Monday, November 27, 2006

That's right. . . 2 stockings!


Two down. One to go. Well, really, I still have to weave the ends in on one, decide if I should felt or not (which will require a swatch that I felt, which is not too possible right now, since my washing machine is busted and there's 2 feet of snow here and the repair guy may never get here), and then stitch (either dupicate or embroider) the names on. But, really that's not too much. . . right? Yeah. It's kind of a lot, but it'll get done. The last stocking will be green red and white (in a different order than the one that's already those colors) or it'll be green red and blue any thoughts on the colors for the last one? I realized early enough that red white and blue is not a great idea for a christmas stocking, unless we're celebrating Christmas in July and then it would be faboo. And, really, the green, blue and white one looks very much like a stocking supporting the Seahawks, but I'll overlook it since I really could give a rip about football.
And, in case you don't believe me about the snow. . . here's Abby in it, and that's yesterday. Now there's at least a foot more. And the thing is, I live in Port Angeles, as in AT SEA LEVEL. We don't get snow here much and when we do, all mayhem breaks loose. No one knows how to drive, the schools shut down until it all melts, people don't own snow shovels here and we don't have that many snow plows, so the town shuts down. It's kind of fun. . . .for a while. I'm reaching the end of my limit on having a toddler in the house all day with no where to go.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Can you guess what this is going to be?


Here's a gift I'm working on for a friend. Can you guess what it's gonna be? I will be making two more of these triangles for the project. Give up? Go here to find out. Scroll WAY down.

And, the finished stocking.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Aha! Stocking!


Since I finally made myself frog the stocking, I've made much more progress. I'm just not that into the fair isle look for the stockings. I'm a simple stripe kinda girl. I hoped that I would be all done with this one for the KAL day. . . but, I'm a few inches from reaching the end. The toe will be green to match (see, there's that symetrical thing I have again!) And then, there's the whole duplicate stitching of the name. . . which I'm not looking forward to. But, forward progress. The pic is not so great due to the UNENDING rain and clouds and Yuk out here. That's probably why I got so much knitting in!
Oh, and a big moment in our world. Abby said, "I love you" for the first time to us this morning. Of course, being the daddy's girl that she is, she said it to Tom first and only said it to me after much prompting from Daddy. But, nonetheless, she's a hoot and a giggle.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Yup, still no stockings

But other good stuff!
I finished the orange sock's mate. And, yes, one is a tad longer than the other, but not nearly as mismatched as the picture looks. The feet are actually the same length, it's the legs that are off a bit. But, I'm fairly pleased with myself, as this is the first real adult size pair of socks I've made. . .yippeee!
And, I put together this nifty little tote from a thrift store sweater. It's felted and then the bottom of the sweater is sewn shut and the sleeves were cut off and the handles are from the shoulder section. I can't take credit for the design. . . I got it from this book. Tom was a little concerned about my fashion sense when I brought the sweater home. When I told him I was going to turn it into a handbag, he said, "seems to me it should have been a handbag to begin with"!

I'm slowly working my way through the UFOs and immediate gift needs on my knitting list, which means. . . I'm going to come to terms with the stockings. No, really. . . it's gonna happen darn it!

Also, how can I not share a pic of my little bumblebee. I was a flower and Tom was a honey comb. . . note the box of Honey Comb cereal strapped to his chest. At least he had a snack! Abby was so excited about being a bee, she kept saying, "bumble bee costume" until we finally put it on her and took her downtown to trick or treat. I, being the mean mom that I am, gave away all of the candy she collected to the neighbor kids when they came to our house.
Which, incidently, gives you a very interesting view into the world of teens. At about 7pm, the older kids started coming to the door. They could be divided into 3 groups: the girls dressed as sluts, the kids that didn't dress up at all and yet still expected me to fork over the goods, and then one boy who showed up dressed, well, I thought he was supposed to be a DJ or a rapper. . . He was wearing a big football jersey and white pants, his hair was greased back and he had a large medallion (wrapped in tinfoil) hanging from his neck. When I asked what he was, he giggled and kind of flapped his hand in the air and then skipped down the stairs. I noticed the glitter on his face and in his hair at that point. His friends told me he was a "gay guy." Now, I had several reactions at once. The first, and probably most prominent thought was, "I don't know any gay men that look anything like that. . . none of them would dress so horribly!" The next thought was, "that's not a costume, that's a person!" In the end, I ended up yelling after him, "We're gonna talk about this later young man!" I realized that he knew it wasn't an appropriate costume, or he wouldn't have avoided telling me what he was. Later, I talked to a friend of mine and she thought it was him trying on the role. . . perhaps he's actually questioning his sexuality. I'm not sure how I'm going to approach him, but since I know him, I can approach him, and I feel like I should because he may not have any other adults that he can talk to about this. Unfortunately, or fortunately. . .depending on your perspective, I didn't know any of the young women that came to my door in next to no clothing. . . so I can't talk to them and have it be meaningful. At least we didn't have any 35 year old men come to our door this year begging for candy. . . I think Tom may have scared that guy last year!