Ups and Downs and Ins and Outs

Life (more specifically, MY life) is full of ups and downs and ins and outs, and how we get through the curves determines where we end up! If you have been reading for any time at all, you know that I am a mom on the edge of an empty nest. . .and I am happy about it. But, I still worry about my little chickadees! And I wonder what decisions they will make in their young lives.

Now, don't get me wrong. The Papa Bird and I have taught them what they need to know, and for the most part they have learned well. It's the things they must learn on their own that make me the most nervous. . .like when the Boy Bird talks about buying fast and furious cars with bonus money.

Of course, on the flip side, these decisions sometimes make me so proud I could just bust!. . .like when the Girly Bird says she will still be leaving for college in 3 weeks, even though her best friend (who was supposed to be her roommate) is now NOT going to college with her. Emotional highs, emotional lows, being in their lives, trying to advise (or not - gasp) while gracefully bowing out so they can make adult decisions. . .oh, it makes me tired just thinking about it!

Thankfully, I have hobbies to keep my mind busy!
Like, oh, I don't know. . .watching TV with the cat. . .



Spending time with the Papa Bird. . .and with the Chickadee. . .and with the Chickadee-In-Law. . .

Knitting. . .

Another Cabled Laptop Bag for a friend of my Little Chickadee! Her mom saw the first one and requested a redeux! So I am a-deux-in' it!

And the first of the Sunday Swing Socks with my Destination Yarn. . .yummmm!

Volunteering at church. . .my regular job (also at church). . .

Blogging. . .reverse voyeurism, maybe?

Quoting the 1971 Willy Wonka. . .

"So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

So, I don't think my nest is feeling empty just yet. . .I just keep adding things in when the babies fly away. . .and so far, so full! (I will try to update you on that in September. . .what will I do with my time when my baby birdie leaves for school?) In the meantime, you guessed it. . .

Knit in good health!

Another Saturday Night. . .

And I've got plenty of people around me! Haha! I spent most of the afternoon/evening at a grad party for a young lady at church, and many of my good friends were there. . .it was a lot of fun! Brenda throws a great party (Kevin too, I know he was at least partially involved)! And congrats to Cara and all the high school grads I know - you guys rock!

This morning, same old, same old. . .with a song in my heart. . .

Laundry, Laundry
You're always here
Laundry, Laundry
Seems like you never disappear. . .
But, Laundry day comes
just once a week around here!

Well, not entirely, but Saturday is the main laundry day for the Hubster and I. Besides laundry, we defrosted the fridge and I did some minor cleaning. . .not enough to break a nail or put on the rubber gloves for, just a little bit here and there. Someday, I hope to get around to my "spring cleaning" for this year. All in all, a good day!

In knitting knews, this week I completed the third piece in a set for College Girl to take with her in the fall. The Baroness Beret (below, top) was piece #1, and the fingerless gloves and neck cowl/scarfie thing were pieces 2 and 3 (or 2, 3 and 4, depending on how you look at it). I could not find any link to the patterns for the other pieces, which were in back issues of Creative Knitting magazine (Nov 2004 and Nov 2008).

This morning, I finished up the toe on sock 2 of my Groovy Socks! And they are groovy, indeed. And they make me feel groovy! There is something about the lacy rib pattern that hugs my feet and legs, yet does not feel at all tight. . .love them!

Since I had finished all my hangout projects, I decided to start two new things. A repeat of the College Cables bag I made for College Girl (by request of the mom of another College Girl), and a pair of Sunday Swing socks! These are a Knitty.com surprise pattern for this summer, and I knew the moment I saw it that it was THE pattern for the yarn I bought from Jeanne over at DestinationYarn! I had seen all of her "America the Beautiful" yarns in person (she is a member of my meet-up group), and when she brought the variegated that she made with her leftover dyes, well, I was slow on the uptake, but I knew I needed to have it! And I got it! And I found a pattern I think will look G-R-E-A-T in this yarn! Yay!

By the way, all the yarns over at DestinationYarn are based on places. . .check out the Vienna yarn, and tell me your mouth doesn't just water! Yummmmmmm!

Speaking of etsy, watch the shop for some specials coming next month! I am looking forward to a fun day tomorrow, but now I am going to bed.

Knit in good health!

Parting is not Sweet Sorrow. . .

It is gut-wrenching, sick-to-your-stomach, agony sometimes.

So, my dear son, the one in uniform, came home for R & R from the scary place. . .and it was so good to have him around. A little stressful at times, so many things to do, only 15 days to do them, when will you be here to see us again? But, still, glad to have him here, even if just for sleeping. . .really, says the Mommy.

Wifey-Poo also so glad to have him in her arms again, even if they are "living" with her In-Laws for the two weeks. . .so happy to know where he is, to be able to call him on the phone, to know he is not in harm's way. . .what a relief.

They say that all good things come to an end. I guess it's true. That 15 days was long for a vacation, but too short for us. There were emotional highs. . .and lows. . .as we all got used to each other again. It was great to see him, hug him, hear his voice in person. And it was pretty crappy to have to take him back to the airport, and send him back. . .thankfully his tour is more than half over. We are already missing him, and looking forward to the next homecoming. Hello, Army life!


We were lucky to be able to take him all the way to the gate at the airport. Thanks, Andrea, for putting us in touch with the right people for that! It was tough to wait around, knowing he had to go. . .but good to see him until that last possible moment. . .

And it was agonizing for Wifey-Poo to finally let go when that last boarding call came. No more delaying it. . .we all love you, Boy! Wifey-Poo and Mom will be fine. And you know Dad and Sis are doing ok, too. Stay safe, Son, and we will see you in a few months! We love you!

So, then, on to the knitting. . .I finished knitting this bag during the visit, but in the interest of space had buried the sewing machine to make room for the newlyweds. Now that I have some space re-claimed, I finally unburied it to sew the linings for the bag, and construct the thing! I think it turned out pretty good! Sis likes it too. . .good thing! It's her computer bag for the Fall Semester! Here's the whole bag, laptop inside.

Here it is with the computer sliding out. . .(I also lined the handle to reduce the "stretch" as the bag is worn. . .laptops can be heavy!)

And here it is empty, so you can see the cute stripes on the lining fabric!

And, totally opened up, I hope you can see that it has pockets all the way around the lining. Pockets for cell phones, pencils, ID, ipods, whatever she might need to stow, well I hope she has a pocket for it!

I worked for awhile (about 3 hours yesterday) to finish it up. . .and she LOVES it! Yay! And now, on to the next thing! What? Not sure. Will let you all see something soon!

Knit in good health!

So much time. . .

. . .and so little to do!

Wait. . .no. . .strike that. . .reverse it!

But even though I am feeling a little under the gun with my time today, I wanted to make sure to blog! I am so excited about my current project, which will involve row counters with adorable little sweater charms! Polymer Clay Sweater Charms! (Google that. . .I come up as one of the top results! Uh-huh. . .I do!)

So, after last week's clay disaster, I almost decided that the clay was just not worth it. But then, being me, I could NOT let it whip me. So I took out clay this morning and made these:

Pretty stinkin' cute, huh? Yeah, I think so, too. They are part of a project I am working on, inspired by Alana of NeverNotKitting podcast fame! And as I was working with my new white clay (I figured something must have been wrong with the last block - it was sooooooo soft and sticky) I figured out what the problem was.

Translucent clay. . .probably used for it's soft- and stickiness. . .is what I was using for white. It was in the slot for white at the store. It looks white. I figured it was white. I should have read the label. Oh, well. I guess I will read up on the stuff and see what it is actually used for in a project. I still have some left, and I hate to waste! Still, it was quite the pain to work with! Ha-rumph!

So, that's what I did this morning. And soon I am off to a graduation party ('tis the season), and then stuff with the fam. I love my family. I will be sad when Army Son (aka my Darlin' Baby Boy) returns to his deployment in a couple days, and so will his Wifey-Poo.

So much to do. . .so little time. . .knit in good health!

Squeeeeeee!

Those of you who are LimeNViolet listeners know what that means! I am excited about something! I'd have you guess what, but if you are hip to L&V, then you may already know that PRETTY KNITTY JEWELRY was the FEATURED ESotD (Esy Shop of theDay) in the Daily Chum on Monday! Squeeeeeee! I was at my "regular job" when I got the news from my friend Michelle. . .and I squeee-d, and and I watched my pageviews increase, and I made several sales. . .I also got very little "regular work" done. It is a good thing that I am not on a deadline!

Since I was not finished jumping up and down after work, I made some counters (to replace the ones that had sold - Squeeee!) and did some knitting after I prepared my sold items for shipping! Squeeee! So excited!

In other news:

I made myself a new profile pic for Ravelry, and I may use it here as well, have not decided. In this large pic, you can easily read PKJEWELRY, but in the smaller version, it is not as clear. And the little flip-flop is kinda like my trademark, ya know? So, let me know what you think about that. . .should this be my new profile pic for the blog?

And yes, Dawn, those are your socks! I wish they were closer to done, but as you may have guessed, I have not had much knitting time since Monday!

But, I did get the knitting done on the laptop bag. And I cut out the fabric lining, so I hope to finish that this weekend? Maybe next week? We will see. For now, I love how the cables blocked out. . .looking good!

Army Guy and Wifey-Poo are still here, in town, and they have stuff all over the house. ;-) That means that I have stuff in weird places around the house, like on top of the sewing machine, to keep it outta their way. . .so no sewing just yet! But lots of hugs and kisses before that boy goes back "over there." Yay! Today is a good day!

Knit in good health!

It's Like a Heat Wave. . .

Well, summer finally arrrived in my corner of the state of Ohio, and I found out this week that the heat can really mess with my plans. . .especially if I am planning on working with clay! But, as I said on Wednesday, I did get a few pieces, including a couple Watermelon Sweaters (inspired by NeverNotKnitting's pattern for little girls):

And a few little white sweaters with pink trim, only because I got pink when the sticky red and white proved to be inseparable. . .still, not bad, I guess.

And then, out of frustration, I moved onto some beads. . .restored my faith, gave me hope and helped me to love myself again following the clay disaster. . . whew!

Eventually, all of these pieces (and more) will show up in the ETSY shop. . .stay tuned.

And then, there's the knitting. . .quite a bit, actually! This is a picture of my daughter's laptop bag (in progress) from knitting group on Thursday evening, and I am nearly done with the knitting tonight. . .all that's left is to taper the front flap, and knit the handle.

I think I will felt the handle when I get there. . .still deciding. . . I plan to line the bag, and add some inner pockets, and also line the handle to minimize stretching with use. It should be a great bag!

So that's my update for the weekend. Army boy is still here with Wifey-Poo, College Girl is doing the graduation party circuit, and our summer is going by so fast that I am trying not to blink!

Keep your eyes open, and knit in good health!

Cast, Cast, Cast it on. . .

. . .and before you're through -
Bind it off and cut the yarn,
And weave the ends in too!

So, today has been a good one, for the most part. I finished a sock (Dawn's new design that I am test knitting) and cast on the second, and I cast on a messenger bag (and I also finished a market bag yesterday).


Then, I played with clay. . .but it was really too warm for clay, and I found myself frustrated. I threw away a LOT of sticky, stuck-together clay this afternoon. . .maybe I will save the clay play for winter! I did get 7 pieces that are passable. . .so I will see what I can do with that, but it was nothing like I saw in my head. Soooo, back to the knitting.

That Army guy is still here, and his PrettyKnittyMommy is still pretty happy about that. Today was a day to give him and his little Wifey-Poo some space, so I was in the basement most of the day, but I did get a couple pictures this morning:

And in with the flowers, while I taking pix of the sock, this busy little bee asked if I would do a portrait. Since he asked so kindly, I obliged.


I hope to work on some jewelry later, and I will post pics of that (and the clay pieces) in Saturday's blog!


Until then, knit in good health!

July 5th Celebration

So, for the last few days, I have used knitting as therapy, stress relief, something to do with my fidgety fingers while I waited for my DS to arrive on R&R leave from Iraq. We knew he was scheduled to leave there somewhere around the fourth and arrive here. . .well, some time after that. That's military life for ya!

And then the kid caught a break, and he was able to leave a day early! We got a call on the 3rd saying he would be traveling out of there that night, and he would be in our town sometime midday on July 5th. Nervous wrecks were the Wifey-poo and the Mommy. . .and we got that call late this morning. . .and we prepared for the trip to the airport. . .and we prepared for the visit here at the house. . .and then we waited. . .and I knitted. . .and we waited to go to the airport, his wife, his mom, his dad and his sister.

And then we saw him. . .and she kissed him. . .and we all hugged him. . .and I held on a little longer and a little tighter than I had planned. I could not have prepared myself for the rush of relief, and joy, and relief to see and hold him. . .it is a scary thing to know where he serves. . .and I held back on my tears until his dad and I were alone. . .what an enormous relief to have him home.

Knit in good health, and hug someone you love!

Keeping Up with the Kastonagains!

Yeah, that's right, I said it. . .that should totally be a reality TV show. . .for knitters!

Keeping up with my part of the show, here is waht I have recently Kast on:

Another Headline News cabled newsboy cap in Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash (some hand-dyed by me) from SNB Nation for my daughter's collection as she "heads" off to college in the fall. . . (btw, this has also been bound off ;-) !)
Groovy Socks in Sockin' Socks yarn, cast on as a way to pass time in the car and at the Freshman Orientation/Registration event for above-mentioned daughter. . .

Another baby sweater (in the Tamaty Tweed left over from my Hey, Teach!) from the sweater wheel pattern generator at KnittingFool. . .
And an Everlasting Bagstopper, from Knitty, in a 50/50 hemp/wool. . .
Wow! I have a pretty good case of the Kastonagains. . .at least for me! Haha! I am glad to have my knitting meet-up tonight!

Knit in good health!