New banner

Ok, so I was bored. I made this new banner from a picture my sister sent me. This is the view from my Mom's front door in Kaneohe. These are the Koolau Mountains on Oahu, Hawaii. I have a view of the Las Vegas Strip from my front door. Hmmm...Mom wins! I can't wait to see these beautiful mountains when I take the kids back "home" for Christmas.

I'm actually too nervous to sleep. Tomorrow is my last day at work. My kids don't have school tomorrow and you'd think they'd try to stay up as late as possible. Nope. The two of them are crashed out on the sofas in the family room. I've got to get into the kitchen and fix their lunches for tomorrow.

I wonder how many of my co-workers are going to join me at the RoadRunner bar after work tomorrow. I'm not expecting very many. It is, after all, Friday night. Anthony has already lectured me on drinking and driving. I had to explain to him that I don't drink, so one cocktail will be my limit.

Still working on that spiral sock with the leftover Sock Garden yarn from KnitPicks. Picture to come when it's done. I'm also dying to start a lace shawl. I'd better finish Bernie's afghan before he sends me back to work!

Spiral socks revisted

Here are my old spiral socks. They must be at least five years old and are holding up really well. They're made of LionBrand WoolEase on size 4 needles. I'll most likely finish the current ones tomorrow morning.

It's really late, 12:38 a.m. and I'd better get my tired self to bed. Bernie is in Colorado for football, Chris has an 8 a.m. soccer game, for which I have to bring the snacks this time, and I have to finish 10 pounds of macaroni salad for Anthony's football game fundraiser. Yes, I said 10 (ten) pounds of mac salad. I have to assemble this between games as I don't have enough room in my fridge for this. I just cooked the pasta and it will hold until I'm ready. We're doing Hawaiian style plate lunches for $5 each. They will consist of Hawaiian style BBQ chicken, rice and macaroni salad. Apparently, they did so well a couple of weeks ago that they ran out of food. This stuff beats the typical football food of hotdogs and chips! Hopefully we'll have enough left over after the game to feed all the players.

Some knitting content

After all of this crocheting, I had to pick up a knitting project. I found a half finished spiral sock that I started over a year ago, completed that, now I'm working on the mate. It just felt wrong watching Knitty Gritty on DIY while crocheting. Also, I had to have something to bring to our Knit Nite, although many of us also crochet and we welcome either crochet or knit projects to be worked on. I found this spiral sock pattern a few years ago and it has remained one of my favorites even though I am no longer a beginner sock knitter. I like these, particularly as gifts, because I don't need to know how long someone's foot is, there is no heel to wear out, and they stay up! This is a great pattern to adapt to babies or small children because the socks can be used longer than others while they're still growing. The only problem I ever had wasn't related to the pattern. I made a pair of these for a friend without knowing she was allergic to wool! I've only made these in worsted weight although now I'm dying to try them in a nice sock yarn, I'm thinking another order from Knit Picks is in my future.

Bernie's afghan

My poor husband! He has patiently waited over a year for an afghan to cover his bed at the fire station. He bought the yarn last September and only occasionally asked about his afghan's progress. He has seen me start and complete over 100 projects in the past year without making a start on his afghan. No, I take that back, I had started it but was never satisfied with a pattern so I didn't go any further than swatches. Not only that, but he bought Red Heart worsted for the afghan and I just didn't want to make a project of that size in that yarn. I wanted him to have a nice, soft, cuddly afghan and not something that not only wears like iron but feels like it as well. I have always liked Red Heart Light and Lofty and a new friend suggested using this for an afghan because she just completed one and raved about it. I have used this for a poncho and shawl and a pair of house slippers. Here is the result, though it is not completed just yet. Even though his bed is only a twin, I want to make it large enough to hang over each side by a good foot. I expect it to use at least 15 skeins.

The red and purple ones are my versions of the Martha Stewart Poncho. I made some alterations because I didn't care for the higher neckline and I thought the scallop edge was too involved. I substituted the edge with treble crochet shells. They were quick to do and took me just a tad over 4 skeins each. I made spiral scarves with the leftovers. Unfortunately, the purple one was made with a discontinued color - Renaissance in the LB Homespun. I searched high and low for an extra skein because I was a few inches of scallop left from being done. I finally had to cannibalize a shawl in my UFO pile of the same yarn. I finished the poncho and bound off the shawl, then a few days later I found an extra skein in another of my secret stash places. The shawl was a bit small for me but luckily, my sister, Sherry, is smaller than I am and was the happy recipient of said shawl, along with a poncho and some scarves. Being that she lives in Ohio and I live in Las Vegas, she will probably get a lot more use out of them than I.

Spiral Scarves

This will be "the scarf" for gifting this season.  So easy and so different!  I've tried to do the knitted version but my hand kept getting cramps, fighting with over 700 stitches.  The crocheted version is much easier to do and this is an immediate gratification project.  Love them!

I've been a bad blogger!

This was a very interesting trilogy. I am now a Nora Roberts fan. In fact, I've got another one called Rising Tides for tomorrow.





Okay, where to start? This has to be quick because I have to get to sleep. I quit my job. My last day is October 28th. I have been with this same doctor for 10 years, although I've been working in the corporate office since he merged with this group over 3 years ago. Bernie and I had a deal that once he made Fire Captain, I could quit. Well, that was 3 years ago. This just seemed like good timing. They didn't want me to quit. In fact, they offered to let me work from home but I'd be tethered to my house from 8-5 every day. What good is that? I wouldn't have much time to myself and with my family. They offered me a higher salary plus quarterly bonuses. It sounded like a good deal but I wanted more freedom. Bernie said he didn't care if I knitted and crocheted all day. It was time to quit. Isn't this what all of us dream of hearing? It was still hard to let go. My boss was so supportive. She stayed home to raise her kids so she understood where I was coming from. She said that as long as she was with the company, I could have my job back if I wanted it. I'm scared. I'm excited. I can't wait to wake up Halloween morning and not have to go to work. In fact, October 31st is also Nevada Day, our state holiday, so the kids are home too! Woohoo!