Tangled Fingers Diary

Mushrooms and socks...

School, for me, just started today. Already I am overwhelmed by the thought of actually going out and interpreting in the real world. Makes me want to hide. The good news is that I will be starting in the first year sign language class so they won't know if I screw up royally. Thank Goodness. But still scary none the less. I think that Mrs. C is putting me in the college for my interpreting work. Which is good because I won't be molding little peoples minds with bad sign language but bad because the woman is right there whenever she wants to pop in and say hi she can. ugh.

Anyway enough that. My head hurts bad enough right now. I am doing a couple projects right now that I am going to gloss over until they are further along. But I am crocheting a little monster guy out of some of the yarn left over from the Monkeys (which still need to be sent). He is turning out pretty well so far. Also I have some yarn that Miss V sold me before she named it (one of the perks of going to S&B with a yarn dyer/seller) that I am knitting a pair of socks. I am using a cable that I pulled out of the Knitters Bible up one side of the socks and then the rest is plain ol knitting. It is kind of fun to see how it is coming out! I will have pictures of those soon.

I have good news on the Sweater from hell! I am ON THE RIBBING! Frackin' finally. I tell you what it is taking forever. T tried it on the other night so that I could make sure that it was safe to start the ribbing and he pronounced it "rather warm". I also still think that sweater is going to be big on him (he would not let me measure him, it was "oh just make this size" you would think that would have clued me in not to make the damn thing). This is what I get for wanting to knit that man a sweater. Never again!

Here is something that I have finished however...

I was test knitting this for a woman on Ravelry. It is supposed to be Candy corn but I must have gotten rid of the orange I had so I substituted a fun yarn. It is crappy red heart yarn but the pattern made it fun.

I made a swatch! (I know it was difficult)

I think that it turned out well. The yarn itself is really itchy (like really super itchy) but I knit up this swatch, washed it and then wore it in my bra all day. I actually forgot that I was wearing it so it does soften up. I am still no where closer to knowing what it wants to be, but at least I know that it won't stay itchy anymore.

And finally...

Look at what I found growing out of the old tree stump in the front yard.

Fungusingly

Dee

 

The first day...

Today was the first day of school for the kids. They all got dressed up in their uniforms (Catholic school, gotta love it!) And posed nicely for mommy. They were very excited about starting school, especially little Isaac. This was his first day of Kindergarten (*sob* I was so pathetic after I left. You would think that after going through it with the older three I would be an old hand at it but noooooo)

Man they are so friggin cute!
Then when we returned and took their older sister to school

Not in Catholic School, (Very long and frustrating story) But equally as excited.
Not much else to report today. I did start a cute little crochet project, however explanation of that will have to come later.
Schoolingly,
Dee

Monkey See...

Look at these lovelies!

I mean they are so beautiful!
Of course I am not at all biased. They did turn out a lot better than I expected since they are my first ever completed pair of socks. Go me!
Now to wrap them up and mail them off.
I am thinking about getting a knit picks circular for the shawl that I want to knit. I am not sure that the denise needles will work to well for lace. I don't know I am still thinking about it.
Well off to face the day!
Happily
Dee

ETA: Last night we had storms from hell. This morning I look out the window and see this...

That tree split down the middle! Crazy.

Swinging through the trees...

The monkeys are Done! I Love them ton7s. I just hope that mom loves them and uses them. I already blocked the first one so as soon as the second sock is done drying I will post a picture of them. Then its to the mail with them!
Monkeyingly,
Dee

I need two of me...

I started listening to Weavecast the other day (thanks a lot Violet *humpf*)
I spent the day searching for looms and how to build a pvc loom. Why? Because I decided that i like the insane me and I am striving to drive myself further into insanity.

Weaveingly,
Dee

On the heels of a very bad day...

I decided last night that I needed to spin its very relaxing. I can zone and just watch as the wool turns into yarn and feel better. Well I was a lot closer to the end of the roving than I thought. So when I reached the end I decided that I wanted to Navajo ply. Not as relaxing as spinning that trying a new technique is it? However the end result was well worth the futzing.
I will show you pictures just as soon as my camera comes back home to me. It is really over twisted but so beautiful. Once I got the rhythm it was not bad. I think that I really like this way of plying!

Plyingly
Dee

When it rains it pours...

You know those days that you just want to curl up under the covers and never come out? Today was one of those days for me. Well, This week has been that way for me. The car died. As in so far gone that it is not even worth fixing. We knew it was going to happen, we just babied it and hoped for the best. Since that was our only vehicle, we are rather screwed. Not to mention a few other things that I found out today that my husband didn't bother to tell me about until now. Ugh.

If this stuff had only waited another couple months...

How about a happy picture to counteract the depressing mood of the blog today?

Moe got a hold of my camera and of course the princess had to join in on the fun.
ventingly
Dee

Taught him well I did...

So last night was interesting. This big storm rolled through Omaha which of course knocked the power out on the block (I have tons of candles around the house for the simple reason that the power goes out a lot. ) So T and I went around the house lighting the candles and then he went on to tell the kids stories

Flash really is a wonderful thing isn't it. Otherwise my pictures would look like this

While they did that I went to the kitchen to start dinner preparations.  It is times like these that I am really glad that we have a gas stove.  I made cheesy potato soup  for the clan and knit on the monkey sock. Thank goodness that the yarn I chose is not dark.

After we ate and cleaned up dinner the kids got bored. Very bored. (funny side note: NJ went to get the kool-aid out of the fridge and freaked out because he thought that the fridge was broken. Once it was explained that the electricity was out and that the fridge was electric he felt better. Until he realized that he couldn't check the time because the clock on the VCR was broken. So again with the electric explanation. Took a few times of explaining things before he got it. hehehe)
So I helped Sissy with her knitting (she is getting a lot better at it. She keeps it up she will be ready for the purl stitch)  and taught NJ how to crochet!! He asked me if I would teach him. All that he knows right now is the chain stitch but he caught on to it quickly.

Look at the pride! right after that picture he decided that he wanted to give it to me as a bracelet. So...

Now I wear it proudly and get huge hugs everytime he sees it.
Of course the Princess wanted in on the action.

Much too cute for her own good.
I found the dyes that I got from All things Heather so now I am itching to try dyeing. The problem? No big pan or even that much space to do it in. Plus my lovely kitchen has a window but no way to open the damn thing. Some day.

Off to do more knitting! (made it to the heel flap last night!)
Teachingly,
Dee

Looky... or the I have a lot to say today post...

I have a lot of stuff to show you today! I am working on my second monkey sock, no second sock syndrome for me! These are for mom so I knew that I really did not want these hanging out on the needles for too long. She is going in for surgery sometime within the next month or two so I really need to finish them. Surprisingly enough the second sock is moving faster than the first one did. I have had the second sock cast on for a week now and I am one repeat away from the heel flap.
I know that you are here for the pictures so here is sock one.

No wip picture yet. I made the sock a bit shorter than the one that Cookie A made just because Mom doesn't like the tall socks. She is a notorious cuff folder. So I shortened the leg for her. Beauty such as this should never be folded down.
Notes
Yarn: Lime and Violet The Exes series- Why don't you call meeeeeee colorway.
     I have to say, this yarn is beautiful in the monkey sock pattern! I love the small bursts of dark blues and dark purples mixed in with the white and greys. When I bought the yarn the pic made the yarn look shinier than it is in real life. So when I got it I will admit a bit of disappointment. That was where the disappointment ends however. I adore the look of this yarn knit up! Some yarns just have to be knit up to be properly appreciated! I know that mom will love this. (I hope)   
Needles: set of five size two bamboo DPNs. (I had an unfortunate accident with one of the needles. I am not quite sure what happened but I pulled it out of the bag only to find it broken. So I am currently using four needles. I think that if I plan on knitting any more socks then I will need to invest in a set of metal size twos. Addis maybe? Or some with a good excange policy. I am just worried about breaking the needles which is why I don't carry my sock with me much.)
Modifications: Obviously I messed with the leg length. Mostly for mom but also because I was impatient to start the heel by that time. The fact that mom is not a fan of tall socks is a VERY big bonus. I didn't do the heel flap the same, I did straight knit and not the slipped stitch (K1,P1? I don't remember which I just know that I didn't do it.)
I still don't enjoy sock knitting as much as some do, but I find myself looking at other patterns and thinking that I could knit them. So apparently the monkeys are warming me up to sock knitting.

I got some more sock yarn (I tell you what for someone that does not enjoy sock knitting I sure have a lot of sock yarn) This one is called bellyflop. E gave it to me when I went over to ball up my lace weight. (more on that in a minute.)
Just look at this!

I have no idea what this will be but ohhh man is it pretty. I still have it sitting here in front of me to pet and drool over.

That lace weight I mentioned above?

Drool worthy.
there is roughly 1900 yards here. And honestly? The pictures do not do it justice. There are little bits of light purple and green so pretty. I am still unsure of what pattern that I will use. Right now it is a toss up between the Honeybee stole from knit spot (honestly the more that I look at the shawl variation and this one the more that I like the stole. Although that could change quickly, maybe I better get both. You really never know.) and the stole Leda's Dream Pattern from Pink Lemon Twist. I can't get over how pretty it is, and it is supposed to be for the adventurous beginner so I think that I would have an easier time of it with this one than the Honeybee. Then again there are a metric ton of people knitting the bee so if I ran into problems I would have help... I don't know.

Wheel news...
Take a gander at this beauty...

I am currently using this and if I like it I will be buying it. It is good to have local spinning friends! I am very much enjoying this wheel so far. It is more stable than Babe, the take up is 10 times better than babe and it is not PVC. That is such a huge plus for me. Babe, while a good starter wheel, is not much fun to spin on. It goes off balance so easily, and in order to get the fiber to take up at all I have to wrap the leather around very tightly. Yes it is a Clemes and Clemes kit wheel and in awesome shape! I am spinning some left over wool to get used to it. Frankly I am glad that I decided to do it this way just because the take up is so strong that I really have had problems with not moving fast enough and having the wool yanked out of my hands. I am working with the tension knob so that I can get a feel for it. My only other problem is that it is a bit harder to treadle, however when I use both feet its not a problem at all. So far it looks like the clemes is winning out. If that is the case I will probably sell babe with the bobbins and skein winder (which is useless without the babe so no sense keeping it.) Dad saw the Clemes the other night and is just positive that he could build a spinning wheel for me. I doubt that will happen anytime soon but I can't imagine anything cooler than a wheel made by dad. If he ever retires he will make me one. I just have to be patient. hehe. I am trying to get him to build me a skein winder however. There are plans for a simple one on the net and I would love to have him build me one. (I sent him the plans with the note that his loving daughter would adore it for christmas. I am nothing if not hopeful. hehehe)
I think that I have talked your ear off enough for one day.
buildingly
Dee

Few more pictures...

I can't help it. She was beautiful (and silly)

Okay so this never happens, I have cleavage!

The girls were fabo, (bad pics, sorry I am not all that great at night time photography)

At one point there was a group of men walking down the runway in speedos. Very tight speedos. One of the guys apparently REALLY began enjoying his walk down the runway. Oh it was very obvious. I thought that Sommer was going to melt from embarrassment once she realized what everyone around her were giggling at. So priceless.
Anywho, I must go. I need to take her to the Agency tonight and I really need to get ready. Enjoyingly,
Dee

Okay so maybe I was silly too...

Word to your mutha.