Book Review!!

I had a nice box waiting on me from Amazon yesterday. It was definitely a bright light to another busy day of dealing with school drama!

It contained these two books:

First book: Modern Classics by Louisia Harding

Gorgeous sweaters that I believe when I figure out a yarn substitution will be some great knits. The patterns seem to be well laid out and easy to follow. Two complaints however, (1) the largest size is a 42 inch bust which will fit me, but I was suprised because most patterns do give a couple of sizes larger than the 42 inch bust. (2) The yarns used were Louisa Harding yarns which I have found to be difficult to find online. (well, the ones I want anyway).

But, overall, a great book. There is a pattern in here that is definitely calling my name and makign me wish winter was around the corner!

The Knitter's Handy book of Sweater Patterns: I like this book. Easy to adapt any style sweater to any size. I think this will be a great book for years to come. I liked it so much that I ordered the Knitter's Handy book of Patterns today.

I also have a little progress on a Project Spectrum project that I've picked back up.

Pay no attention to the Samoas in the picture. (It was lunchtime when I took this pic). This is Cozy from Knitty knit in Artyarns Ultramerino. This yarn is HEAVEN. It's quite pricey though (it helps to have a dad who buys lots of horses...they make yarn look cheap!). I can't wait to be finished! I have a very unrealistic goal of being done by next Wednesday. We'll see. :)

Finally, just an open thought...why is it that the more you give of yourself, the more people expect and demand. When were manners thrown out the window? I know they are still around for most people, but one person with an "all about me RIGHT NOW" attitude can make you forget about the 30 or so people who are so sweet. It really angers me and that's easy to do these days.

And finally, I've noticed that lately I see things on people's blogs that remind me how little I know about these people. So, I figure the same is the case for readers of my blog. So, over the next few posts, I'm going to try and compile a "100 things about me" list. So, here goes.....

1. I have been knitting since January 2006.

2. I knit my first pair of socks in February 2006.

3. I wish I could knit a gorgeous lace shawl.

4. I have one brother who is 4 years younger than myself.

5. Said brother is seriously one of my biggest heroes.

6. I have an unnatural fear of having my home broken into and being murdered.

7. My dad was a police officer throughout my childhood (guess where #6 comes from!)

8. My best friends are actually my family members (namely an aunt and cousin (the Hooker of previous posts))

9. I have a very tightly knit family.

10. My husband does not have a tightly knit family. I have no concept of this.

11. I work for an environmental company.

12. I am a member of our local school board.

13. I'm not sure that I actually want any more children.

14. I LOVE old country music (think Hank Williams Sr.)

15. My favorite color is and always has been blue. I was the only female kindergartener with a bright blue backpack (incidentally my parents rocked)

16. I had blue eyes until I was around 3 or 4 years old and they turned green.

17. I am scared LittleMan's will do the same.

18. I secretly hope that LittleMan's hair will turn dark brown with age (as did some of my other family members) so that people don't look at me as if I stole this child from a pale blond couple.

19. There are days when I honestly feel like my family members who have passed away can still see things I do in my daily life.

20. I am super nostalgic (as evidenced by my weepy post over a freaking mailbox).

Have a great day!

Melissa

What a Weekend!!

We had a great weekend! I got LittleMan's Thomas socks all knitted up. I love knitting kid's socks...such a quick knit.

Project Details:

Yarn: Thomas by Scout

Pattern: Slipped Stitch Rib from SKS

Needles: Size 3 Knitpicks circulars

Notes: Fun, easy, and quick knit! The yarn was awesome and I think I'll make a couple more pairs with this yarn. LM was super excited about the socks and LOVED trying them on throughout the process to check the fit. BTW, the lighting is TERRIBLE in these photos, Scout's pic of the yarn is way more true to color.

We also went to Chuck E Cheese on Saturday. LM had a great time and played tons of games. We also went book shopping and I bought the Happy Hooker book by Debbie Stoller. I've tried a few stiches, but haven't really had time to go fully into the book.

I also did some book shopping at Amazon last week. I bought The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd and Modern Classics: Knit over Twenty Timeless Designs by Louisa Harding. The second one was one I saw in Books A Million and fell in love with. I love timeless classic items and this was full of them!

The next day, I found out that one of my FAVORITE series of books had a new one coming out today, so I pre-ordered and Shopaholic and Baby is on it's way. If you've never read Shopaholic books, get them. You'll love them! And of course, I couldn't pre-order only one book, so I also pre-ordered the Yarn Harlot's new book and More Sensational Knitted Socks. I can't wait for all of these packages to start coming in the mail!

On a final and sadder note, I had a little emotionally tragic experience this weekend. My husband laughed at me for even being upset, but I was seriously upset and I will say that I told him after I cried in my car all the way home, so I don't think that he realized how seriously upset I was.

I lived in the same house from the ages 4 until I was 19. From birth to 4 years old, I lived on the same land in a trailer. So, basically, I lived there from birth until 19. When we built a house (age 4), there were some bad winter storms that year and we kept having our mailbox knocked over, so my dad and my uncle bricked in our mailbox. I swear this was the only brick mailbox for miles and miles.

Last week, the highway department people took down every mailbox on that road (15 miles worth) and replaced them with safer mailboxes, etc. So, my mailbox was torn down.

I haven't lived there in almost 8 years, but I was so upset! When we sold the house, I was devastated. I don't care much for change and having to move from there signified that my parents were getting a divorce and that my childhood was basically over. It wasn't easy.

So, as the trashy people who bought the house demolished the once nice yard and even the house itself, the mailbox was still there. It was the one thing that was exactly as I left it. I'm sure that the wallpaper I got for my 16th birthday has long since been torn down, but the mailbox was still there. This was the structure I was standing in front of when I got my college acceptance letter and then again when I received the announcement of my scholarship to the university I eventually graduated from. I received year end grades every summer for every single year of my K-12 education. I recieved my first (and only) letter from a boy in that mailbox. Birthday cards from my cousin Rodney who I am 3 hours older than (funny how I used to be proud of that!) came every year like clockwork to that mailbox. Driving by and seeing the one thing that remained the same about my childhood home laying in the ditch was terrible, but I guess I should move on. It's only a mailbox right?? And besides, the new books coming to the mailbox at my house will make me feel better, right?

Melissa

Project Spectrum

I finally took a few pics for Project Spectrum. Up until yesterday, picture taking was kind of a hassle due to the fact that I own a NIkon D50, which is a kinda large camera and not always something you want to haul around outside. Yesterday, I bought a little Kodak point and shoot so I should be having an easier time with pictures.

Project Spectrum colors for February and March are blue, white, and grey. Some of these are recent, some are from the last year or so. I found so much more blue than the other two colors.

The gorgeous sky yesterday at my house

LittleMan's slide

LittleMan

Dove Chocolates...YUMMY...(they had blue in the package!)

Hurricane Sock Party 2006 socks

Gas sign

Golf club cover (ok...white)

B&W (kinda grey!) pic of my brother and friends

Bottom of a sock for LM-Knitpicks Yukon

Package from my SP8!

Lake close to my house.

I also finished the Farmhouse socks. These things are the most gorgeous EVER. I have received more compliments on these socks than any other pair I have knit.

The card should say at the bottom that this isn't a colorway I would have picked for myself, but I'm glad that allowing LM to pick out colors opened me up to colorways that I wouldn't have otherwise chosen.

Card from here.

I have another FO (well 2)....some MDK bibs for my sister-in-law. I never get tired of these things!

And, I got myself a new knitting bag yesterday. I needed one with compartments etc, and I loved this one!!

I hope you all have a great weekend! We are off to Chuck E Chesse tomorrow. (yippee!!)

Melissa

Long Time, No Melissa

Hey y'all. I feel like it has been FOREVER since I last blogged. My life has been less than lovely for the past week and a half or so. Some MAJOR problems at a local school along with the media frenzy it gave birth to have literally made me a recluse. I thought I could go out to Wal*Mart Saturday at an off-peak hour and do a little grocery and button (for MDK bibs) shopping, but alas, I was wrong.
I totally dressed in holey jeans, a thermal shirt with t-shirt over, didn't really do anything with the hair, no makeup, and my cute new Lisa Souza Fat Bunny hat. (I thought the addition of sunglasses would be a little too suspicious). In all honesty, I'm surprised someone didn't scream "I knew you weren't dead Kurt (Cobain)!" in my direction. It was that bad. And yet, people STILL recognized me. I had so many concerned citizens (aka nosey people) stop me that halfway through the trip, I hid in the panty section to just relax for a minute before finishing my trip. It was a toss up between the panty section and the tampon section, but I had decided that either way, if someone dared approach me I was asking their opinion on whatever I was pretending I was shopping for. Although I doubt embarrassment was even something that some of them were capable of. So, I eventually gathered myself together, took a deep breath, braved a few more "well meaning citizens" and went home. And home I stayed, until this morning, because no one at work lives in my district. :)
But, being a hermit is productive to knitting! I got one sock with STR Farmhouse finished. Let me tell you that these pics do NOT do this yarn justice. This stuff is more gorgeous than you can imagine. The colors are just wonderful. This is the slipped stitch rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.




I also finished a MDK baby bib that my sister in law requested. It's yellow and will have a cute fish button (from the trip from hell to Wal*Mart). I'll spare you the pics...it looks like all the rest!
I also found a new podcast that I really like. Stash and Burn is a podcast about burning through the stash. I really enjoyed the first 3 episodes that I downloaded for this weekend. My son, not so much. When my brother rode with us in the car this weekend, he was tormenting my son (you would swear they were brothers the way they act) and my son finally told him "If you aren't good, mommy will turn that knitting stuff up loud on the radio". So, I'm guessing he's not loving Nicole and Jenny as much as I do, but you should check them out.
Here's hoping that the schools all quiet down this week and I don't have to hibernate for too long. :)
Melissa

Edited to add: I really want to make a very simple vest ya'll. I have it in my mind, but haven't found a pattern (*but I don't have many books) I want ribbed bottom, v neck with ribbing and fitted but not a second skin. If you have suggestions, let me know.

A FO and some New Yarn!

Have any of you been to Scout's blog? See the gorgeous yarn for a lucky little boy? That would be for MY little boy! I think she did a wonderful job representing what I asked for. There was even someone in the comments who guessed correctly! I am sooo pleased with how well it turned out. Scout is truely a master of the dyes!

For Christmas, my mom bought me a renewal to my Interweave Knits subscription. Only IK didn't recognize it as a renewal, so I have 2 issues of the Winter 2006 and 2 issues of the Spring 2007 issue. If anyone is interested in these, let me know. If there is more than one person, the lucky little boy who is getting socks from Scout's yarn will draw names. Let me know if you want one specifically or both.

The Spring issue is wonderful! I am loving quite a few of the patterns, especially the a sock pattern!

I finally finished the Fly Fishing socks. I think they look great. The second sock didn't really follow the same pattern as the first, but my dad loves them and that's all that matters. He is such a huge handknitted sock fan!
bI think my next project will be some socks with Farmhouse STR medium weight. This yarn is so pretty! I can't wait to see how the socks turn out.

I also aquired a little stash this week. The picture shows the Thomas yarn from Scout, Fat Bunny Angora in Olive Tones, Lisa Souza Emerald City Sock!, and STR G Rocks.


I also have another FO. I whipped up this hat using Lisa Souza Fat Bunny in Wild Things and the pattern available on her website. I love this little hat. It's perfect for the weather around here which doesn't get very cold usually. I'll have to get a better picture when I have an adult in the house.
Tomorrow we're having a semi-surprise birthday party for LuckyHusband, so that should be fun. Hope you are all having a great weekend!
Melissa

Louisiana

Most of this post will center around things that are very much Louisiana based, but here goes....

First of all, a finished object. My brother in law Scott is a HUGE LSU fan. So, for Christmas, his son got one of these...

After receiving the gift, he called and had a request. If he bought the yarn, would I make one for him. I told him that was the perfect birthday (Feb 20th) gift for him!
So, here's the big boy version

I think he'll like it. I tried it on and it's WAY cuter on than it is just sitting there.

It's Mardi Gras time around here, so we went to a parade in town on Saturday. It was a tiny parade and took every bit of 20 minutes, but it was fun. A candidate for governor in Louisiana came which is unheard of because we are such a teeny tiny town. I was impressed.

Another thing going on here lately that has amazed me is a Tech vs ULM vs Grambling bone marrow donation registry contest. There are some local children that this will hopefully benefit and a foundation for one of the children covered the cost. The previous record for a college/university drive was 1000 registrants. Tech had 900+ registrants on Monday, so I was pretty blown away by that. However, ULM, of which I am an alumni!, had over 2600 registrants yesterday. Grambling will be doing registrations today. But, the amount has already greatly surpassed expectations. It was a simple mouth swab and tons of students and the public showed their support. The best part is that even if the local children, out of this many people, someone somewhere will be helped.

We had our second school board meeting Monday night and had to unfortunatly hear an expulsion hearing. I can't go into detail for confidentiality reasons, but I officially teared up (okay, cried a little) for the first time at a meeting (but I wasn't the only one). I really felt for the kid. He broke the rules, but it still broke my heart. I hope we don't have to do that too often.

Okay, so off the subject of Louisiana news, I am making even more progress on the Fly Fishing socks. Knitpicks Memories is some seriously wonderful yarn for the price. If you haven't tried it, you should.


I'm going to finish my lunch now...have a great day!


Melissa