Christmas Program

The boys had their annual Christmas Program at school last night. Cody dreaded being Santa and didn't want to do it 2 weeks before the program. The music teacher told him she couldn't find someone else. So I told him to suck it up and just do it.

He did a terrific job even though he sounded nervous. Brock told me that he wasn't scared at all and he had fun. He's only in kindergarten and had one song to sing. He really didn't look like he was singing but oh well.

The knitting front has been going slow. I had jury duty Monday and drove in the middle of a snow storm. I got there on time and about 3 hours later the judge called to say the person plead so the jury wasn't needed. I was glad because it was a criminal case and we could have been there 4-5 days. I wasn't sure if they allowed knitting needles in the courthouse so I didn't take anything to work on. But I did see an older lady working on a shawl while there. If I would have known that it was okay to bring I would have. Maybe next time.

Well the boys will be rolling in in about an hour and a half so I should get things done.

Intil next time!

Burridge Afghan

I am finally done with the Burridge Afghan. It only took me off and on 8 months to finish. It turned out really good. I haven't put the border on yet but I don't really know that I want to. I still have time to decide.


This is a really bad picture. I was trying to take different angles to get all of the cables and it didn't work

The only complaint I have is that Caron Simply Soft says no dye lot color. But some of the yarn is a lighter shade of Bone. Very frustrating. I didn't know this until I started working on the second panel. But the way the shading is it looks like I did it on purpose. Hopefully it will be appreciated.

I am in LOVE

First thing I love our my boys. I decided yesterday to try and get some Christmas card pictures out of them. The little guy was acting like his usual self and goofing off. But all in all I got some good pictures.

Second I finally finish C's pirate hat. It turned out way to big but I was able to shrink it and it fits like a glove. It is so think now that it shrunk that it should keep him really warm this winter.

The last thing that I am in love with is my new van. It's a Chrysler Town and Country Limited and has just about every option available.

We traded in the Honda Element (which I really didn't want to do) and the Pontiac Montana (that is a piece of crap). This baby has leather heated seats, navigation system, stow and go, both power sliding doors and the hatch is even powered. The only thing that it doesn't have yet is the dvd player. I go in Tuesday to get the 2 headrest dvd players. The boys can't wait. I can't wait. I am so in love with this thing.

Halloween

The boys had their Halloween parade at school Friday. There were some amazing costumes. Everyone looked great.
Here's B wearing Commander Rex costume. His nose was smooshed in the helmet.

Here's C as a skull ninja. With him only being 9 and 5'1" it's difficult to find a costume that he really likes.

Halloween night was so beautiful. It was warm and no one needed a jacket. We trick or treated for an hour and a half. The boys got tired so we headed home.

Also it was hubby's birthday and we had steaks on the grill before we headed out. I love when he cooks out. He's the greatest.

The Pumpkin Farm

We went to the pumpkin farm with the cub scouts yesterday and enjoyed a hayride and pumpkin picking. The boys really enjoyed it.

We had apple cider and popcorn. The farm boards horses and should the cub scouts a video about living on a farm. We even got to learn about Indians (they have a teepee). It all was very interesting.
The boys had to have their picture taken with this robot. Don't really think it's a robot but that is what they thought he was. All in all it was a good day.

On the knitting front, I am trying to finish C's hat this week. I am more than halfway done with it. It will match his scarf. Then on to mittens. B's spider mitt is still just one. But hopefully I will start that as soon as the hat is done. Next weeks temperature is only going to be in the 40's so that means hat and mitts.

We Have Spidey!

My little guy wanted a Spiderman Hat and I made him this. I used Knit Picks Palette. It's a little big but I may try shrinking it per directions. I actually learned how to do a provisional cast on, which made the lining so much easier.


His brother had to give him bunny ears. Just typical things going on in this house.

The top I oopses but I don't think anyone will care. He loves it and I love it. I am making him mittens to match. I have one done and need to cast on for the other.

Big Guys 9th Birthday

C turned 9 on Oct. 3rd. I wanted to have his party the next day, but one of his friends beat me to it. So yesterday we had his birthday party. He got all excited to open Star Wars Lego's. That is what we heard all the kids talking about yesterday.
The little guy is in the red shirt. He was just as excited as his brother.

I just realized that the candle is backwards. No one noticed. I made the cake and washed a couple of his Star Wars figures and stuck them on the cake. The 8 boys there kept asking if they could take the figures home and I kept saying no they are C's.

And this is C. So cute! Looks so much like his Daddy. See the gameboy in the background. One of C's friends brought his gameboy so my little guy had to get his out. They were taking turns playing.
Happy Birthday Big guy. I just wish you wouldn't grow up so fast. I love you!

Some Pics

I've been meaning to post about the boys first day of school but have been so busy I haven't had time. C is in 3rd grade and B is in all day Kindergarten. I love them dearly but am so glad for the quiet time during the day.

These are some current projects that I've been working on. C wanted a skull scarf so I decided on making this. He likes it alot. So next will be a hat and mitts.
This is for me! Finally I've decided to be alittle selfish and make me a scarf. I love the pattern and it is so easy to remember.
For Christmas I'm making one of my nieces mitts. They are called paper doll mitts. I love them and hope they fit her.
Last is a fish blanket I hope to have done before Christmas. I am making this for someone but won't say. I haven't decided on the design on the fish yet. It depends on how much yarn I have.
So, I've been busy and things are starting to calm down. I did quit working the 1-2 days a week. C is keeping me busy running after school. He decided to join chess and cub scouts are starting this week. I feel like I have more time for knitting and keeping the house up. Life is getting so much better!

Things Going On

It's been hectic here in the Brody household. The boys started school August 21st. I went back to work 1-2 days a week. Since the boys have been in school, I haven't home for part of the day. The house is chaotic and is driving me nuts. My mom just came for a visit Sunday and went home Tuesday. I love when she comes up because the boys love Grandma. They behave so much better when she is here.

We have 2 new additions to our family. Frogs. The story behind them is my oldest wanted a frog every since he went to day camp for Cub Scouts. They had a nature day and found a couple of frogs. Well one day I was in the garden and found him one. He was so excited. The next day it died. I called every pet store and found one open on a Sunday. We went and purchased the two. My little guy had to have one too. So one is named Boba Fet and the other is named Luke Skyfrog. They are definitely Star Wars nuts!

Well, I must go and get them ready for school now. Hopefully I will have some finished objects to show next time. I haven't really had the time to knit.

Out of Yarn

Okay, I signed up for the WIP Wrestling and now I have run out of yarn for the project. I ordered 1 more skein but it won't be here before the Olympics is over. I am more than halfway through the border. So obviously I don't qualify for a medal. I wasn't doing the event for a medal but just challenging myself to get the afghan done. Once the yarn gets here I will definitely finish. I want it to be a present for the holiday season.

Ravelympics

I have signed up on Ravelry about a week ago to do projects while watching the olympics. I have decided to join Team WIP. I am going to try and finish the Tree of Life Afghan.

I am on the second repeat of the trees. I've been working on it a little here and there. I would love to gift this to one of the parents for Christmas but will see. I do like it a lot!

Baby Kara Anne

I don't have any pictures to show, but wanted to let everyone know she is here.

She was born around 6:30 a.m. Thursday, July 31st. She was just under 9 pounds (according to my mom).

I hope to get pics this coming Saturday when we have our family picnic. I hope she will get alot of use out of the things I made her.

Some Sweet Treats

I am working hard on Christmas gifts. One of my 3 year old niece's wants play food for Christmas. I decided that I am going to try really hard to make her the food. Up first is the Petit Four. I did the magic loop instead of dpn's. It took very little yarn and I think it turned out really good.
I also made her a jelly donut. Also completely knit in the round and I used magic loop again. Each one took about 3 hours. I am a very slow knitter so it could take you shorter time to make. I hope to make more donuts and maybe 1 or 2 more petit fours. I am really chugging away on my Ravelry queue. I hope to have alot of things done before the holidays.

Some Christmas Knitting

I finally got my One Skein book from Knit Picks yesterday and casted on for the Petal Bib. I love it!! I hope to make a couple of more in different colors. It was so quick and easy but there are a lot of ends to weave in.
The next bib is the Modern Cable Baby Bib. Very quick and only took 1 day to make. Only 2 ends to weave in and needs a cute little button.
I decided since this baby is going to be the next little princess in the family she needed a princess button. Got a package of them at Wal-Mart and I love them.

I am going to cast on for Starsky Jr. for the older sister today. Hopefully I can have it done for Christmas. I am jugging along on Christmas gifts. I hope to be able to finish every single one before.

Happy Knitting!

Garter Ridge Cardigan

I finished one of the Christmas presents for my soon to be niece. I believe my mom said that she should be here at the end of this month. The sweater turned out okay. I'm not to happy with it. It does still need a bath. The pattern can be found on Ravelry.




The buttons I picked up at Jo-Ann Fabrics last summer. I paid $.50 for them and just love them. I had been waiting to find something to put them on.

I have started another Christmas present and hopefully will be done with it in the next few days.

Christmas in July

I have no pictures to show but really wanted to make a list of things that I need to make for Christmas. I have so much yarn stashed that I really want to make things with.

I need to finish the Burridge Afghan, Tree of Life Afghan and The Sampler Afghan. Those could be presents for the parents.

I am working on a baby sweater now for my niece (due in August) and I think I need a hat and maybe some socks or bibs.

Then I have my nieces who are all going to be 3. There are 3 of them and I was thinking sweaters, hats, mittens and maybe something else.

I have 2 nephews that I may make sweaters, hats and mittens and maybe something else.

My 2 boys. I have decided on making them each hats and scarves. They also need gloves.

Besides all of that I just found out last week that my brother and sister in law are due to have a baby in January or February. So I have a baby blanket to make and other things. They wanted to be surprised with the other two so they are going to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. That puts auntie in a tight spot. I told Colleen this and she laughed. I could always make neutral things but it is also exciting to make things gender appropriate.

I don't know how the list will go. School starts next month and I will be by myself all day. So we will see how much knitting I get done. I would really like to finish alot of it up.

The best thing is that Colleen's daughter Delaney (almost 3) calls me the aunt that makes her pretty things. It makes me feel so good to hear her say that.

Maybe the next post will be filled with some new knitting. Intil next time happy knitting.

Some Finished Objects

I finally finished the Pinwheel baby blanket for my cousin Liz who is due to have a baby in September. They tried finding out what the baby was but he/she wasn't cooperative. So intil she has the baby I can't make to much for her.



The edging was from Barbara Walker's Second Book of Knitting Treasures. It's called the tulip bud edging. I do need to block it out but was just happy to have finished it.

I know I posted on this before but just wanted to show the finish. I did finally find the perfect buttons for it at Joann's. I think they match the dress beautifully. I hope my new niece (in August) will be able to wear it.
On the home front, things are going good. Baseball ended last Saturday and I am so glad it is over. To much driving with the gas prices. My car can finally get a break. I also have been suffering from a tooth ache which the dentist thinks is from my sinus' being infected. So I am on antibiotics. Hopefully it won't flare up because they can't get me in to have the filling replaced intil October. Advil has been my friend and I am really tired of taking it.

I hope everyone is having a Happy 4th of July. We are just cooking on the grill and hanging out at home.

Emma's Dress

I have started a new project for my soon to be new baby neice, Kara Ann. She is due to arrive at the beginning of August and wanted to make her a dress. I have finished the back and it is drying on our front porch right now. It is a quick knit and hopefully will be done this week. The pattern is called Emma's Dress (which I have another neice named Emma, but I just dabbled in knitting when she was born). It can be found on Ravelry.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Rialto DK in eggplant. The pictures don't show true color. It is much darker than this. I like this yarn, it is the first time I have used it and it does split and curl like something fierce. But it is so soft that I would take softness and deal with the splitting and curling. The curling should be cured by the blocking.

This is the up close shot of the diamond eyelet pattern. I just need to go through my button stash and see if I have any pretty buttons for this.

On the home front, we have had a big warm up the last few days. It has been in the 80's and I am enjoying it greatly. Last night I took the boys to the drive in (yes in our little town of 1400 people we do have a drive in) to see the new Indiana Jones movie. They loved it. I couldn't believe that they stayed awake the whole time. The second movie was the new National Treasure which I bought when it first came out on DVD. But it did start raining right towards the end of Indiana Jones, so we just came home.

This is the last week of school for my oldest. The last day is only an hour and I just can't believe that with gas prices the school is willing to have busses pick these kids up for one lousy hour. I don't really know if I'm ready for school to end. I know I don't like the alarm clock, but having both home all day is going to drive me insane.

This last pic is the Pinwheel Baby Blanket (also can be found on Ravelry). My cousin is due is September so I wanted to make her something. I haven't decided on the border yet but will before I get there.

My littlest ones graduation and t-ball

As you can see my youngest one is playing t-ball for the second year. Nothing has changed since last year. He still doesn't pay attention and doesn't want to run when he hits the ball. But it is fun to watch them trying. At least this time he didn't sit and play in the dirt like most of the kids. He just likes hiding behind his glove.




Wednesday night was his year end ceromony for preschool. They sing songs. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up he said a cop so he can arrest the bad guys that go in the ditch. Where do they come up with the ideas? Alot of them wanted to be moms or be like dad. There were several odd ones that only 4 and 5 year olds would come up with.
On the knitting front it has been slowed by very busy boys. This past week Friday was the only night that we were home. It has been packed with ball practice and preschool things. I did finish panel A of the Burridge Lake Afghan. I casted on for panel B and have finished one complete 24 row repeat. Hopefully now things will get back on track.

Baseball Season

My oldest has started baseball officially. He missed his first game because of bronchitis. He loves catching.


With this new camera it is so hard to tell if he sees you are not. We used the biggest lens we have and can almost be at the end of the field taking pictures. My husband took this one so I don't know if he got his attention or not.

Of course with this being only 1st and 2nd graders they don't keep track of the score because they all win. But the boys did keep track and according to them they won 14 - 4.

Some quick little baby knits

My friend Emilee is expecting a baby boy any day so I wanted to make him a little something. I did make him the star blanket for the shower but he needs a hat and some scratch mitts.

The hat is from a pattern called Bananaheads Baby Beanie. I found it on Ravelry. Very easy to make. I love the little i-cord bow on top.

The scratch mitts are a pattern called Super Quick Baby Mitts. I found also on Ravelry. Made them in about 1 day. The pattern called for ribbon or cord so you can tie them. I made i-cord so they match the hat.

Love them both.

So Many Things

There is so much going on right now for the next couple of months, that I thought I would start a ton on projects to go along with my hectic life.

Up first is the Reversible Celtic Baby Blanket. I am hoping to have done before August. My brother and his wife are having a baby then and I thought this was so pretty. It has grown since this picture but is very time consuming and a little on the boring side. It is double knitted so it is reversible. I really like the design of it.




Up next is the Burridge Afghan. This is the second time making this afghan. The first one I made a few mistakes in the cabling and couldn't live with it so frogged and started over. I hope to have this done before Christmas so I can give it to my mother in law. She has been waiting patiently for an afghan to go in the front room of her house. I don't know how much use it will bring since the front room is really never used except for holidays.

The third is a graphic granny hexagon afghan that is crocheted. I started this just the other night and I love all the colors. I don't really have a recipient for this one, so maybe keep this for myself. It is going to be my go to project when I am bored with all the others.

And lastly is the Sampler Afghan. It is a bunch of cable patterns that you sew into an afghan. This is going to my mom for Christmas. So far so good. I love all the cabling and it should be warm for the cold winter nights and days. I hope she likes it.

So these are the things that I am working on during my hectic life. With so many projects and not a lot of time I just pick and choose what I want to work on now. The only one with a deadline is the baby blanket.

School for the boys will be ending in the next month and a half. My youngest graduates preschool at the end of May and my second grader get out June 6. It is very late this year due to the school going on strike and snow days. We also have Cub Scouts winding down (thank goodness). I am the den leader and having 6 rumbustious boys running around is nerve racking. Now we are into baseball season and practice has been cancelled twice due to the weather. So I have at least 2 portable projects for that.

That is it for now. I have to get my little one ready for a birthday party. He's playing miniature golf and the mom just told me the other day that it is in the dark. I don't know about all the other kids that are going to be there but mine is afraid of the dark. I hope he handles it okay.