I think I broke it

My blogger is broken.  Not because I haven't posted in a while.  But because it wont let me leave comments on anyone else's Blogger blog.  After four or five login screens it just tells me I don't have access to view the page.  Hmmm, it has to be something with this laptop, because when I do it on the desktop I don't have that problem.  Trouble is the desktop freezes up after about two minutes, so that wont work either!  So just to let you all know that I have not been ignoring you, Blogger just thinks we're not friends anymore :(.  And if you know how to fix it drop me a line :).

Oh, and about the posting?  Well, I finished the little clutches for my mother's wedding. Then my camera died (I really don't think I broke that) so I took pictures of them with my mother's camera.  Which then went to Hawaii, and is now in the midst of a move from Columbus to Chicago!

But they are so adorably cute (if I do say so myself) that I am thinking about submitting them.  So no pictures, for now, might be a good thing.

Her ears must have been ringing

When I last posted about how my new bag ideas usually come out in the summer I had an idea brewing around in my head, ready to come out when I had some time and a little wisp of inspiration.  Well, my mother's ears must have been ringing because right after I wrote that she called me and asked for a little purse. 

Two actually.  She's getting married in August and she asked if I would make her a little something just big enough for a hairbrush and a compact. And one for my aunt, who will be her Matron of Honor.  I asked her if she wanted anything in particular or if I could come up with something.  She said "You're the purse designer, of course come up with something!" 

Flattery will get her everywhere.  This is one project for someone else I know will be appreciated (ok, two)!

All you purse knitting lovers stay tuned...a new pattern really is in the works!  And it's not the one I had brewing either :).  Stay tuned for a picture...Blogger is not cooperating this morning.

A cozy, of the most lovable kind

As the only girl around here, I try to temper the sports, truck crashes, sword fights, and wrestling matches with the softer, kinder, and gentler things whenever I can. One of the things my boys like is having their "friends" close by. Kidster #1 's friends all stay on his bed, and he will choose one to sleep with depending on the day.

Kidster #2 has a few friends on his bed too, but Baby Bear is his love and will sometimes come along with him for the first hour of the day, or make an appearance before bed during our book time.

And then there's Snoopy.

As the youngest of seven children, Hubster was very attached to his Snoopy and treated him very much like how Baby Bear is treated today. He has been through his fair share of tug of wars and even had his arm torn off. Once we had kids, Snoopy reappeared from Grandma's basement and has been enjoying a (slightly) less stressful life here with the boys. However, being 40 years old he is not without some medical conditions.Every time I would try to patch a hole to keep the stuffing from falling out, a new hole would be created. The fabric just wasn't holding anymore. Faced with the possibility of putting Snoops out of reach on a shelf, Hubster asked me to save him. And since Hubster never asks for anything, I knew I had to at least try.

For details on how I did it, see Snoopy's Ravelry page!

Another cat in the house

This little guy is the latest off my needles. I needed something small and portable to take with me on my trip to Ohio. It had just so happened that my friend Anita, of The Pattern Box, was asking for test knitters for her two new designs in our Ravelry group. I knew the cat would be perfect since I did owe kidster #2 a knitted toy. Back when his brother got the ninja turtle I had asked him what he would like and he said a cat. I searched around but never settled on a pattern that I liked. In fact, the only pattern that I even considered was another of Anita's, the Scaredy Cat.


I made this one black to resemble our big black cat Zoey. I didn't do a face...and I probably wont. I like that our Mini Zoey can feel however Kidster wants him to (that, and I'm not good at embroidering)!


I'll let you all know when Anita releases the pattern! In the meantime, here's my Ravelry project page.

Vintage is so cool!

Lookie what I found from Aunt Rita:

At first I thought it was weird and cumbersome. I mean why wouldn't you just write all over the pattern and mark up the margins and every free space you could find to keep track of where you were?

Um, yeah, I gave it a try and it is awesome!!! And apparently they are available all over the place (Amazon, Joann), even though I don't remember ever seeing anything like it. I am thinking about making an updated-magnetic-wallet-type version. You know, in my free time!

The bandwagon stopped...

just long enough for me to jump on!
In case you haven't figured it out yet (or seen my Ravelry update), they are the French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi. They knit up quickly. Really quickly! Most people could probably get the knitting done in a day. The seaming wasn't so much fun, but then again you're listening to someone who will knit in the round at any and every chance. I got these done in 6 days which included a day of downtime for button shopping. Perfect match, I'd say!

I made them for my mother for Christmas. The strap came out shorter than I would have liked, and the toe area is much wider than I anticipated. But I know my mother will appreciate them for the hand knit love that they are. She is definitely knit worthy.

Finally, a cast 'ON'

OK, I caved. I finally was able to cast on today for a hat for hubster. Kidster #1 (J) wanted to play on the computer while kidster #2 (C) took his nap. This usually works out great for me so I can get a few non computerized things done around here. But I was feeling a little guilty that he didn't have any hand knit love yet. Plus this is his Hell Week. The play is this weekend, and he's got dress rehearsal tonight and tomorrow until pretty late. Then "Oliver" has three performances; Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. That doesn't give any of us time with him for the next 4 days, but it does give me plenty of time to sit at the computer and blog (or maybe do some knitting, hmm?)!