Foothandshoes

Since gloves are literally "handshoes" in German it seems like footgloves is just as good a name for this item as toesocks which is, I believe, the correct name. Eldest Kidlet refused to wear these when my mom got them so I said I'd take them even though, or perhaps because, they are nothing like what I usually wear. In my case they're for night wear and it turns out there's a couple of problems with this. One is that, just as with gloves and hands, they don't keep the feet as warm as a regular sock. The other difficulty is getting the darn things on. Think gloves on half paralyzed hands and that gives a decent idea of the chore it is to get every toe into its proper slot, and only its proper slot. Even though I'm still contemplating trying to knit Japanese style sandal stockings I seriously doubt I'll end up trying to make toesocks.

Nothing to see here, move along

It's a good thing I put up so many posts when I did. It's also a good thing that yesterday was a snow day. I ended spending most of it in bed with sinus "stuff" that made my head hurt and the room swim if I moved too fast. I was a little worried it was the flu since there was a cough and lung congestion involved. Since I'm about 90% better today I'm pretty sure it was just sinuses.

I got to spend a couple of hours curled up in my new reading nook as well since I got lamps a couple of weeks ago. I need to get a picture of it so Dad can see it since he and Son put the furniture together. The only thing missing is the wall hanging I want to make. I'm thinking of repeating some motif in three different forms of needlework. Right now I'm in the "collecting ideas" stage as I try to decide on which motif and media I want to use.

I -still- remember

So, this is the nearly completed right half of Peggy's vest and the purse that got me started working on it. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get good measurements for the vest while the work is still on needles as short as I've chosen so I may well get done with this half and find that I have to start over. That's always the price paid for trying something new though so I'm pretty well prepared to deal with the possibility. Mostly I'm just happy that, even with the tightness of the knitting in the purse and the weight of the vest, my hands are still in working order. It's actually a big deal because it's very unusual for me to ba able to do so much work, and spend so much time on the computer, without having to take a lot of down time due to pain in my hands and wrists.

Toward a more tidy purse

My finished traveling twill notebook sleeve and a crocheted general tidy.
I called the crocheted tidy "Clannad baglet" since I was watching the anime Clannad while I was working on it. I had considered calling it "Sakura" as well because of the pink color and the five-petaled blossom shape created by the top edge.

Thank you again

Another appreciation gift. This one is made from soft wool blended with an iridescent artificial fiber called Angelina.

About books then, or not

I didn't end up getting the camera going today either, though I have a lovely excuse in that Eldest Kidlet had to come home from school at 10:00 since she felt sick. Of course that wouldn't have stopped me except that I had the brilliant idea of getting a copy of a picture of Middlest Kidlet and her daddy for her poster, which on second thought meant I had even less reason to wait until she got home to get my photos.

Son finally decided he did want his hair cut so I took Kidlet's picture with us and scanned it at Walgreens. Since it was going to be a while before it was ready I decided to come home and make dinner before returning to get it. Son reminded me right after dinner just like I asked him to but I wanted to finish something I was working on. I'm sure the result is obvious. I remembered at 9:45 that I needed to get the picture since Kidlet needs it tomorrow. This will work out okay, I think, since now they won't have to walk to school. I'll take them, get the picture, and bring it to her before she needs it.

And how all of that explains my not getting pictures I have no idea.

I'm going to add some yarn pictures for color, and so my mom can see what else I've been working on. I wish that Blogger would let me put pictures at the bottom as well since their position is going to seem pretty random in relation to the post. Although, given that just over two weeks ago I'd never added a picture I probably shouldn't be complaining.

Hi world

Well I didn't get the camera out today, which turns out to be a good thing since I need to get a picture of Middlest Kidlet for her student of the week poster. That being the case, I thought I'd take this opportunity to do an introduction post since it turns out I never did.

My name is Naomi and my family, after the death of my husband last summer from cancer, is Eldest Kidlet, Son, Middlest Kidlet, Littlest Kidlet, Patches the Guinea Pig, and Eevie the cat. When it's all listed out that way it seems like a pretty full house but I'm actually thankful for the kids as they help me keep going without my high school sweetheart and greatest cheerleader. They're also very helpful around the house and such, sometimes even voluntarily.

I'm an avid needleworker (having started when I was about seven), reader, and watcher of TV(particularly anime and mysteries). I am an anything but avid housekeeper, and anyone reading this can tell that my grasp of correct punctuation and grammar leaves a lot to be desired( although the increased time I'm spending blogging is definitely improving my spelling). If it helps any, John said the flow of my written sentences is almost exactly how I actually speak, so a reader is getting my true voice at least.

The name of the blog comes from the fact that I had looked into blogging from the Town Hall site and one of their questions was, "what is your nickname?". I don't really have an official nickname but John called me "Princess", and "Kitten", and the kids were young enough to call me "Mommy" so I ran them all together and decided it was cute, which is important to me for whatever reason.

I'm never quite sure where to draw the line, in terms of net anonymity, but this seems like a reasonable picture of myself without spilling too many beans. Hopefully there will be pictures up tomorrow, or I could actually post about the books I've been reading instead of just writing about them in my head.

Added critter photos taken by Son last week and Blogger won't let me do a paragraph break to say so.

-Yes- I remember!

Said in the tone of an adolescent asked about a task they haven't done. In this case the vest for Peggy that I mentioned as my next big project and then promptly went on to do scarves and tidies and any number of other things that weren't at all vest related. It turns out that there's nothing like a technically fairly simple, I very rarely do anything truly simple, but physically more challenging basketweave stitch purse to make a technically challenging but quick to work up new design a lot more attractive. Now the purse is probably about 1/5 done and the vest about 1/4 so I guess it's working out pretty well.

I'll add pictures when I do one of my camera blitzes. The blitzes are necessary because brand new batteries only have about a 4 hour life-span in the camera I actually know how to use. With that being the case, I have to get pictures of everything I think I'll need pictures of anytime soon, upload them both to this computer and Flickr, and get the batteries out again in the hopes that I'll get four to six uses from them. I need to get a picture of the latest thank you scarf, called "Thank-you again" tomorrow so it can go to the recipient so I should have a bunch of pictures to add then.

Here it is

The sad thing is I don't know why I couldn't get to the picture to start with. The computer shop wasn't able to find anything wrong internally, and had no trouble getting a connection there so they just updated the drivers. Because most of what they did was pretty automated they only charged me half their usual minimum fee which I definitely appreciate. When I got the computer home I plugged it in and it picked up the internet right away. So I pretty much paid $25.00 to get myself out the door yesterday, which meant that I dropped off a forgotten lunch, worked out, got gas, and went shopping none of which I had particularly planned on doing. I also found out that the computer is virus free, which is a bit of a relief since I had gotten a bad script from a site last week. It's good to know that I was successful in removing it completely not just cosmetically.

The best things about Missouri

Now that I've been in Missouri about a year and a half I find that my opinion about the best things here is pretty much unchanged from when we first moved to the area.

One of the very best things about the town we came to is the wonderful lady in the picture. This is Mary Cooper and she is a charter member of the church that I've come to call our Missouri family. Her intense love of the Lord has made her so lively and sweet, even after facing some pretty tragic circumstances, that I can't help but have my day brightened whenever I'm around her.

Mary's a pretty tough act to follow but I think my next favorite thing about Missouri is all the birds. I'd have to admit that there's a bit of a down-side to this as seeing the telephone wires and ground covered in an avian swarm does give me a bit of a "The Birds" feeling , and I've never even watched the movie. Other than that though, a strategically placed hummingbird feeder in the summer and songbird feeder the rest of the year is a casual bird-watcher's dream. In Colorado bluebirds were a once-every-couple-of-years treat while here they're quite common. Cardinals are unheard of there but can be seen, or at least their car-alarm calls heard, all year around. I even saw an oriole last summer, and the humming birds would have what Son likes to call "wing-to-wing combat" over our balcony. I have really enjoyed seeing an unfamiliar bird at the feeder, guessing what it is, and then checking my guess in our bird-book. When I'm right I get a nice glow every time I see another of the same type and if I'm wrong I've learned a new bird. It's definitely a win-win situation.

The last thing I particularly like about this area is the many varieties of plants and flowering trees that are new to me. Of course there's also poison ivy/oak/sumac, which aren't a problem on the front range, but since I'm not the one who wandered into it I consider it to be a fair trade for the trees that bloom all summer long. There are also many wildflowers , and even a few herbs, that aren't found in Colorado and I like finding these as much as seeing a new type of bird. It is a little frustrating that I still haven't found someone in the area who can tell me what a lot of the plants are. I don't know if I just haven't asked the right person yet or if I'm just unusual in wanting to know about them.

Mah computer's sick!

Or maybe it's a cable. Anyway, it's not talking to the internet right now and had to go to the shop since I wouldn't even know where to start on fixing it. That means I'm writing this on the kids' computer and can't get the picture of my latest finished project from Flickr to Blogger. It's a knitted lace scarf of handspun wool/silk fiber in a couple shades of green. I made it as a "thank-you" for the mother of a classmate of Littlest Kidlet who has been bringing the elementary kids home when it was so cold. This was particularly kind since it involves going a little out of her way each time and I wanted to give her something nice to show my appreciation.

Aaand they're off

In the mail that is. Mom's gift, Peggy's gift, Judy's gift, and the other copy of my will and trust documents that are going to my sister and her husband so that some adult knows what to do if something happens to me. Oh, and the thank-you cards did go in the packages as well since that way I didn't have to pay for the seperate stamps. In case anyone's forgotten what the presents look like, and because I'm trying to raise internet awareness of my projects, here's a repeat of the pictures. No pictures of the documents though, that would be boring.

Minor projects

These are the projects I've been working on around the larger projects so far this year. They are all "purse tidies" made with various techniques. Top left-to-right is an entrelac business card holder made with two types of handspun, a self-striping bag for brush and comb, and bottom left is a notebook sleeve in a slip-stitch twill pattern. The first two are finished and the last needs only the final repeat completed and the end sewn.

I got roses!

My parents are so sweet. These were on my front porch this afternoon. They smell really nice and I'm very glad Eldest Kidlet brought them in before they froze!

A comedy ?! of, well..something

The colorful additions to my last couple of posts show that everything did eventually work out all right. It was just 48 hours of *head/desk* moments to get there.

Sunday I decided that I would indeed get pictures of the various projects before mailing them on Monday. To this end I got up and went to get the camera, which is where I met my first roadblock. The camera wasn't where I was sure it would be. In fact, I spent the entire rest of the day looking in one place or another as possibilities came to mind. At about 11:00 p.m. I found a camera, but I didn't recognize it and it wasn't in the camera case I was looking for.

The next day I asked my son if he had any ideas where the camera had gotten to, not that I thought he'd taken it, and he showed me the digital that was in the game cabinet. I recognized that one even less, which meant that the one I'd found earlier was indeed the one I'd been looking for. Yes, somehow a person who hates cameras has ended up with two digitals, both gifts (I suppose in the hope that I would take pictures for the grandparents).

What might next have been an obstacle wasn't, I guess something went right in the process after all. I had gotten a big package of new batteries even though I couldn't find the camera. Son and I had a bad moment after putting the batteries in though, as the camera wouldn't turn on until we opened and closed the battery holder multiple times (possibly due to visible corrosion from the former batteries). There was finally a beep and we were able to see the pictures from our last family trip to Yellowstone so I was feeling optimistic.

I was feeling so optimistic that I decided to have Son help me get pictures of items before he went to school this morning. To get started I wanted to upload and check a couple of the older pictures so I sat at the computer and got out the connector cable. I felt physically ill as I realized that what I had was an adapter cable not the one belonging to the camera.

After a bit of muttering and general grumpiness I decided to go ahead and take the pictures, and even let Son take a few of the critters, and just hope that I would remember where the cable could be. Failing a flash of insight I hoped that Radio Shack might carry cables for six-year-old cameras since otherwise our Yellowstone photos were probably toast which did make me sort of sad.

At about 2:00 p.m. today I decided to try the box where I'd found the camera, which is less obvious than it seems since the camera wasn't supposed to have been in a cardboard packing box to start with. To my partial surprise the cable was indeed there mixed in with some of John's old pens and general what-do-I-do-with-this sort of stuff.

Now we'll see what sort of picture taking monster AVI's challenge has created as I use the links between my project page on Ravelry and this blog to let the world know the wonders that are my projects. Bwhahahaha...um..yeah.

Done again

I was able to finish Judy's scarf today. Staying up until 2:00 a.m. this morning working on it certainly gave me a jump-start. I ended up using a lacy entrelac/modular square pattern that was a combination of my various failed attempts at Peggy's scarf and a pattern from an entrelac book I ordered from Amazon after Christmas. I thought I might need to block this one but it seems open enough, as well as large enough, and the crochet edge seems to hold the shape well. I also don't know if it would be dry in time to mail on Monday with everyone else's items if I were to block it now.

The kids just recently finished their "thank you" cards for Christmas and I'm thinking about just adding them into the various packages instead of stamping them individually. The people getting packages represent 3/5ths of the people getting thank you cards so it certainly seems more efficient to send the cards with the knitting. My only concern is if it would seem rude.

Next up is a side-to-side knitted vest for Peggy based, loosely, on a pattern from Knit Kimono . I've never done a sideways garment before so this will be interesting. Particularly since pretty much everything about the pattern but the general shape has been changed. I need to call and get measurements before I start because I have the feeling that a couple of swatches are going to be needed. Fortunately, the vest isn't a tailored fit but it still needs the length and width to be pretty close to right if it's going to be comfortable to wear.

I was wrong. Yay!

I did finish knitting Peggy's scarf today and, since I'm not going to block it, I'm done. This is the first time I've made a dove-tail style scarf but, since that's pretty much just a key-hole scarf with two holes in a line instead of just one, it was a pretty basic change.

I'm hoping to mail both mom and Peggy's packages on Monday if it doesn't snow too much. If I were a wise blogger I would have my son get pictures of both the scarf and vest before sending them on. In the highly unlikely event I actually do that, I'll add the pictures to these two posts.

My next main project is a handspun scarf for one of Peggy's sisters who is always very kind and generous to us at Christmas even though she has little of her own. I'm hoping to put all my false starts from the last scarf to use in this one. A savy marketer would also take a picture of this scarf once it's finished. I just need to get my desire to show off to be stronger than my intense dislike of our cameras. Would a rum and cola be appropriate in this situation as well? Somehow it seems unlikely.

One down

I finished mom's Christmas vest although I am cheating a little as I'm sending her three crocheted buttons and she can choose how many she wants to use and where exactly to place them. Now I'm on to my MIL's B-day scarf which I think I've finally decided on a pattern for. The two ounces of mohair and wool fiber didn't spin up in to nearly as much yarn as I was expecting so I've been trying to figure out ways to add in another yarn, much as I did with mom's vest. Unfortunately, this has led to about half a dozen false-starts and has put me rather behind my hoped-to-be-done deadline, IOW there's no way I'm going to have it finished for her birthday, two days from now, much less sent. I think I've found a lace pattern though that will accomodate the original yarn and still make a significant sized scarf.

Shadow?

Well, it was sunny here when I woke up. I don't know if Missouri has an official groundhog but I read on I-can't-remember-which-blog that the results for the country was no shadow.

For some reason my attempts to cut/paste the url for this picture are failing. I found it at Bing but the origin is blamcast.net