.

I Won!

Meet Sunny Merriweather, twin sister of Mary Sunshine. I have become her new guardian by way of Poor Miss Finch.

She's also wearing a couple stitch markers as bracelets! Thanks again Laura!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top 'O the morning to you...hopefully I'll have some knitting progress to show by the end of the weekend, big snow storm on it's way.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'm the Floss Boss

Monday, while flossing a patients teeth he asked "Can you come to my house and do this every day?". A patient earlier in the day told me I was really good at flossing {I think the fact that I do it a dozen times a day has something to do with that}. SO, how many of you would pay someone to make a 'floss-call'? You know...at a scheduled time each day either at your home or office, you get your teeth flossed by your hygienist for...let's say...$10 per week? This is less than 1 Venti Java Chip Frappuccino! I would supply the floss and there would be a very nice selection of flavors and types. I of course would want Saturday and Sundays off, 3 weeks paid vacation per year and paid holidays. Probably a couple sick days as well, and those would also be paid of course.

I'm heading off to practice! Have yourself a great day!

Happy 8th Anniversary

Kyle & I were married 8 years ago today.

Happy anniversary my love.

Yes! I Still Knit

This photo basically wraps up what we did yesterday. Lounging, napping and knitting. Casey loves to bury his nose in the blanket and snooze away. Meanwhile, I was knitting on a little project, with a finished picture coming soon! I did manage to make a really yummy dinner. I used this pesto recipe, sent to me by Lara, and tossed it into cavatappi pasta. I topped it with sauteed chicken, baby portobellos and sundried tomatoes. This dish is a keeper. How was your weekend?

Good Times

Last week I was thinking about a friend I met at summer camp and I couldn't for the life of me remember her name. I vaguely remember her name being Lara which would be very strange considering I now have a friend named Lara, and this is not too common of a name. Well, I headed over to my parents house and started digging through my old room...it still looks the same. I came upon these calendars and hauled them home. I began looking through them in hopes that I'd find a clue to my camp buddies name. I called my now-friend Lara and read her some of the entries from these journals and she was busting a gut. We decided it would be perfect for my blog. I sure wrote some weird things in these journals, some of which makes no sense even to me. So now it begins, a weekly entry from one of my journals to keep you smiling all week long...

I chose this particular year because it was the year I met Kyle...
The week of March 11, 1990.
Sunday Go w/ Kyle to auto show & his house ride in RX7 watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure KISS~!!, go to the Gold Rush w/ Lisa, Troy & Steve Bloom, talk to Jeff
Monday No school, talk to Jeff, go to 916 all day with Anne, go to Taco Hell, stop at Kenny's, talk to Kyle, go to Kyle's before work, work 5-9:05 w/ Lisa
Tuesday Pick up grad. announcements at school owe $120.52, Debbie fired, see Kyle at MV KISS {heart}, talk to Kyle, Dennis over, give Kyle pictures & card, talk to Cheri, work 3-9:15 w/ Lisa
Wednesday Get a speeding ticket & seatbelt ticket, talk to Kyle, go to Kyle's 3:30-9:45 SCAM asked me out =), write Kyle a note, talk to Jeff, talk to Lisa
Thursday Kyle left a note on my car, talk to Cheri, talk to Jeff, write notes to Rick S., go to Lisa's: go to Planned Parenthood go eat at her house watch tv, talk to Kyle call him at Mermaid, talk to Dave
Friday write Kyle a note, work meeting 3:15, Kyle over after school, get BK for supper, Lori bought me Malibu, talk to Jeff, go w/ Kyle to Lisa's. Drive around. Come home (Kyle left at 5am) SCAM, give Kyle 5x7 of me, work 3:05-9 w/ Lori
Saturday Talk to Lisa, talk to Kevin, talk to Kyle, Go up to St. Cloud w/ Lisa to party. Fun! Go to the lodge (see Jeff) another party & Mike's apartment, sleep at Lisa's, work 12-6:10 w/ Jodi
Savings $238.23
Checking$53.20

Did anyone else do this?? My friends seem to think I'm the only person EVER to write everything down...and still have the silly things.
BTW, my summer camp friend....Lara Dunsmore! If you're out there Lara, HI!!!!

11:00-5:00=10:00

This is how we spent our day today kicking off the start of the AMA Superbike racing season. I think this may be the first time I've been drinking at a bar before noon. Now I'm ready for bed...g'night.

Dog Mail

Rosie even got a birthday card in my mailbox the other day! OK mom, even I don't send my dog mail!

The Dig

This was the scene outside our house Wednesday night. We've been smelling natural gas out front of our garage lately and it's been stronger the last couple of days. We decided to chat with our neighbors about it since it seemed to be coming from their vicinity. They agreed on calling the gas company so I did. They promptly came out and tested the neighbors meter, leaking. The gas guy went inside the neighbors house, gas was detected. The poked holes in the yard and tested...leaks. So... the neighbors will be receiving a new gas meter and their yard has been dug up from the meter to the street. What excitement.

At one point there were 5 gas trucks out front and a backhoe.

Sorry about the lousy photo.

Happy Birthday Rosie

When I realized I'd have Rosie at my house while she was celebrating her birthday my friends and I came up with a great idea, I said "I'll knit Rosie a birthday hat!" Then Lara said "Better yet, felt it!" So I did, doesn't she look cute?
The dogs celebrated Rosie's day by munching on some Greenies. "Yum" they said.

She immediately ripped the hat off her head and attacked it.

Casey had to get in on the fun too. Rosie's wondering why he's wearing a pink hat. Duh, boys don't wear pink!

And Casey is wondering why I make him model these weird things.


Don't worry Casey, next year I'll knit you a blue one.

Pattern for Birthday Hat
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: 13 DPN
Change colors as desired

CO 48 sts
Adjust sts onto 3 DPN's
Join in rnd and K 6 rnds
Next rnd dec 3 sts by K2tog at end of each DPN
K 4 rnds
Next rnd dec 3 sts by K2tog at end of each DPN
K 3 rnds
dec as suggested above
K 2 rnds
dec as suggested
K 1 rnd
dec 3 sts each rnd for 3 rnds
K 2 rnds
dec as suggested
K 3 rnds
dec as suggested
K 4 rnds
dec every row until 3 sts remain
Pull tail through remaining sts, weave in ends and felt using favorite method
Make a pom-pom (I used scraps) and attach

Carrie's Tip-O-the-Day

Have you ever seen anyone go full speed at the mall into a door only to be stopped dead in their tracks because they pushed on the wrong side? Well, here's my tip-o-the-day so you don't look like that fool. Look for the side of the door with the lock on it! Then you know that's the side of the door that opens. Easy as that. Is this something you all do already?

New Runners

One of the things I plan to do this summer is start running. This past weekend was SO nice and I had a little bit of spring fever so I went out and found myself some new running shoes. I love the orange swooshes. Now I have to knit some orange running socks. Just kidding!

My 3 Socks

I have 3 lonely socks. They are all for ME and I need matching pairs! The one on the left is the set I plan to finish up this month. Who knows, I might get on a roll and cast on for one of the others as well.
It's a beautiful day here in Minnesota (60º so far) so Kyle and I plan to get outside in just a bit. Tomorrows forcast? Snow.

It's Tea Time!

Adagio Teas needs help advertising. Just for putting a link to Adagio Teas on my blog (did you notice the button?), they sent me this thank you gift of a ingenuiTEA steeper (which is SO neat-o) and 4 teas. The tea smells SO good. I received oriental spice, mango, cream and strawberry. It all came wrapped up with a hand written thank you note. I'm impressed. Go on bloggers...link to Adagio Teas.

And speaking of tea...earlier this week I spent the last of my holiday gift from my boss and picked up this Chantal tea pot. It whistles like a harmonica!!! As I was shopping for it with my friend Lara, we weren't exactly sure if it would whistle like a harmonica so I pulled the whistler off and blew...sure enough, genuine Hohner two-tone harmonica. SOLD!
Last night Nikki had us over for the yummiest White Chicken Chili and cocktails. She was in Boulder, CO last weekend for some snowboarding and visited the Celestia! Seasonings plant. She gave me Pomegranate Tea from her excursion and brought back a bunch of other teas I've never ever seen. Last night I tried the Honey Vanilla White Tea and it was delish. Thanks Nikki!

Rosie Ate OUR Breakfast

The guilty party.

i dream in color

For a while now I've been wishing I had a place to share some of the photos Kyle or I have taken over the past years. The other night early morning, I thought to myself "why don't I start another blog?". So I did. It's called 'i dream in color' and you can get there from here or from the button on my sidebar (thx Lara). It's going to be a very simple blog, no text just photos. If you are curious about any of the photos aside from the simple caption I give, of course feel free to email me or drop a comment.

My Brother, My Hero ;-)

My brother Chris participated in the Great Aloha Run sometime recently, he didn't tell me when. It's a 8.15 mile race in Honolulu. Way to go Chris!!

Lollipop Lollipop Oh Lolly Lolly Lolly Lollipop!

I'm declaring a commitment to finish my lollipop socks this month! I knit like a maniac last night during the premier of Amazing Race 7 and I'm almost to the tow decreases on the first sock. I can't even remember when I began these, sometime early last summer I think.

Amazing Race 7 cracks me up...all the nick names they give each other: the Barbie girls, the boys, the hillbillies. Rob & Amber racing to win another million dollars, Ryan & Chuck are truly in the race to have fun, Lynn & Alex are hilarious, this is going to be a good season. I'm kind of bummed about the outcome last night but I won't give anything away.

March 1st

I can't believe it's March. I vaguely remember saying this on February 1st...where do the days go? I finally got around to taking a photo of my finished Wavy scarf. I knit this along with Lara of Splatgirl Creates , look at her pretty finshed Alpaca Wavy scarf!

Since it's the beginning of the month I thought I'd list a few goals for myself

Finish another long overdue project, this month it's a set of Hardanger coasters started prior to 1999

Finish at least 1 pair of my 3 single socks

Finish this project

Looks like it's the month for finishing!

Since my parents are in Hawaii, I am dog sitting their Cocker Spaniel, Rosie. My mom sent this table quilt along with Rosies leash and treats as a thank you gift to me! Thanks mom!

This is Rosie. We have nicknamed her the PITA dog from past visits. To make a long story short I was watching her several years ago, had a long day at school or work (I can't remember which), ordered take out Vietnamese food and sat down at my NEW computer to check
e-mails and surf. Not 2 minutes later my keyboard quit working, I looked underneath the desk and there's Rosie knawing her way through the cable. No more computer until HP sent me a replacement keyboard. Mom, rest assured she is not being a PITA this time...yet.

Reality TV rant: The Bachelorette Jen Scheft has her head in her 'you know where'. She rejects John Paul, chooses Jerry (yay!) and then rejects Jerry on the folow-up show??? What in the world will it take to make this girl happy? She is destined to be single. ABC...hang this one up.
Tonight Amazing Race 7 begins! Yee-haw.
On another TV/movie note: I am SO pleased MDB won 4 Oscars! I LOVED that movie. Morgan Freeman was LONG overdue for an Oscar.