Frost Cowl and Kindle Cover

Here are pictures of my Frost Cowl!

And here's a pic of a new project. I whipped up this Kindle cover yesterday.  We're giving Angel a Kindle for Christmas, and I felt it needed a cover to protect it.

Woohooo!

I finally have something to post that isn't about the house!  I finished my Frost Cowl.  It took forever, because my knitting mojo decided to take a vacation.  But I think it's back now.  I'm thinking of starting another baby blanket pattern; I have an idea already, and I'd started a swatch ages ago, but I think it's in storage with the rest of my life.  So I need to start over.  Or maybe a good sketch will work for submitting the design to Knit Picks, so that I don't have to make it twice...

And I'm also going to teach Angel to knit socks.  She picked out some sock yarn, and I got her her own set of DPNs.  She was a little disappointed when I told her she needed to learn with DPNs first.  She thought she'd be able to use a circular, not understanding that they don't make circulars short enough for child-size socks.  I told her that once she has a good grasp of knitting with DPNs, I'll teach her to do Magic Loop.  First I need to teach her to do ribbing.  She still doesn't understand purling, but that's because she gets tired of it too quickly.  Maybe she'll be able to tolerate it as ribbing.  We're going to use Silver's Sock Class, but adjust the numbers to fit a child-size foot.

A little update on the house: we're getting very close to being able to move in.  We have electricity, and water, and heat.  So now we need to get the finish work done, and the kitchen floor in, and the carpet in.  And the appliances in.  And...I think that'll be it.  Then we can finally get all our stuff out of storage and into our new place.  It's been a long four months.  I am so ready to be in our own place.

Still here

I realized that I haven't blogged in quite a while.  Which is probably due to the fact that I've discovered Netflix streaming.  I've been rewatching some of my old favorites, including the entire series of "24", and really enjoying it.  Just last night I watched Die Hard With A Vengeance.  Gotta love a good shoot-em-up movie.

Anyway, we're still here.  In my father-in-law's house.  I'd hoped to be moved into our own place by now, but no such luck.  We've been waiting on the electrician.  The builders can't finish the inside work until there's heat, and the heating guy can't get the heat going until there's electricity.  Oh, the plumber is also waiting on electricity. And the electrician has been out of town for two weeks.  He's back now, and the plan is to meet out at the house this afternoon.  I'll call him in a little while just to be sure that that plan is still good.

I had been looking forward to possibly spending Thanksgiving in our new house, but even if we're moved in by then(which I doubt) we won't be there for the holiday.  Hubby's dad has a vacation house in Spearfish, SD, and it's been decided(not by me or the kids, but oh well) that the whole family will spend Thanksgiving there.  It's a great house, and there's plenty of room...but when you get our family (5 people) together with Hubby's dad, his sister, his brother, his aunt(and maybe uncle)...it's going to be crowded.  Yippee.  So I'll have to spend my favorite holiday in a crowded house, with people who love to gossip(always makes me wonder what they're saying about me when I'm not there), and no chance of escape.  Oh, and all the adults will probably get wasted too; this family consumes copious amounts of alcohol anytime they're all together.  Hooray and happy Thanksgiving.

Sorry, I'm being all sarcastic and complain-y.  Better go find another good shoot-em-up to cheer me up.

We have a house!

The house is here!  It's finally here!

It arrived on Tuesday, but they didn't get it set on the basement until today.  Looks pretty good so far, doesn't it?  There's still a bunch of work to be done.  The builders need to finish the roof and siding, and build temporary steps to the front door.  It seems there was a misunderstanding about the master bathroom; there's no shower, and there was supposed to be one.  So they'll take care of that too.  I have a bunch of light fixtures to wire up; pendants for the kitchen island, chandelier for the dining room, bathroom lights, and ceiling fans for the living room, library and all the bedrooms.  I'm going to do that myself, no matter what anyone else says.  We need to put in the kitchen and dining room flooring; I might not do that all by myself, though.  Hubby is being a butt.  He thinks we need everything done "professionally".  And of course, there's a lot of painting to do, which I can definitely do on my own.  Anyway, we also have to have a plumber hook up the plumbing, and an electrician to get electricity into the house.  And then there's the septic system and the geothermal heating/cooling system.  And after all that, we need a garage.  I'm hoping the carpenter will let me help with that.

So...it might be a couple more weeks before we are able to move in.  But it's getting so close!  I'm so ready to be in our own place and using our own stuff.  Being a guest in someone else's house for this long is exhausting.  Even if it's family.  Or maybe because it is family...

State of the House

Our house was supposed to be on its way here by now.  But it's not.  The builder called today while I was out and told my father-in-law that the house isn't done yet, and that it will be at least next Monday before it arrives.  Oh, well.  I'm disappointed and annoyed that we didn't know this sooner, but whatever.  It's really a good thing I'm such a patient person.

Anyway, the site is basically ready.  The basement walls have been poured, and the basement plumbing has been roughed-in.  The basement floor is still not poured.  Because of the oil boom happening in this area, concrete is a hot commodity, and is a little hard to come by.  But now that we have this delay, I'm going to call the basement guy and see if he might be able to do it this week or weekend, before the house comes.  I'd much rather have the  basement completed than have to get the floor poured through a window.  Anyway... the dirt has been backfilled around the basement, except the areas right around the windows; we're waiting on the windows and window-wells.  There's still a huge pile of dirt in front of the house(or rather, where the house will be when it arrives).  I'm going to talk to the basement guy about getting that moved also, since we have the delay.

The local building center tells me our kitchen flooring is in, so I'll pick that up once the house is here.  We picked DuraCeramic, but the builders wouldn't put it in; they don't do tilework.  The reason for that is simple; bringing a house cross-country on trucks.  You don't want to have to worry about whether the tiles, grout, or thinset under it all might crack on the journey.  So even though DuraCeramic is not a traditional kind of tile, it was not on their list of options.  The nice lady at the building center said that it's so much simpler to put in than ceramic or porcelain tiles, so it shouldn't be a problem for me, since I helped with the ceramic tile at our old house earlier this year.

The light fixtures arrived last week, and they all look terrific.  I had ordered ceiling fans for all the bedrooms, the living room, and the library; a chandelier for the dining room, and pendants for the kitchen.  Fortunately, I've had some experience changing light fixtures, so wiring them up will be a cinch for me.

We're going to have to find someone to build the floor-to-ceiling shelves for our library.  I had thought of doing that myself, but I know enough to admit I'd be a bit out of my depth in that project.  I'll settle for helping with it, if they'll let me.

I've got a recommendation for a carpenter to build the garage, so hopefully he'll be able to do that quickly once the house is in place.  And hopefully he'll let me help.

So anyway, there's the State of the House report, such as it is.  I can hardly wait for the house to be in place so I can get all these big projects done, so I can do the little projects like painting walls and making curtains.  I think it'll keep me busy most of the winter.

My Angel is ten!

Today is Angel's birthday!  Of course, we've already celebrated, but still, it's good to mark the day.  She's going to make muffins for lunch.  Would have made them for breakfast, but someone forgot to tell anyone that she'd used up the eggs the other day.  So we need to run to the store this morning and get some eggs.  She's already opened all her presents, which included an angel figurine from Kitty, a porcelain doll from Princess, two books from Mommy(Indiana Jones trilogy and Star Wars trilogy, two of her favorites), a printer from Daddy, and a computer from Grandpa.  She's already more than 2/3 done with the Indiana Jones book.

So happy birthday to my Angel!

Good things.

The leaves are beginning to turn!  I love fall.  It's the prettiest season, along with being the beginning of cooler weather.

And look!  We have power lines on our land!

And here's the cement truck on its way to pour the basement walls!

Angel's tenth birthday is tomorrow.  We spent the weekend celebrating it, as Hubby would be out of town for the actual birthday.  Tomorrow, she gets to make muffins for breakfast, and take the day off of school.  Because birthdays are holidays in our school. ☻  

Hey, check this out!

My patterns and I were featured on the Knit Picks blog yesterday!  They've introduced Freebie Fridays, in which they will release a new free pattern each Friday, with a blog post about the designer. ☻And they started with mine!

Freebie Friday

Wooooohooooooooooooo!

And another pattern!

I have another pattern up today!  It's a freebie, on Knit Picks, called Lacy KiP Bag.  It's perfect size to hold your 100g ball of yarn when you Knit in Public, and way cuter than a ziploc bag!

The pattern can be found for FREE here.

Little Sweetheart Knee Socks!

My latest pattern is up!

The pattern can be found here.  These socks are knit toe-up, and are sized for little girls.  The hearts are on both the front and back of the socks.

Time for truth

Okay, I know I've been posting all excited about the progress on our house, but the truth is: I wish I were still in Texas.  I didn't want to move here.  Ever.  And Hubby knew that.  But he wanted to, so that's all that mattered to him.  So here we are in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota, and I am depressed.  I'm having a really hard time adjusting.  The problem isn't the weather; I'm loving the cooler temps(for now).  The problem is the isolation.  But even more than that, the problem is that Hubby chucked "our plan" out the window in favor of "his plan".

Even before we got married, we talked about retiring in Colorado.  We discussed other spots, but kept coming back to the idea of Colorado, because it would be somewhat close to both of our families(closer to mine, I'll admit), and they still have the cold winter weather that he loves.  He would always make jokes about living in Alaska, or North Dakota, and I would always reply that I don't want to.  So he knew how I felt about it.  And yet...when he got the opportunity to move us here, just a few minutes' drive from his family, and 19 hours drive from mine, he jumped at it.  And since we're building on family land here, he intends for us to stay here forever.  So I have to just forget about Colorado.  I have to forget about ever living close to my family again.

Instead, I get to live super-close to his family.  His dad is a barking moonbat.  His brother almost never smiles.  His sister doesn't seem to like me very well.  I get along best with his aunt, but she's a barking moonbat as well.  Yay for me.  I need some friends. 

I hate it here.

Progress...

The footings for the basement have been poured.  They'll pour the walls next, then the plumber can come in and get everything roughed in.  The floor will be poured after that.

 Over Labor Day weekend, we went to South Dakota for some family time.  Which meant lots of driving time...also known as knitting time!  I made a lot of progress on my BBSweKniMo project(no picture, sorry); the raglan increases are done, and I've separated for the sleeves, and done several inches on the body.  When my hands were tired of working with bulky yarn, I switched to sock yarn.  I finished this sock:

I haven't cast on the second yet.  I need to do that today.  These will be some of my favorite socks this winter!  I'm using Malabrigo, which is going to make my feet very happy.

Oh, and by the way....Knit Picks likes both my "Little Sweetheart Socks" and my "Frost Cowl"!  Still need to make adjustments to the cowl pattern; the yarn support should be arriving any day now.  And I need to hunt up my notes from the socks!  I think they're in my old computer, which is in the process of dying.

Pics of my newest FO.

I finished my Frost Cowl last week, and finally got a chance to have a little photoshoot.  Angel took the pics for me.  I think she's really improving!  It was tricky; we couldn't find a good spot for a background, so we decided it didn't matter that much, just for the proposal.  If they accept the proposal, we'll do a better job with the pattern photos.  Anyway, here it is!

Up around the face...

 ...and down around the neck.

On an only-slightly related note, I discovered that I could get rid of my scar with my photo editing software; it's a new feature.  Or at least, new to me.  Normally, I don't care that much about the scar on my forehead, but since I didn't put on foundation makeup, it was very visible.  It was distracting.  So goodbye scar.  It's actually a little strange to see my face without it; I've had it a long time.  I think I'm going to post the pics on Facebook and see if anyone in my family notices it's not there. ☻

We have a basement!

Well, almost.

The basement for our new house was dug yesterday.  Here's a picture of the girls checking out the huge hole in the ground. ☺ When it's all said and done, the spot where they're standing in the pic will be part of the garage.

The girls are very excited about this basement, because I've told them they'll be allowed to ride scooters and skates down there, until we get around to building rooms in it.  I think they'll spend a lot of time doing that this winter, whenever it's too cold to play outside.

Speaking of cold weather, the girls and I drove up to the "Bigger Town" about 40 miles away yesterday(while the above digging was taking place) and hit Walmart, McDonalds and two thrift shops.  It was nice to feel like we were part of civilization again, if only for a few hours.  What was I saying....oh, yes.  At the thrift shops, we found snowpants for each of them, and ice skates for Angel, Kitty and me.  We'll have to look again for some skates for Princess; they didn't have any that would fit her wide feet.  All of the ice skates will, of course, need to be sharpened; I've had butter knives that were sharper.  It's going to be fun to get back out on the ice this winter.  I used to skate a lot when I was a teenager, and I did it a few times last winter, but now we'll have more opportunities for it.  I'm thinking I maybe should have bought some snowpants for myself as well; maybe I'll even get out and play in the snow with them.  Oh, well.  I'm sure we'll visit more thrift shops between now and winter.  Anyway, I still need to find snow boots for Angel and Princess, and for me just in case.  They each have several coats, but I'm not sure which ones will work for the extreme cold here.  I haven't sorted through them since we got here.  The girls wanted to look for cold weather gear for Daddy too, but I pointed out that he'd have to be with us to try the stuff on.  I didn't mention that he probably won't have any time to play in the snow.

We picked apples!

We picked a gazillion apples on Sunday!  In fact, I've been so busy since then cooking and baking things with apples that I haven't had time to blog.  Fortunately I did take a couple pictures...

Apple bread...

and apple dumplings...

We also made some cider and some applesauce, but they didn't turn out well.  I've made hardly a dent in the apples; I still have two large laundry baskets full.  I want to make some pies, and can some pie filling, so I have a lot of work to do.  And I need to do it soon, before the apples go bad.  Planning on a huge cookfest tomorrow.

And I've also finished another knitting project!  Here's my Frost Cowl. 

 I need to make some adjustments to the design; it turned out bigger than I'd planned.  But this will be my next next design proposal for Knit Picks, after the Little Sweetheart Socks.  I'm still waiting on Hubby to get me MSOffice for my new computer, so I can write up those proposals; he said he could get it cheaper from his work.

And I did another little project...

It turned out a little snug for the keychain, so I think it will become a Christmas ornament, and I'll make another for the keychain, with a larger needle.

And...here's my next project, all ready to start!  Plaited Points with Malabrigo Sock in the colorway "Impressionist Sky".  I'm excited about starting!

Hello from North Dakota!

We have arrived!  Actually, we got here on Wednesday, but I didn't have the wireless router set up until today.  Anyway, we are pretty well settled at my father-in-law's house in what will be hereafter known as "Small Town, ND".  I don't like to put my precise location online, just for safety's sake.  We drove out to our house site today, just to take a look around.  The girls picked some wheat, and we were able to see our road and the well up close.  The next step should be getting the basement dug and poured.  And that means I need to get on the ball and figure out how I want the basement set up, as far as plumbing.  I have a drawing I'm working on, so hopefully I'll get that done soon.

I got a little knitting done while we were in Kansas last week.  I finally finished the socks I was making for Princess.

These will be the next design I submit to Knit Picks.  The name is "Little Sweetheart Socks".  As soon as I have MS Office loaded on my computer, I'll get the design proposal written up and sent off.

But for now, I think I better go check on my kids; they went to the park a while ago, and I haven't heard anything from them since.

Hello from Kansas!

Our house in Texas is empty and clean.  I cleaned like a crazy person yesterday, so that we could leave today.  Which we did.  We started driving at 5am.  12 1/2 hours later, we arrived in my hometown in Kansas.  We'll be visiting family here for almost a week before heading north.

I'm glad the packing is done, but I'm sad that we no longer live in Texas.  It's a great place to live (as long as you don't mind the heat and humidity).  I've decided to continue thinking of myself as a Texan, even though we won't likely ever live there again.  I don't have any pictures to post today, but I might later in the week, depending on what we end up doing while we're here. ☺

I finished a project.

I've had a rough day.  I want to whine, but I've already done that elsewhere.  I just can't wait for today to end, so I can sleep, and hope for a better day tomorrow.  Anyway, on to happier topics.

I finished the Laura shawl I was knitting for my friend Leann!  She dyes and sells gorgeous, soft, squishy, lovely yarns, and she asked for volunteers to knit some samples with her yarn to help customers to get a better sense of how the yarns look knitted up.  I volunteered, and chose a large project.  I feel like I took so much longer than I had planned.  But it's done now, and just in time, since the movers will be here in three days. 

 The yarn I used was from Forbidden Woolery; Sparkle, in the colorway "Dumbledore"  It's a lovely mix of blues and grays.

 I used a US7 circular needle.

 The pattern is Laura.

The shawl ended up roughly 24 inches wide, and five feet long.  I forgot to measure it.  Oops.

We said goodbye to our cat today.

I have been trying for weeks to find a home for our cat, Cashmere.  Unfortunately, nobody claimed him.  I had intended to take him to the ASPCA facility in our city, but they weren't accepting cats at the time, so I had to have Animal Control take him.  They do have an "animal adoption" program, just like the ASPCA, so there is a chance that he'll get a new home.  The girls and I are all sad that he's gone, though.  The girls are talking about what kinds of kittens they want once we're settled in our new house...

We have a road!

Yesterday my brother-in-law made us a road. ☺ Hubby posted pictures on Facebook, so I was able to grab a few.  Here's one of the road itself.  We'll be about half a mile back from the existing road that runs along the east side of the property.  This road heads west from there to the house location.  It still needs scoria (and I'm not sure I'm spelling that right), which is a red gravel they use in this part of the country for the roads.

 And here's a shot from the house location, looking east down the road. 

I know it isn't a big thing, but it's a first tangible step towards our new house.

And Hubby gave the builder (hereafter known as Royd) the down payment, so they can get started on the building...once the blueprints are complete.

I have a new computer!

I've been wanting a new computer for a while, but hadn't planned on buying one anytime soon.  My old computer changed my mind about that yesterday.  Actually it started Wednesday afternoon.  The girls and I were listening to music on it, and it kept overheating and shutting itself down after about ten minutes of use.  Thursday morning when I got online, the exhaust fan didn't start up, which it had been doing right away every time I opened the computer.  And there was something wrong with the screen.  Anywhere it should have been white, it was fuschia.  And anywhere it should have been black, it was bright green. 

So the girls and I took it to Best Buy.  As soon as we walked in the door, Kitty said, "Mommy needs a geek!" which made the guys standing around the door laugh.  One of them directed me to the Geek Squad desk, and the very helpful geek took a look at my machine and told me it would cost over $800 to fix it.  So I called up Hubby and let him know that it would be cheaper to buy a new one, and he gave me the go-ahead.

I picked out a Toshiba Satellite laptop.  It has Windows 7, which I'm liking much better than Vista.  It has more memory and processing power than my old one, and it has a built-in webcam, which I like because Hubby took my webcam with him to North Dakota.  We're planning on Skype-ing with him tonight when he goes to visit his dad.

So now I'm working on transferring all my files and photos and stuff from the old computer to the new one.  It's a long, arduous process, since the old computer keeps shutting down while I'm moving files to the flash drive.  And I only have small flash drives; the "bigger" one holds only 125mb.  And I have three years of photos and files to transfer. 

Anyway, I like my new computer.  It's very nice.  And I got a "Lap-Chill" thing that goes under the laptop and has fans in it to keep the computer cool.  I wish I'd gotten one of them a couple years ago; it might have extended the life of my old machine.

Oh, hello there...

It's been a week.  Oops.  But in fairness to me, it's been a crazy busy week.  I've been organizing(a lot) and packing(a little) and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  Hubby left on Thursday.  He should be at his new office at this very moment, starting his new job. 

And I'm stuck with all the real work.  Oh, and my air conditioner died.  In Texas.  In July.  With three kids.  And a buttload of work to do.  At this moment, I am sitting in front of a giant fan that I bought yesterday on the way to church, and trying not to sweat too much.  My neighbor's air conditioner guy is on his way, and I don't want to greet him at the door drenched in sweat...even though it might make him sympathetic so that he'll charge me less...

Anyway, back to the update on what I've been doing(besides sweating).  On Saturday, some guys from the local thrift shop(love that thrift shop, and really really going to miss it) came by to pick up some large furniture that I couldn't bring to them.  They left with a large dresser with a mirror, a chest of drawers, three bedside tables, a queen-size mattress set, an entertainment center, a glider-rocker and a wingback chair.  Whew. 

After that, I was able to get one room upstairs completely emptied, vacuumed, shampooed, and the walls touched up.  And now I'm organizing stuff in that nice clean room.  Anything that we're going to need right away when we move(and that isn't enormous furniture) is going in there.  Most of our stuff is going to be stored in South Dakota until the house is finished.  We're not going to need much while we stay with Hubby's dad.  Or at least that's what I thought...that room is getting filled up quickly.  Anyway, I'm putting that stuff in there so it won't get packed in with the to-be-stored stuff.  In theory, it sounds like it'll work.  We'll see how well it works in reality. 

Counting today, there are 12 days before the movers arrive.  Damn.  I better get back to work.

Editing to add: The AC guy came, saw and conquered.  $165 later, I have a working air conditioner!  It's cooled down to 80 in my house, and it feels much better!

We've got the floorplan!

I got the floorplan today!  There might be a few small adjustments, but since I drew the original myself and they just interpreted it, it's pretty much how I want it! ☺

BB Meetup!

I had an awesome day today!  I got to meetup with some BunkerBabes!  We went to a LYS and bought lots and lots of yarn.  Hey, it was on sale!

Left to right: Whimzee, Fiberotter, me and Skully

We had so much fun together!  After yarn shopping, we had a delicious lunch.  Then Whimzee had to go, but the rest of us wandered around the little shops nearby.  I didn't buy much, but it was lots of fun.

Thanks, ladies!  Y'all rock!  I'll miss you, but fortunately we'll still get to chat online all the time!

I got the samples for the house!

The samples arrived yesterday!  So many choices.....

 Fortunately, we already had a good idea of what we wanted.  First, here are the siding, shingles and trim...

 And the front door...

 And the carpet, linoleum for the bathrooms and inside trim...

 Here's the style of kitchen cabinets...

 ...which will be this color...

We haven't picked the kitchen floor yet; we want to use Dura-Ceramic, which looks like ceramic tile, and is installed in a similar manner.  Since it's installed that way, it won't be in place when the house arrives.  We'll have to either do it ourselves or hire someone to do it.  I'm leaning toward doing it ourselves...which means myself. ☺  I helped the contractor with installing the ceramic tile at our house here, so I have a little experience, and the Dura-Ceramic seems like it'll be simpler because it doesn't have to be cut with a wet saw.

More updates to come!  We're still waiting on the blueprints...

Am I a horrible, unreasonable person?

WARNING: Rant ahead.

Hubby wants to get a dog when we move.  I don't.  And neither do the kids. 

I have to admit to being a dog-hater.  Sorry, but it's the truth.  I just don't get the appeal; never have.  The drool (ick)...the sniffing people's arses (double ick)...the licking (eww)...the barking (gah, the barking!)...the poop (nasty)...the play-biting(so annoying)... yeah, I could live a perfectly happy life without ever owning a dog. 

Then there are the kids.  They are afraid of dogs.  And not just a little afraid.  I'm talking running-screaming-climbing-up-mommy-in-fear-for-their-lives afraid of dogs.  None of them want to have a dog.  Ever.  I used to be similarly afraid of dogs, so I sympathize with them and recognize that "forcing them to face their fear" is stupid and not helpful.  They may outgrow it someday, but not as long as people push them to.

Keeping this in mind, I am thoroughly convinced that if he gets a dog I will go completely insane.  Yeah, I know I'm already halfway there, but this would send me over the top.  One of the main selling points for moving as far as the kids are concerned is that we will have acres and acres in which to run and play.  But since they are afraid of dogs, they won't be able to use any of it.  They will refuse to go outside, and will drive me crazy with cabin fever in our little house in the middle of nowhere.  Which would mean I would have to chain the dog up to maintain my sanity.  Even though I hate dogs, I am fully aware that that is no life for a dog.  I would not want to have to do that.

And then there is the matter of who would end up taking care of the animal.  Because it sure as hell wouldn't be me or the kids.  Hubby will have a one-hour commute.  Which means he will have to leave very early in the morning, and arrive home late for dinner.  And if the past eleven years are any indication, when he finally gets home, he will plop down in front of the tv, remote in hand, and ask "someone" to get him a beer.  He won't have the time, energy or inclination to train a dog.  He won't want to spend that time cleaning up after it, or teaching it to carry a bird in its mouth without crushing it, or getting it to understand "sit", "stay" and "shut up".  And the dog would be terribly neglected.  The kids and I will not train it, love it, or clean up after it.

Now, I do understand that a family is not a republic, and we're not voting on it, but if we were it would be four to one against.  And the way I see it, the kids and I are sacrificing enough just by agreeing to move from the home we love to a house half the size, in the freezing cold middle of nowhere in North Dakota.  We should not be forced to live with a dog.

So...if you've made it through this entire rant, give me a little feedback.  Am I unreasonable? Am I a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad person because I hate dogs? (I hesitated to even post this, because I know many people will think that of me)  Or is Hubby the one being unreasonable?

I'm back from vacation!

Hello, dear readers!  I've missed you while I was on vacation.☺  But I'm back now, and I have an update!  This is the land where our new house will be built:

 It's a "quarter-section", which is farm-speak for roughly 160 acres.  It has tree-rows; you can see one of the rows there to the left.  I took the picture while standing precisely where the house will be.  So this will be the view out the back windows.  I designed the house myself.  I drew a rectangle, representing 28 feet by 60 feet, and filled it in with rooms.  When I showed it to the builder and asked if they might have any plans similar to what I'd drawn, he pointed to the drawing and said, "We can do that." ☺

♥

I intend to update with pictures as the project progresses, although since it will be a modular home, built in two pieces and trucked to the location, there won't be a lot of in-progress pictures.  And yes, I'm aware the the picture shows a planted wheat field.  Some of that wheat will be sacrificed, but there will still be plenty throughout the rest of the field.  There are seven or eight tree-rows, and we're building between the second and third to the south.

♥

This next picture shows the "treehouse tree", which is part of the row on the other side of the house site.

It's a big, old cottonwood with several trunks.  It has a few dead branches, and will need to be trimmed up, but the girls are very excited about the prospect of a treehouse, and swings.

♥

Last week, I had two more patterns published on Knit Picks.  Visit http://knitpicks.com/ to see them. ☺

I'm in Kansas!

I haven't been online much in the past few days, because we're visiting my family in Kansas.  It's been a pretty quiet visit.  The only one of my siblings that I've spent much time with is my sister Sara.  She has three daughters also, and our girls love to play together.  So we all went to the pool yesterday, and had a lot of fun.  Then I took Sara out for dinner, and on the way home we realized the sky was swirling ominously, so we grabbed her kiddos and headed back to our parents' house.  Turns out her oldest girl(same age as Princess) had "prayed to Jesus that there would be a tornado so we could have a sleepover at Grandma's house." Haha.  Little stinker.  There wasn't actually a tornado, but it definitely looked possible!  Since Sara and her family live in a trailer, they always go to Mom and Dad's when the weather is bad.  So now we're just keeping the kids busy until Sara comes back to get them.  I think we might be going to the zoo later.

And tomorrow we're getting back in the van and heading north...to North Dakota.  We'll be up there almost two weeks, and hopefully we'll be able to get the process of building our house started while we're there.  We have to go look at the land and decide where on it we want the house, and which way we want it to face, and what shape we want it to be.  There are a lot of options as far as the shape.  I've been looking online at one specific builder that is based in Minnesota, but has an office a few miles from where we'll be.  I'm hoping we can get a design we like, in a price range that we like.  Originally, Hubby had said to me "plan your dream home"...but when I showed him what I liked(which wasn't outrageous) he was aghast.  I'm thinking, either tell me to plan our dream home, or tell me to keep it economical.  They are pretty much mutually exclusive.  Oh well.  A smaller house should be easier to keep clean...in theory.

Picked a realtor.

We had some realtors come through our house yesterday to give us comparative market analyses.  First was a husband/wife team from Re/Max.  They were very polite and helpful.  They took detailed notes and listened to what I told them about the updates and improvements we've made.  I explained to them that we were in the middle of cleaning and organizing, and they were very understanding about the state of general disarray.  They were not impatient when my children interrupted repeatedly(though I was).  They told me about their company, and what we could expect if we hire them.  They showed me statistics that backed up what they were saying about the company and the process.  They named a very fair price for the listing; it was a bit less than what we paid for it, which I expected with the economy in the tank how it is(thanks a lot, uncle sam).  All in all, I really liked them, and thought they would do a great job getting our house sold.

Then another agent from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate came through.  She had a loud, slightly-annoying voice, and one of the first things she said was that the carpet really needs to be cleaned. (which was already on my list)  She told me several times that I have my work cut out for me. (duh! that's why I've been literally working my butt off for the past weekandahalf.)  She didn't listen to what I said about the house, and hardly took any notes at all.  She gave my kids dirty looks when they interrupted.  She pointed out the same things that the other agents did, but the way she did it was just rude and unkind.  I think she was expecting to walk into an unoccupied, perfectly-staged house that would fit right in to...Better Homes and Gardens.  It seemed she was unaware that actual people live in houses, and actual children live in large houses.  She pointed out how long other houses in the neighborhood have been on the market, and the fact that several of them were in foreclosure...and then she named the listing price: the same price we had paid four years ago, before the economy crashed.  She just didn't seem to have a solid grasp on reality.

We decided to go with the team of agents, even though they suggested listing lower than the other.  Moving is stressful enough; I don't think I could deal with her condescension along with that.  So now I just need to finish organizing and getting ready!

TA-DA!

I have a clean kitchen!

I decided to work together with the girls instead of having them do it themselves.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours, but it's done!  It's so nice and clean.  And now I have a picture for the realtor, in case it's not still spic&span when they come tomorrow.

I need to go find some more energy somewhere so I can tackle the family room and dining room and entry next...

Busy busy busy

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days.  I'm still really busy.  The realtors are coming tomorrow, and I still have a lot of work to do before then.  So...since my previous post, I painted Angel's room, and she helped!  And I touched up the paint in Princess and Kitty's room, and in the library; I decided not to repaint those rooms.  I organized my yarn stash and did a little destashing.  I've almost finished organizing the big studio upstairs; still some school stuff and computer stuff and coloring stuff.... I tidied up the living room, and still need to do the attached dining room.  The kitchen is still a disaster, but I'm going to have the girls work on it while I work on the family room.  I haven't finished organizing all the junk I took out of the bedroom last week.  But I am determined that it will be ready for the realtors when they come tomorrow, and ready for house hunters before we leave for our vacation on Saturday.  So now I need to get off the computer and get back to work.

I'm planning on doing a state-of-the-schooling post later this week if I get time.  Otherwise, it'll have to wait until next week.

Exhausted...

I am worn out.  Beyond exhausted.  Seriously.

♥

I stayed up late, getting all kinds of stuff out of our bedroom; it's all in boxes, bins and baskets in the family room.  As soon as I find a little energy, I have to sort through all that.  Blah.  Anyway, I got it all out last night, so I could start painting early this morning.  The bedroom was the same dark green as the bathroom, and now it's the same light neutral beige as the bathroom. ☺ I'm glad these projects are done.  And that I got the pics while they look great.  Haha.  I'm not very good at keeping ahead of the messes; I need to work on that.

And now I need to go find some Advil, and soak in a hot salt bath for an hour or two...

Painting...

I'm organizing and painting and cleaning...all in preparation to move.  Hubby got a new job, near his family.  So we will be moving to North Dakota in a few months.  I'm not thrilled about it, to be honest.  But I will probably be more excited as it gets closer.

We are going on vacation in a week and a half, and Hubby wants to try to get the house on the market by then.  So I've got my work cut out for me.  He'll help with what he can, when he can...which means not much, and after work.  Oh, well.  I'm used to doing everything around the house.  So anyway, I started with the master bathroom, since it's a small room.  Got it organized and cleaned up, and painted.  It was a dark green before.  Now it's a light, almost flesh-toned beige.  It really brightened up the room a lot.  I took these pictures this morning, right after I finished painting.  Now that there's not as much light coming in the window, the color looks a little pinkish, but I don't really care.  We won't be here much longer anyway.  I just wanted it to be a better color for selling.

Now I'm sorting and organizing books.  We have a lot of books, some that we haven't read in years.  I'm planning on donating a bunch to the thrift shop.

Back to work!

Angel's at camp!

I dropped Angel off at church this morning, so she could go to camp.

She's been very excited about it for months, but she looked a little apprehensive when it was actually time to go get in the bus.  Her counselor posted on Facebook a little while ago, saying they made it to the camp, so now I can relax.  I hope she has a wonderful time, and doesn't miss us too much.  She's never been away from family for this much time before.  She and Princess spent a week with friends back when Kitty was born, but the two of them were together.  This time, she's alone.  She's a little shy, but at least she kind of knows some of the other kids from Sunday School. ☺

♥

I've finished the "A Girl's Best Friend" Scarf, and made a pair of mitts to match, since I had plenty of yarn leftover.  I'll post pics of that tomorrow; the mitts are still blocking right now.

More socks!

They're done! ☺ The "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Socks are done!  Took me less than a week, too!

I had hoped to get a good pic of Kitty...you know, her whole self...but she decided to be difficult this morning.  She smiled menacingly, like she wanted to eat the camera.  She smiled a tiny bit, like she was bored and thought taking pictures was stupid.  She giggled, but not real giggles, so the smile just looked weird.  The only time she gave me a real smile, she covered it with her hands.  Finally, when she had a meltdown and threw a tantrum, I gave up.  The above will be the photo for the pattern.

I am glad, at least, that I didn't have to buy new shoes.  I knew I wanted her to wear black "Mary Janes", and her old "church shoes" from last winter were too small.  But I remembered that there are still a few decent shoes in the shoe box; a big plastic container into which we toss shoes that don't fit anyone and wait until they fit someone.  Angel checked for me and found these shoes.  They were scuffed; obviously they've been worn by two girls before, but fortunately Hubby had black shoe polish.  I got them all polished up, and they look almost good as new!

Anyway, they're done, and so is the pattern.  I love this colorway; it's so pretty.  I hope they're sending the same colorway in Swish for the scarf sample. ☺

Look at us!

I hope y'all had a good Memorial Day weekend. Mine was very quiet. Hubby went to visit his dad in North Dakota, so the girls and I were able to get his gift for our eleventh anniversary figured out.  He's difficult to buy gifts for, because anytime I ask him what he wants, he says "You know what I want."  Typical man. Haha.  So I came up with the idea of giving him some updated pics of his girls(including me) to have at his office.  I got some white curtains, and hung them in the family room(best lighting in that room, due to the huge windows) to use as a backdrop.  Angel took pics of me, and I took pics of the girls.  Here are a couple...

I also got a bunch of knitting done.  I started the sample "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Socks on Thursday night, and I've got just a few more inches to go on the second one.  I'm hoping to get it done before the yarns come for the other samples I need to make.

Suddenly Busy!

I'm going to be very busy knitting samples all of a sudden!  Last night, I got an email from Knit Picks; they like my "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Socks...

 And my "A Girl's Best Friend" Scarf!

I have some Stroll Tonal to make the sock sample, and they're going to send some Swish Tonal to make the scarf sample!

♥

And earlier this week, I volunteered to make a sample of my "Laura" Shawl for my friend Leann.   

I'll be using some of her Forbidden Woolery "Sparkle" yarn!

Back to knitting!

♥

Ideas

I came up with an idea for Angel's socks!  Here's the "rough draft" swatch.  I've edited the design a bit since making it...

In case you can't tell, it's a hibiscus.  The yarn I bought for her socks is a green and brown colorway called "Aloha Multi", so that was the inspiration.  I just might call them "Aloha Socks". The editing involved shortening the top and bottom petals, and widening the other three, and shortening the...stamen(?)...and once I had it how I liked it, making a mirror-image to go with it.  It's a very long chart; 84 rows.  But Angel loves it, so it's a winner!  In fact, I like it pretty well myself, so I'm considering making an adult size in the pattern as well.  All I would have to do is add stitches on the sides.

♥

I sent off the design proposal for Kitty's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Socks yesterday, so now I'm waiting to hear about two proposals. ☺

Another design...

I've just sent off the design proposal for this scarf.  It matches the "Girl's Best Friend" fingerless mitts pattern that is on Knit Picks.  I actually designed the scarf at the same time, but I had forgotten about it.

I hope they like it!

♥

For this one, I used some lovely, soft Reflections yarn.  It turned out a little short, since I had only one skein, but it will be a nice Christmas gift for someone.  In the design proposal, I suggested KP Swish Tonal, which is a new yarn line they've just introduced.  There are some terrific colors in their new tonals.  Thunderhead and Pearlescent are my favorites; if I were any good at colorwork, I would design something that uses both of those colors. ☺

♥

I'm still waiting for my little sister to send me photos of her modeling the bag I made for her, so I can send off that design proposal.  I'm going to hang on to my Frost Cowl design until fall; I haven't finished it yet anyway.  I'm ready to send in the proposal for Kitty's socks, which have earned the moniker "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".  I'm still working on Princess's "Sweetheart Socks", and I haven't started yet on Angel's socks; I still need to decide on a lace pattern for them.

♥

Back to knitting!

Herman Cain

For the first time in my adult life, I've found a political candidate that I would consider donating money to.  His name is Herman Cain, and he announced this morning that he is running for President in 2012.

To find out about him, start here: Herman Cain 

To read one of his books, click here: Common Sense Solutions

Go check him out!