Is my secret pal psychic?

It seems that my secret pal is very good at reading me. But when I opened up my package I received on Saturday I was sure that she can read my mind. I have to say that this box was very full. The pictures don't do it justice. I had to take lots of pics just to get everything in.

Here is the inventory. One skein of tofutsies, one skein of ribbon yarn, a skein of fun fur. A pattern for the tidal wave socks from SWTC. (more on this later) a card, a CD of mixed songs (which I love, they will be great for when I can get back to the treadmill next month) scissors, notecards, a pedicure kit, a cool swirly glycerine soap, coconut lime body lotion and body spray, bath paints for the girls, tea, hot chocolate, dove dark chocolates, coconut hersey's kisses (were did she find them, they are divine) dark chocolate M&M's, microwave popcorn. I think this completes the list. If i missed anyting I'm sorry supersock.

This package came at a perfect time as I have been laid up since my surgery. I feel great today but my doctor will not let me return to work until May 7th. Oh well if I am forced to take a vacation while I feel ok then so be it.

Ok for the psychic part. A few weeks ago while out of town I picked up a skein of tofutsies in a pink color. (She sent me blue which I really love blue) However Saturday morning I sat down and cast on for the very pattern which came in the mail later that day. My last package contained some blue trekking which was very close to a skein that I had just bought for myself. I looked back and I never blogged about theses purchases so she must have me pegged. The music on the CD is all stuff I love on the radio but did not yet down load. I can't wait to get back on the treadmill next month and listen to this cd. (I have it in the PC right now.

Ok now I need to eat somemore of the treats as tomorrow I am joining weight watchers. I have put on about 25 pounds in the last year so it is time for some action. My goal is to lose 50 pounds. This seems lofty but not unattainable. I am now 185lbs and 50 would take me down to 135 which is ok for me at 5' 3". So my posts will also include weight loss from now on.

FO's

Being home on bed rest has really got me moving on finished objects. I would post more pictures but dial up makes it very hard to upload more than 2. So far I have finished Kara's red and pink socks. These pics were taken before she went to school today. After school she says that she had to show off her new socks at show and tell. They are Regia crazy colors. She loves them. I finished them last night while I could not sleep. It seems that all of my sleepind done during the day kept me up all night despite the narcotics. These socks are just a plain vanilla pattern. I have used in the past. I made them slightly on the long side for her feet since it is April now and I know she will not be wearing them much before summer. I hope she will be able to wear them all next winter. (the other girls also requested the same sock but I find that to be boring.)

Today I finished the drawstring baby pants from last minute knitted gifts. I had already joined the legs so all I had to do was the diaper area, sew down the waist band and make the drawstring. They turned out really well. I now want to order some more knit picks shine sport for a sweater to go with the pants. The pants are the grass color so I am thinking cream for the sweater and maybe some socks as well. The baby shower is tentaively set for June 3rd. I. have. time.

I also cast on and finished a cell phone case using up the scraps of regia this afternoon. It only took 1 and 1/2 hour to do. Very simple.

I also pulled out the jaywalkers that I started last month. Sock one is now at the toe decreases. I hope to finish it before bed tonight. Not quite sure if I will cast on numer two or not. I really want to cast on for some tidal wave socks with tofutsies instead. I am just not loving the Jaywalkers color.

I should really work on my ariann sweater but I think I lost that mojo for a while.

I am really amazed with the amount I have accomplished in the last two days seeings as I had surgery and all. I think it is the drugs. I feel great. Just a little stiff from sitting so much but I was doing lots of that before. Maybe it is just the knowledge that I need to keep moving to get better that is keeping me from sleeping. Anyhow my doc wrote me a slip to be off unitl next week monday May 7th. I think I will go stir crazy to be home that long. And then to be on restrictions for another 3 weeks at work will make life not fun for me.

Ouch!

That is how my face feels right now. This morning I went to see a plastic surgeon (one with whom I work with on a regular basis at the hospital) so he could take a small cyst of the bridge of my nose. It ended up being bigger than he expected for an office procedure. I am just thankful it is removed. It was in the way and my glasses were not fitting right. I do have to say that my bandage is attracting all kinds of looks. (I went grocery shopping on the way home)

Today is the first of 7 consecutive days off of work. I might actually be off for 9 days depending on how things go tomorrow. I am having a small out patient surgical procedure. I am not worried at all. I have a great doctor and great staff in my room to take care of me.

I am hoping to get some knitting done. I bought the first two seasons of greys anatomy on dvd this weekend to keep me occupied. I finished the first pink and red sock requested by my five year old and am turing the heel on the second.

Organization continues

I did not get as much stash organization done today as I would have liked. The play date is over but now I have a huge headache. I still have to pick up the oldest from her playdate at 7pm which will give me just enough time to get all of the girls a bath and into bed by 8pm. I hope the headache is gone by then because tonight is a new grey's. I have been waiting long enough.

I do have to say that kids are something else. Kara who is 5 asked me today if I would knit her a pair of socks. Sure. Look through that basket of sock yarn and show me which colors you like. After a few minutes she says none of these. I want pink and red socks. Looks like I am buying more sock yarn. (I have found some regia in pink and reds, and I only need one ball for her socks) Now I just have to order it.

One thing to vent about. For the last few weeks every time I have did a load of wash I have found water on my floor in the laundry room. So today on my day off I pulled everything out of the laundry room and put some blue surgical towels on the floor (they have a very obvious color change when wet) and started the washer. I was hoping that I would be able to see were the water was coming from by where the towels started to get wet. I watched and watched thru all of the cycles and no water appeared. Go figure. All that work for nothing.

Stash assesment

I truely did not realize how large my stash has grown until today. I bought some of the ziploc big bags (the 10 gallon size) and was going to sort yarn to put away. I started gathering up just sock yarn and was shocked that I have enought for at least 20 pairs of socks. I don't know if I want to dive into the rest of the stash or not. But it needs to be done. My closet is running over! I have organized a few other rooms / cabinets and my stash will soon have a new home.

As for knitting news, I started yet another project. I cast on for a pair of draw string baby pants from lmkg (wait, I think I posted about this previously, oh well) I now have both legs done and will join them tonight before going to bed. I hope to finish them tomorrow as I have another day off. Yeah! My little girls are having a play date as there is no school for kindergarden and my oldest will be going home after school with one of her friends. So I will have 4 girls in my house tomorrow 2 four year olds and two 5 year olds. Lord help me. I can forsee very little getting done around here.

SP10 Contest #3

It took me a while to choose least favorite project that I actually completed, but it only took a few minutes to choose my most favorite. My most favorite project would have to be my very first pair of socks. They were the begining of it all for me. I fell in love with making socks. I have very much evolved since this first pair of plain vanilla socks. I wish that I had photos of all of the socks that I have made but never thought it was important to photograph them before gifting them away.

My least favorite project was this hat that I knit about 4 years ago for my daughter. At that time she was 2 years old. She is now 6 and as you can see the hat is wide enough to fit her head but not long enough. At the time when she was 2 it was long enough to fit her head but waaaaaay to wide. I guess that's what you get for not checking your gauge. I kept telling myself it's just a hat so gauge is not important. Who knew! (Also this was one of my first foray's into stripes in the round and I did not know about avoiding color jogs)

I really don't feel much like knitting today as this week is really catching up with me. I feel like I am whinning about a job that I really love but sometimes it can get stressful. I am praying that tomorrow is a slow day. Sundays are reserved for emergent / trauma cases but that doesn't mean anything for how busy we will be. The last Sunday I worked we ran two rooms all day long.

For the rest of today I think I will help my 6 year old knit a scarf for her american girl doll and sew some sock bags. I am going to use the basic concept of my knowknits bag and make some like that for other small projects so I don't have to keep switching my projects out when I want to take something different with me.

Friday!

I am so glad this week is over, even though I know I have a short weekend coming up. I made a road trip to Marquette on Tuesday. (8 hours there and 8 hours back)I hate having to go back for court hearings with my ex but I do like going back to my favorite LYS. I lived in Marquette for 8 years and really got to know the knitting community there (and I miss them too) The one thing I love is that with in one mile there are 6 stores that carry yarn.

I was able to do some shopping for my pal because I got to town about 3 hours before my hearing. I also picked up some for myself. I got some tofutsies by SWTC for me and some more trekking for socks for the girls. I can get three pairs of kids socks out of one skein. The girls love having matching socks. I just give them different colored toes so I can tell them apart.

I think I found my love/ hate projects for the sp10 contest. I will post them tomorrow, which is my only day off this weekend since this is my Sunday to work.

I am hoping it is a slow day since scrubbing in for cases is painful lately. I have a huge rash on my arms from a new surgical scrub I tried and now it won't go away. Now to take some antihistamines and go to bed.

Look what I got!!

After going grocery shopping this morning the girls and I went to get the mail. (We have a central mailbox location for our mobile home park) As I was returning to the car all three of them exclaimed "We got a package!!" I don't know who was more excited, them or me! I told them Mom got a package but they were pleasantly surprised when we opened it up to find that they got something as well.

Thank you Supersock for all of the wonderful presents. I love the blue of the trexxing. I think I already know what pattern to use with it. I feel like you must know me very well or we must have similar tastes. The varigated cotton is one that I have used many times because I love the fresh colors. I plan to knit the bunny washcloth tonight to take to my mother for Easter tomorrow.

Chocolates, coffee (alcohol flavored at that) and tea are all treats I like. I will have to keep the lotion away from my girls if I want to use it myself. They love the smell, too. The girls say thank you for the jellybean eggs and egg laying chicken.

I actually own A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber. I think I will re-read it an pass it along to my pal. If you have not read he other book A Shop on Blossom Street I will send it to you. It is the beginning of the whole story as to how the shop got started. In away the book held a personnal message for me. Like the character Bethanne, knitting helped me deal with the stress of divorce and becoming a single parent.

Today was also egg coloring day. I know have fingers of assorted colors. It was loads of fun. We dyed about 3 dozen eggs. We also used leftover dye to paint coffee filters. They look very cool. Now that they are dry we have to figure out what to do with them.

Hello wall!

This is Arrian. I was so loving this sweater. I was hoping to be able to wear it still this spring on our cooler days. However I have seem to hit the wall. The picture shows the body up to the underarm. I have one sleeve knit but can't seem to force myself to cast on the other. Last week I cast on a pair of Jaywalkers while I was at the hospital and have made decent progress. (I finished the gusset this morning) Maybe I should just put them down and focus on the sweater. I also have baby gifts to finish but that's a whole other story.

I think that the whole lack of motivation comes from all of the recent stressors in my life which has caused a lack of sleep. All three kids seem to be doing great since the tonsills came out. (except at night when the little one wakes up every four hours asking for tylenol) Hence the lack of sleep. It's like having a baby in the house again. I was fortuante enough to get a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I feel like a bad mom when my kids sit down to watch a movie and I fall asleep. At least I can trust them to be good.