Knit, Knit, Knit

Thats what I have been up to lately. I have finished several things in the last month. So much so that I think I wore out a pair of circular needles.....LOL

Here is just one of the things I have been working on. There will be more photos later today of the finished Kitty Pi and other finished objects.

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

WIP's, Computers, Weather & Willow

As I promised a long while back, here are some WIP's!

I am working on the City Wrap pattern by Patons and I am using their Decor yarn as suggested in the pattern. It is worked up using 2 strands of yarn held together. I love the color of this yarn and the colorway is called Secret Garden and it is 75% Acrylic - 25% Wool . It is working up really fast. I started it the night before last and only worked on it for about an hour yesterday. Click on the picture to get a better look.

And this is what I am calling Green With Envy. My oldest daughter loves the color lime green and she wanted a funky scarf to go with her lime green ski jacket. It is almost complete. I am using size 13 needles. The yarn is Lion Brand Fancy Fur in the Spring Garden colorway and I'm using 4 skeins. I cast on 18 stitches using the long tail cast on and I am just working it in garter stitch.

And here is the Irish Hiking Scarf I started a while back. I made a bit more progress on it but not much. This is a project that requires a block of time to work on because of the cable pattern. Its not like the other projects that can be put down in mid row so it is slower going.

My hubby surprised me this morning by telling me he was going to order me a laptop for my birthday. He let me pick out the features with his help (since he is the computer expert in our household--he builds desktops from scratch for a hobby.) We were on Dell's web page putting it all together and when we were finished we clicked on the order button which took us to the order screen. We were just about to click the finalize order button when I noticed there was a place to put a coupon code. I said "Hold on, I think I have something on my blog that takes you to a list of Dell coupon codes." So I checked my blog and sure enough there was. So I clicked it and low and behold there was a coupon for the laptop we were ordering. The coupon code gave us $400 off the laptop! My hubby was really impressed and excited with the fact that he got to save $400. So if anyone is in the market for a new laptop and are going to make a purchase from Dell, just look on the right hand side of my blog and scroll down to where it says "Look Who's Watching" and click on the Dell Coupon Code link.

This is what it looked like when I got up this morning. Pretty to look at but not enough to keep the kids home from school. We are supposed to get more snow this evening. The weather service is predicting about 1-3 inches of snow for this evening.

1st Blogiversary

Today is my 1st Blogiversary! I can't believe it has already been one year since I started this blog. Time flies when you are having fun!

I want to thank everyone that has visited and everyone that keeps coming back. Thank you for all your kind comments and encouragement! I have enjoyed sharing a little part of me and I hope you have enjoyed it too. Thank you again and I hope you keep coming back.

I have put together a slide show of my fiber expeditions over the past year. It is amazing to see everything together. I really did do quite a bit of knitting and crocheting this past year. I am looking forward to another year of blogging. Again, thanks to everyone! Enjoy the slide show!

SP10 ?'s

The Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love to knit with alpaca yarn, it is sooooo soft. Acrylic is not my favorite.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? My straight knitting needles are stored in a vase and circs are draped over my craft light. My crochet hooks are stored in a case.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? My great-grandmother taught me to knit when I was about 6 years old but I gave it up quickly. It hasn't been until the last couple of years that I took it up again and I am obsessed with it. I just wish I could find a knitting group to join locally.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No I don't have a wish list, but if you ask me I will tell you what I would love to have.

5. What's your favorite scent? Vanilla and raspberry

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Do I ever! I love chocolate....any type except Palmer's. Especially like Dove chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I don't spin. I sew and crochet and knit that is about it although I dabble in a little bit of everything when it comes to crafts.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like just about any type of music except classical or opera.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Favorite colors, that's easy.....Purple and Blue. I can't stand Yellow and Orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married and we have lots of teenagers. I have one cat that I absolutely adore and treat her better than I treat my children. Her name is Willow

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes I wear scarves, hats, and mittens. I don't know if I wear ponchos because I have never had one.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I would have to say scarves and hats, because they are so easy and fast.

13. What are you knitting right now? I am working on a scarfs and a hat. I am crocheting a purse and an afghan.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes I love handmade gifts...they are the best!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Depends on what I am knitting and what type of yarn I am using. But I can say that I hate plastic needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I own a yarn winder. I don't have a swift but I really want one.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? I have been working on the crocheted afghan for a couple of years now.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect? Cats

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I don't have any subscriptions to any knitting mags. I would love a set of Denise interchangeable needles.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? There are lots of techniques I would love to learn. I have been broadening my horizons by self-teaching knitting and I am always taking small steps to learn new techniques and stitches.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I am definitely not a sock knitter. I have tried several times and failed. I have a hard time working with dpn's, especially very small ones.

23. When is your birthday? I will be turning 40 on the 18th of April.

Kissing is not a crime!

Well I received the phone call from the police officer and I asked him my questions. Apparently there are some major flaws in Oregon's age of consent laws. It is not illegal for an adult male (over the age of 18) to kiss a young girl (under the age of 18) in the state of Oregon. I was told that a kiss is not a crime because it is not sexual in nature. If it were a crime then fathers and grandfathers would be going to jail. It only becomes a crime if it is unwanted and forced upon the young girl. She then becomes a victim.

I was like HELLO......a kiss from a father is totally different than a kiss from a man that is pursuing a romantic relationship!

Thank goodness my ex-husband is on the same page I am in all of this and so is this guy's mother.

I believe the dilemma is over finally. Thank goodness!

Watching My Hair.......

turn grey as I speak. That's what teenagers do to you, you know. They make your hair turn grey.

My daughter who is 16 years old is sending me to my grave early. Let me just step back in time about 6 weeks. A male acquaintance who will be 20 in May took it upon himself to contact my 16 year old daughter and asked if she could "hang out" with him. This all happened while my daughter was visiting her dad. She told him "sure." So he went over to her dad's house and hung out for a couple of hours and then at the end of the night they kissed.

When I found this out, I went sideways on my daughter and told her that she could not date him. I explained to her that he was too old for her. Then 2 weeks after this discussion with my daughter I find out that she is still trying to spend time with this guy. So I removed her driving privileges for disobeying me.

The problem with this is that there is 3 1/2 years difference in age, he is an adult and she is under the "age of consent." In Oregon the age of consent is 18.

Okay, now it has been 6 weeks since the first incident and guess what arrives in the mail.......my phone bill. And on this phone bill there are numerous calls to this guy's cell phone. After further investigation I find out that he has been calling my daughter's best friend and doing 3 way calls and vise verse.

I confronted my daughter with said evidence and she didn't deny any of it (she is now grounded from the phone and the computer for the next month and still cannot drive.) I then call her friend and tell her that the gig is up and I know everything and asked her to stop being the go between and she completely understood and is very willing to comply with my request. After that call I called "the guy's" number that was on the phone bill and requested that all contact stop at once. He then said that he could do whatever he wanted to do and that I was harassing him and if I called him again he would pursue legal action against me. I told him that he was not to call my home or make contact with anyone in my home or I would do the same.

I next called the police department to find out what the laws are and if there is anything that can be done if he continues to pursue a relationship with my daughter. Here is what I was told, "the kiss between my daughter and this guy is not a crime." Well my understanding is that any "intimate contact" with someone under the age of consent was a crime. Does that mean that adult men can go around kissing girls under the age of 18 and it is alright? I posed this question to the dispatcher and she is going to have a police officer call me back.

Now how screwed up is that? I can't wait to hear what the police officer has to tell me. In the meantime, if any of you out there have gone through something like this already and have any advice for me, please tell me!

1st Day on the New Job

The first day of work was great! Everyone in the office is very nice and very welcoming and the doctor that I am working for was very enthusiastic about having me work for him. He even had a note waiting for me inviting me to the Christmas Party that they have already planned for this next Christmas (he wanted to make sure I put it on my calendar). Apparently he loves/lives for Christmas. They are having it in the Camas Room at Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort and if you have never been there I have to tell you it is very VERY nice (we are talking super fine dining! Five course meal and everything. They even bring the main entree to the table with a silver dome covering it).

Well that's it for today. I am headed to bed. I worked out at the gym for about an hour today after work and I am exhausted and I have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow because I have to be at work at 6:30 a.m.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

And results from another photo. You can try this too at www.myheritage.com



I was surprised by the results!

Terminated?

I accepted the job offer from the doctor's office for the medical assistant position on Monday and I submitted my letter of resignation giving 2 weeks notice. In my letter I stated that my last day of employment would be effective February 15th.

Today I received a call from my boss that she was terminating my employment as of today. I am assuming that just means she is letting me off the hook and I don't have to complete my last 2 weeks of work ( hence letter of resignation means I quit and you can't fire me because I quit). I let my co-workers know that today was my last day and their response was "We're surprised she let you continue working as long as she did. She never lets employees continue to work after they give notice."

So on my lunch break I called my new employer to notify them that I could start tomorrow instead of the 16th. They were very excited to hear my news. Their exact words were "We are very excited to have you work with us and we are glad to hear that you are able to start earlier than expected." So I will report to work at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow and I couldn't be happier. One of the benefits of this new job is that every 8 weeks, the doctor takes 10 days off and I get one week off during the time he is gone. How cool is that!

Now that I have updated you all on my work life, I wanted to give an update about my knitting life. Sunday was the Super Bowl and Knitty Gritty was having a Knit In. I worked on a couple projects and learned a new knitting stitch (the butterfly stitch). I will post pictures of my works within the next couple of days. I would do it now but I am just not feeling in the mood to take pics right now.

Anyway, I will let you know how my first day at the new job goes tomorrow.

Enough Is Enough!

What would you do if your boss called you up from home asking you to read some emails to her over the phone that she had received and then during that call she starts screaming at you and insulting and belittling you? You try to explain that you are just the messenger in the whole ordeal but you continue to receive the insults.

Well this is what happened to me a week ago yesterday and it happened not once, but four times that day. My boss called me up four separate times during the day and started screaming at me over the phone. I finally said "I am not sure what you are expecting of me. You asked me to read you your emails and I did. I am not the one that sent the emails. I am just the messenger in all of this and I refuse to continue to be treated with such disrespect." There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then she politely hung up and about 5 minutes later called back to tell me "I think I have the information I need here at home." There was no apology or anything! Now granted she had just had surgery and is at home recovering and I would normally just chock this up to her being in pain and on pain meds, but this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. This is just her way of dealing with things and I am not the only one in the office that has experience this sort of abuse from her.

Well I said enough is enough and went into full action looking for another place of employment. I had an interview yesterday for a position at a doctor's office/GI Endoscopy Center as a medical assistant. I hadn't been home more than 2 minutes last night when the phone rang and it was the doctor's office calling to offer me the position. I thanked them for the offer and asked them if I could discuss it with my husband and give them an answer on Monday. They said that was fine. I have sat down and gone through all the pro's and con's about taking the position and the only con I can come up with is the fact that I would have to get up at 5 a.m. every morning to be at work at 6:30 a.m. The pay is the same as my current pay and after 90 days I would get an increase. The benefits are better and every 8 weeks I would get a week off.

This has been a very stressful few months for me and I dread going to work every morning. I am not getting any younger and I would really like to enjoy my place of employment. It's time to move on. No one should have to endure abuse at work. I am going to give my notice on Monday. Who knows, maybe Monday will be my last day. I am ready to hear the screaming again and have my speech prepared. Wish me luck.

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

I know you're there, I can see you. You're sitting there peeking into my world. Trying to see if the grass is greener on the other side or possibly just trying to get to know me by hanging around in the distance, trying to keep your identity hidden. Well it's time to come out and tell me who you are. I'm curious.....

1. Who are you?
2. Where are you from?
3. Do you have a blog too?
4. What are your thoughts?
5. What do we have in common?

So go ahead, leave me a comment. Inquiring minds want to know. It's okay, I don't bite. And besides that, you don't want my cat to go hungry do you?

UTI's Suck

I have been feeling under the weather for about a week so, I decided to go to the doctor yesterday morning. I explained my symptoms to my doctor and he did a urinalysis and it was positive for a UTI (urinary track infection). I went ahead and went to work afterwards, but I was miserable all day and by the time I got home it was all I could do to eat dinner. After dinner I went straight to bed and turned a movie on and I think I remember watching about the first 15 minutes of it before I fell asleep. Thank goodness I am feeling better today.

Now I Can Relax

I left the first weekend of January for a week long class on Life & Health Insurance and I spent all of last week studying for the exam. I took the exam today and I passed! Now I can relax and have some fun.

Speaking of fun, I have been working on the Irish Hiking Scarf with the purple alpaca yarn India sent me. I didn't realize how easy cabling was. Take a look at my progress.

Here is a picture of the crocheted afghan I have been working on. This is going to be one of those projects that I work on a little here and a little there. My attention span won't allow me to just sit and work on it until its done.
Now maybe I can get back to some knitting adventures now that I have completed all my studies.

I almost forgot! I joined the local gym and I have been working out 6 days a week using the "Body For Life" plan. So far it is working and I have lost 2 inches from my waistline. Goodbye size 16, here I come size 8!

Welcome To My Wonderland

It's Christmas all over again! This is what I woke up to... and then it gets better. I got a parcel from my SP9! Look at what she sent me. The yarn is just fab and super soft and I love the color. I am definately going to try the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern using this yarn. She also sent some note cards, cable needles, a comic book, lotion, some salt scrub, some beads and some yummy butter tablet. I have to say the butter tablet she made is ten times better than the store bought tablet she sent to me last time. I might have to get the recipe for this...its soooo good. Thank You India!

This is What We Got for Christmas

This is how much it has rained so far...........

3 miles NW of Roseburg, Douglas County. Heavy rain 1.84 inches, reported by co-op observer. 24 hour rain fall ending at 1200 PM PST.

And this is what we got for Christmas due to this weather....
Our neighbor knocked on our door at about 3 p.m. to let us know that our/their retaining wall was giving away. Our neighbor did some excavation this past summer to create more parking. As you can see from the pictures below, he removed a ton of earth (3 feet high and from his shed to the cement pad). He then put some railroad ties in as a retaining wall. (don't ask me why he thought a wall of railroad ties would support a cement retaining wall.) Then to make matters worse it rained about 2.20 inches in the past 24 hours. Too much rain and no support created this nightmare. We are just hoping that it doesn't give out totally. Our neighbors are going to get some boulders in the morning to put in underneath the retaining wall to support it until things dry out and it can be fixed properly. They are also going to try to file a liability claim with their insurance company. I am greatful that they realize that this is due to the excavation they did this last summer. Click on the pictures to get a closer look at the damage. Our boat was falling into the fissure and when John pulled it out the tire came off the rim.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a safe and very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Comment Graphics

I Passed!

I took my state Property, Casualty, Law & Ethics licensing exam on Saturday and I passed! The test was worse than I thought it was going to be. When I started the exam, the first question was one that was worded in such a way that when I read it I thought to myself "I don't remember reading anything about this in my books! Boy am I in trouble! Am I taking the right test?" I answered the question and moved on to the next one and was relieved to see something I knew. I am so glad I passed and never have to take that test again!

I have one more class the beginning of January and then I take the Life & Health licensing exam. I will be so relieved when I am finished!

New Blogger vs. Beta

Well I switched to the new beta version of Blogger and I don't know if I like it. When I go to view my blog I can't see any of my previous posts. Although there is a list of the previous posts, when I click on them they don't appear. This sucks!!!

Ta Dah!

This is the triangle shawl I mentioned before that I was working on. I finished it last night. This pattern was super easy and I probably would have had it finished within a couple of days if I hadn't had so many distractions. Speaking of distractions....here is one of the distractions that kept me from finishing the shawl.


I was shopping with one of my co-workers and we came across these adorable felted purses. Well they were adorable until I saw the price tag. They wanted $80 for one of the purses. I was like "holy cow, I can whip one of these puppies out in no time flat and it will only cost me about $8". My co-worker really liked the purses and she said that her daughter would love one. So I offered to make one for her. Off to my stash I went in search of the perfect yarn. Yarn found and I was off to knit one of these babies. Everything was going great the purse was looking very much like the ones we saw in the store. Now to felt it. I dropped it into the washer and sent it through one cycle and checked it. It hadn't felted enough so I put it through cycle #2. I pulled it out to check it and "Holy crap!" It had shrunk about 3 sizes. I started laughing which caught my husband's attention. He wanted to know what the comotion was about. I showed him the purse and he just cracked up laughing because he saw what it looked like pre-felted. It is so small you might be able to get your wallet into it but that is about all. Now when my hubby sees me knitting something, the big joke is "what are you knitting now....a towel to shrink into a washcloth?" "Very funny Hun," I told him. This is the first time I have had a felted project go haywire.

I am leaving later today and will be gone until next Saturday evening. I am taking the state insurance property, casualty and law licensing classes this week and then a week from Saturday I will take the state licensing exam. So I don't fry my brain, I am taking a crochet project with me to work on in the evenings. I will post my progress when I get back. Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I call turkeys into the yard and feed them. I haven't been able to get them to eat out of my hand yet, but I am working on that. My family is quite amazed that I am able to call them in without a turkey call. I guess I just know how to talk turkey. Have you ever seen a turkey look over the fence? Well now you have!

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump,
May your yams be delicious,
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs.

Happy Thanksgiving!