This 'n That

The Basic Chic Hoodie is really coming along now! Even Claus had to check it out...

I thought the hood was going to take forever to finish. But the hood is done! Finally! Yay!

Here is a better picture so you can actually see that I have both sleeves finished...

Oh! And a big Thank You to Kym for putting in her notes on Ravelry, about the Hoodie she did for Erin, how many stitches she picked up. (Not good sentence structure but I can't think how to improve it right now.) Amazing amount of help for me...cuz I made mine longer too.

I've got one side of the button band picked up and have done a couple rows. When that is done the next question will be how many buttons do I want and then to figure out the buttonhole placing...I don't really like the buttonhole part...

And the kitties are again bird watching or maybe squirrel or gopher watching. Both squirrels and gophers come right up to the window so the kitties get a really good look at them. There are tails really twitching then!

It is so sunny and calm out. I should get out and whack down the flowerbeds for the winter. And I should go do quarterly reports at work. And I should clean the kitties' litter boxes. But what I really want to do is work on my cardigan.

TGIF

This is approximately 1,400 scale tickets...give or take a hundred. I numerically sorted them. It took the better part of a day. In the end this is what I had:

Thank goodness that job is done with for awhile.

Ramblin' ramblin' ramblin'

Many have written very comtemplative new year's posts on their blogs. But I've never gotten into the making resolutions, fresh start deal of new years. It's just another day in my life. No better. No worse. No more special. In my opinion, if you want a fresh start you can do it any day of the year. Doesn't have to be new years day. So whatever works for you is good but this is what works for me.

I've done a few things in the new year though.


I finished a pair of socks that I started about a year ago. Isn't that sad? But they are finally done. That's the main thing.

I've been working on the pile of papers that just seem to keep growing on my desk at work. It's going to be a long month I'm afraid. The computer is telling me to send out 1099s and I don't even have the forms yet. Uff!

I donated blood yesterday. I got my 2 gallon pin! That's a fair amount of blood if I do say so myself! :) The story about what got me started donating blood is this....Years ago my dad had surgery for colon cancer and started bleeding during the surgery. If I remember correctly they gave him 3 units of blood that day. If someone hadn't donated and that blood wasn't available he probably wouldn't have made it through the surgery. So I'm paying it back and maybe by this time I'm paying it forward too! Oh, and he came through that surgery fine and never needed chemo or anything. He passed away years and years later from old age.


And to end my post I'm giving you a look at our backyard again. Plenty of snow and today it's cold and windy. High temp of -12 with a wind chill advisory that it could be as low as -40 wind chill.

I'm going now to find my CuddleDuds.

Summer!.....finally

The weather this week is actually going to be summerish. Temperatures in the 80s and maybe even 90. Wow. This has been a unusually cool and dry summer. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it rained on Friday. I took pictures too but I'm at work and the camera is at home. Maybe if they turned out at all I'll post them another day. So....hot and humid for a few days. WooHoo!

I've got 4 knitting projects going.

Socks. Finished one started on the 2nd. After not knitting socks for quite awhile they are kind of comforting.

Baby afghan. Don't think I'll ever get it done. I love the pattern and the color of the yarn but I don't seem to be getting anywhere. Knitting in a black hole!

Leaf lace shawl. This is maybe the most fun. It's with fingering weight yarn and moves along quite quickly and I'm actually learning the pattern.

Upstairs shawl. This pattern is moving along nicely but I'm still struggling to keep the yarn on the needles. I am thinking of switching to bamboo but am afraid it will change my gauge and I'll have to rip once again.

As I said, I'm at work. I am here to pay bills. But as you can see I'm not doing that am I? I really need to get them in the mail today though and I have about 3 hours left before the mail truck leaves town so I better get with it. ;)

Various things and a early wish for a Happy 4th!

I stayed up a bit later than usual last night and did the statements at the seed plant. Got home about 1 am. Was so nice to have them done this morning though. Just take 'em to the PO and send them on their way.

I babysat DGKs yesterday. We got out the tote with all the old Halloween costumes in it and they played dress up for a big part of the day. I got some cute pictures.

The pink baby sweater has a couple issues. There is a brain fart involved. The decorative stitches are misplaced at the bottom because I was counting rows instead of ridges and I put them in too soon and now with the ruffle being added on the bottom it is starting to look a little odd. Maybe if I take a picture and look at it on the computer I'd be able to see if it will be acceptable.....

So, there are potatoes and eggs to boil for potato salad and maybe brownies to bake. It'll be the usual stuff for the 4th. Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, DDIL's grape salad (it's really good), chips and dip, macaroni salad, watermelon and in the afternoon root beer floats. I'm feeling rather full just looking at the menu! :)

If I don't post tomorrow.....Happy 4th everyone! Be safe.

This and that

It is gorgeous here today. Temps up to 75. I mean really, when it's been struggling to get to 65 this is something to be excited about. Downside is that next week is back into the refridgerator. Highs in the 50s. Yes, 50s. And rain possibilities for days. Nasty. Those crops need heat.

I did a few rows on the pink afghan yesterday. I should measure it's length again. I've been in that knitting black hole where you knit and knit and still don't get anywhere. I wonder if that's where I'm still at....

I need to take some pictures of my flowers. I planted some annuals and some zinnia seed recently. Well, the seed is nothing to take a picture of yet is it? But the begonias are so festive. And I actually have irises blooming. I've done some edging on a couple flower beds but have the biggest yet to do. The quack grass is racing to the center and I just can't let that happen.

I really wish I'd been able to get pictures and do a season long story about one of our fields but I'm stuck at work to answer the phone and just can't get out there on a regular basis. Disappointing. I think even the family would find it interesting.

Well, I've got invoices to enter and there are always bills to pay. Talk to you later.

Sad day

Yesterday was an extremely sad day. I rode to the funeral with my nephew and niece. The baby was a precious little tyke and this is just heartbreaking.

I'm back at work today. Yes, when you own your own business you get to work on the weekend. Isn't that fun? It is such nice weather today and I'd really love to be potting some flowers or digging out nasty quack grass or anything outside. Maybe tomorrow....

As far as knitting goes, I'm at a standstill. I got all my new yarn and needles and patterns and have just lost my zing. Maybe the winter scarf from the Noro silk garden IS what I should start on. Just simple knit and purl. I might be able to handle that.

Random wanderings

The weather is cloudy, grey, cold. The temperature for tonight is forecast for 31. Yes. Freezing. And, there is a wind chill factor in the forecast off and on for the next few days. This is May? Or maybe it is November. I'm starting to think Mother Nature is going through menopause and doesn't know spring from winter! :)

The new grandbaby will be a girl. WooHoo! So the pink Lullaby afghan is the one that I need to be working on. I think I'm over 1/2 done now. I also am planning on a sweater and a hat so will have to check out Ravelry for patterns and yarn choices. Since the baby is due at the end of September, I'd like to use a superwash wool, but I sure don't want to make 1st DDIL be careful when washing it. She will have 3 kids under 5 years old when the new one comes. Busy, do you think?

Work has started hopping even if the weather isn't conductive to farming. Everyone is getting things lined up so they can just get out there as soon as the fields are ready. Which at this rate may be awhile. The 10 day forecast doesn't break into the 70s even. Uff. Come on Mother Nature if you are in menopause, where are the hot flashes???

Well, I cried at the end of Grey's Anatomy last night. I always feel foolish doing that. It is just a TV show for Pete's sake! I always have been an easy crier though. Anyway, I think it was good enough that it could have been the season ending. I wonder if they can top it next week when it is the end for the year....

Nothing new

We had a nice Easter. Quiet. Ate too much. Did a little knitting. Watched some TV. Deadliest Catch was on all afternoon and watched several episodes of that.

I'm loving knitting on the pink baby afghan. I've almost finished the 1st skein and am still enjoying doing the pattern. I'm a bit afraid that 4 skeins might not be enough.....I need to measure after I'm done with a full skein and see how long it'll turn out to be.

I'm at work and bored to tears. It'll get so busy I won't know what to do with myself shortly but for right now I'm only here to answer the phone and it's not ringing. The weather has improved and the snow is rapidly disappearing...Thank goodness. Farmers will be in the fields and chomping at the bit before we know it. In some ways I can't wait. It's better to be busy than just hanging out.

Maddie & Teddy are busily chasing flies in the house and Maddie is watching birds out the window. I know she'll be excited to get outside even if it is on a leash. I went out to see if there is any green showing in the flower beds even though I know good and well that there can't be yet. I'm just anxiously awaiting greenness.

Forms are done

So I'm going to double check against last year's forms to make sure I have all the Federal & State forms filled out but I think I'm truly done with them. Yahoo! There should be one other thing coming that has to be done sometime this month.

I finished my mittens and gave them and the hat a good soak. The water turned an interesting shade of gold. DH thought it was probably the lanolin. And he's probably right. They floofed up really nicely. The mittens are a bit drafty though. I'm planning on knitting a liner for the inside so they are thicker and warmer.

I'm nearing the end of the Everyday Sweater. All the pieces are knit and they need blocking....something I've never done before. So it'll be a learning experience. Then it'll be to do the button bands and the button holes. I've done button holes on baby sweaters but never the real thing on a big person sweater. Another learning experience. Finally I'll get to see if it will really fit. Excited! There'll be pictures if everything goes as planned.

W2s and helpful ideas welcome

I started doing our company's W2s and all the other end of the year paperwork yesterday. I have more of it ahead of me today and maybe tomorrow also. AUGH!!!! I hate doing government paperwork. Hate it I tell you. I get rather OCD about the whole business. Checking and rechecking to make sure everything is just so....as if it could change itself while I put it in an envelope. I just have to remember....when I'm done it'll be a full year of not having to think about it again. :)

I started on the second mitten last night. Am almost through making the gusset for the thumb so am moving right along. Of course now that I'm getting both the hat and the mittens done, the weather warms up so much that I don't really need them. Uff.

There is a lady in town, more of an aquaintance than a friend, but I'm thinking of doing a prayer shawl for her. She is facing a very serious medical condition and I think a prayer shawl would give her some comfort. I have been looking at patterns and found one that looks pretty but is fairly simple on the Lionbrand website. It's the Very Easy Ripple Shawl. I don't have yarn on hand and would have to probably order something online unless I could find something suitable at Walmart, Joann's or Michael's. They are my only local options. I need to do this quickly though and researching this on Ravelry, it doesn't sound like a quick knit but more of a boring drag. I'd love suggestions on quick but pretty patterns and yarn ideas wouldn't hurt either. Thanks.