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...